How legal is underage homebrew?

Man, I should of thought of this when I was 18... As far as I can tell, here in Colorado it is legal to buy homebrew supplies and ingredients, but it is illegal to possess alcohol if under 21. BUT I think there area some fuzzy laws about being independent and consuming alcohol in your own home if you are under 21. Not that I condone underage drinking, and I hope I'm not giving anyone any bad ideas, but simply out of curiosity: can anyone (maybe some LEOs) tell me how legal it would be for an eighteen year old to brew beer?

Of course, I don't think I would have had the patience for it at that age...

as soon as you drop yeast in there it becomes alcohol and thus illegal for minors.

as far as I know, thats where the law stands in most states.

it's really only illegal in my book if you are apprehended. i mean if i run a stop light at 0300 on an empty street and don't get pulled over or cause an accident, i haven't broken any law, according to my recollection.

So with that logic, if you kill someone and don't get caught, it's OK?

Isn't it legal in some states to drink at 18? I think your question would be state specific.

Louisiana was the last state to go from 18 to 21, so now all 50 require one to be 21 in order to purchase and/or drink beer.

You certainly can't stop someone who's underage from buying homebrew supplies - grains, yeast, hops, etc, are all completely innocuous on their own.

ifishsum said:

So with that logic, if you kill someone and don't get caught, it's OK?

Click to expand...

never was talking about right and wrong, just legality. a subtle difference imo.

or did you mean when i run the red light?

I don't know the answer to the OP's question, but I do know that I have an 11 year old who likes to help me bottle.

I think the line he's drawing is that if noone gets hurt, then no foul. He runs a red light at 3am, no problem. He runs a red light at 3am and hits someone... then there's a problem.

If you brew and no one finds out. who cares?

only if you get caught. legally speaking.

BTW, in WI you can drink in a bar at any age as long as a parent is with you.

I'm in those shoes...i didn't say that tho

In Clark County, Nevada it is legal for a minor to consume alcohol if they are in their parents home and in the company of their parents. Too bad I didn't grow up here!

I look really young even though I'm over 21. It's funny to get carded at a bar for a pint of beer but not when I go to buy supplies to make 5 gallons!

At my LHBS in Gainesville, FL they have a sign on the front door that says they don't sell any alcohol (they are about three-quarters of a mile from the UF campus) and that anyone under 21 is not allowed in. I'm guessing 21 is the law here, but not sure.

Well it's legal for underage children to drink in Wisconsin, as long as they're with their parents. In the link it was still wrong because the kid was 4 but it is legal so it depends on the state. In Colorado it is not legal to consume alcohol until you are 21 no matter who gives it to you.

In Oregon it's against the law for a minor to be in possession of alcoholic beverages , including by consumption. There's no exception for home brew, but I understand that a minor can drink at home with their parents as long as they do not go out in public while under the influence.

I take my 19YO son a few home brews from each batch. I wouldn't do it if I thought he'd be stupid about it, but he can control himself and he always brings my bottles back I've even entertained giving him my Mr. Beer fermenter, but I'm busy making apfelwein with it....plus the SWMBO would not be happy if I did that. Better to wait until he's 21.

Hell, it's "illegal" to brew at home here in Utah at any age. jeez-la-weez

Depends on the state, each state has it's own laws regarding under-age drinking @ home.

Possessing alcohol and drinking it are two different things, and are bound by different laws. Some situations/states require you to be at home or in the presence of a guardian.. others don't.

http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/index.asp?Type=BAS_APIS&SEC={0D5C719E-FCE8-4E15-A367-4145C655505F}&DE={E6F19624-0ADC-437F-917D-5E7CBC9F58B9}

http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/index.asp?Type=BAS_APIS&SEC={DA244DAF-EB78-425C-915B-D26D303F9E13}&DE={468A8313-845A-41C8-A6F1-73D42EDD5F24}

I'm just glad I never got caught. After coming home from Iraq, I didn't show much respect for that law. enough said. But I'm in debt to homebrewing, keeps me busy, keeps me happy..that's life

Bytor1100 said:

I'm just glad I never got caught. After coming home from Iraq, I didn't show much respect for that law. enough said. But I'm in debt to homebrewing, keeps me busy, keeps me happy..that's life

Click to expand...

It's sad that Uncle Sam was fine with sending you to war, but beer? That's unacceptable! You're too young!

As usual, the government astounds me.

JMcManaway said:

Louisiana was the last state to go from 18 to 21, so now all 50 require one to be 21 in order to purchase and/or drink beer.

Click to expand...

I think they were going to withhold federal road funding if they didn't change. They were seriously considering it..

Kilgore_Trout said:

It's sad that Uncle Sam was fine with sending you to war, but beer? That's unacceptable! You're too young!

As usual, the government astounds me.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your sentiment. I better not get motivated on the subject at this point. I'm drunk and happy

I started when I was 19. Not to brew hooch either, just because I was genuinely interested in brewing good beer. It also had to do with the fact that I couldn't go to the liquor stores with good beer selections and drool for 20 minutes before making a decision.

tuckferrorists said:

I think they were going to withhold federal road funding if they didn't change. They were seriously considering it..

Click to expand...

National Minimum Drinking Age Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They did it, that's how they got this pushed throughout the country.

I believe that Wyoming was the 49th state to raise the age to 21, but they really didn't care about federal highway funding for quite some time since they didn't need a lot of money to maintain their two highways!

You know, Wyoming...

...the state with more sheep that people

...the square on the map that should say "no state here"

...Colorado's hat

...the place where they actually use those 40 foot snow fences

...a pain in the rear to drive across

Before I catch any crap, I lived there for my first six years of life, there's great fishing and camping, and it's a beautiful place to visit...as long as you don't get snowed out in early August! (true story)

I didn't start homebrewing until I was 22, after I moved BACk to Utah. The only people I hate are closed minded people. Religious preference aside, those are the only people I hate. So if you have no desire to UNDERSTAND or LEARN anything, I hate you, plain and simple. I warned you, i'm drunk. But it's all good. I don't have work tomorrow. So do you want to know what I rally think? hehe

I think you're drunk, that's what I think! I can almost see you as you lurch to one side, poking your finger in the air saying "and you knoww wat I can't stand iether? Intolarance. Ya."

Bytor1100 said:

Hell, it's "illegal" to brew at home here in Utah at any age. jeez-la-weez

Click to expand...

So I take it you are a good citizen and don't brew at home, but just like participating on the forums to learn just in case you are ever able to.....

If I knew then what I know now...

I'd have played a lot less "Hey Mister" in my teenage years!

When I was 18 back in 1983, it was legal to brew alcohol at 18 IF you did it in your own home and IF you only consumed it there. This is why me and my room mate built a still in our kitchen. That first batch was horrible to drink, but you could light it on fire - it was powerful strong and did the job.

Not sure of the laws now, might want to just check up on it.

It's purely a matter of state law, and it should not be to difficult to find. Most states have "alcholic beverage code" or something along those lines. You may have to do some digging, but you can find it, and probably find it online.

Do not just trust what you hear, though, no matter who you hear it from. If there is one constant in the universe, it's that people believe a lot of things about alcohol laws that are not true. Go read the law for yourself.


TL

I was brewing before 21... and got banned from the forums because of it!

So, i don't know about legality in Colorado... but definitely illegal here.

you can get banned for not being 21?

Slappy White said:

you can get banned for not being 21?

Click to expand...

I believe it's HBT rule #1 - you must be of legal drinking age in your location to participate. Or something like that.

edit: Here's the actual rule

Kilgore_Trout said:

It's sad that Uncle Sam was fine with sending you to war, but beer? That's unacceptable! You're too young!

As usual, the government astounds me.

Click to expand...

It is a little more complex than that. Federal law mandates that the minimum drinking age on base may be the same as that of the State/Country in which it is located. There is a "50 mile" rule that allows installation commanders to lower the age to that of a nearby country so long as it is within 50 miles. This used to mean if your base was near Mexico or Canada (Pendleton for example) you could drink at 18. The rule still exists but has been countered by directives from the Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Army & Secretary of the Air Force. The Marine Corps, being a hard fighting, hard drinking institution, does it a bit differently. The Commandant of the Marine Corps has issued several standing orders that lower the drinking age to 18 in foreign ports so long as local law allows it and allows 18+ drinking on base in the states for special occasions such as the Marine Corps birthday, the Commandant's Ball or your unit returning from deployment. There is a serious movement to lower the drinking age back down to 18 on base only for all branches. It looks like it will probably happen as there is significant public support for it and research that show that it lowers binge drinking and drunk driving.

I remember that here in Texas as long as you were in your own house WITH your parents and they servered you alcohol, that was o.k... Your parents were the only ones who could server you alcohol, though. But then again I could be wrong.

DD2000GT said:

When I was 18 back in 1983, it was legal to brew alcohol at 18 IF you did it in your own home and IF you only consumed it there.

Click to expand...

When I was 18 in '83 it was legal for me to buy it. At least in Kansas or Oklahoma. If I recall, there may have been a period before I turned 21 when I couldn't buy it as the law had changed. I was young, poor and raising a family then so I couldn't have afforded it no matter what the legal age was.

I remember watching a show on The History Channel, during prohibition companies that once made malted barley started selling malt extract. Also according to that show, there where instructions that said "don't boil this extract with hops and don't add yeast to it".

Baldy_Beer_Brewery said:

When I was 18 in '83 it was legal for me to buy it. At least in Kansas or Oklahoma. If I recall, there may have been a period before I turned 21 when I couldn't buy it as the law had changed. I was young, poor and raising a family then so I couldn't have afforded it no matter what the legal age was.

I remember watching a show on The History Channel, during prohibition companies that once made malted barley started selling malt extract. Also according to that show, there where instructions that said "don't boil this extract with hops and don't add yeast to it".

Click to expand...

Hahaha, that's hilarious! Whatever you do, do NOT then allow this unholy mixture to sit at a stable temperature for 7 to 10 days.