Question on 100 Gallon Limit

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NewEnglandSoul

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I'm sure this has been discussed before and is probably common knowledge for a lot of you, but I've only recently started in homebrewing beer and thinking about winemaking.

Is the usual 100 gallon legal limit for winemaking (200 in a household with two or more adults) distinct from the limit for beer? In other words, if my household brews 200 gallons of beer within a year, can we also make 200 gallons of wine in addition to the beer?
 
I believe they are separate. The limits for each are specified in different sections of the code, and state "wine" and "beer" in their respective sections with regards to the limits.
 
Does anyone know where I can actually find this information (preferably the legal documents themselves)? Googling is proving a very ineffective research method.
 
Oh gawd, be careful talking about that stuff on here. Panties get twisted very quickly once legal matters start flying around... DUCK!
 
U.S. Code for beer:

§ 5053. Exemptions
.
.
.
(e) Beer for personal or family use
Subject to regulation prescribed by the Secretary, any adult may, without payment of tax, produce beer for personal or family use and not for sale. The aggregate amount of beer exempt from tax under this subsection with respect to any household shall not exceed—
(1) 200 gallons per calendar year if there are 2 or more adults in such household, or
(2) 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only 1 adult in such household.
For purposes of this subsection, the term “adult” means an individual who has attained 18 years of age, or the minimum age (if any) established by law applicable in the locality in which the household is situated at which beer may be sold to individuals, whichever is greater.


U.S. Code for Wine
§ 5042. Exemption from tax
.
.
.
(2) Wine for personal or family use
Subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary—
(A) Exemption
Any adult may, without payment of tax, produce wine for personal or family use and not for sale.
(B) Limitation
The aggregate amount of wine exempt from tax under this paragraph with respect to any household shall not exceed—
(i) 200 gallons per calendar year if there are 2 or more adults in such household, or
(ii) 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only 1 adult in such household.
 
Perhaps, but the position I think many of us take is:

We are not legal experts and any advice we may offer is not a recommendation, suggestion, or definition of the actual law, and that we advise that you consult your lawyer in regards to any laws that may affect you, and that because we are not giving legal advice, that we are not liable for any or all results that may be brought against "you" defined as the person looking at said statements and that what we say in no way defines our interpretation of such laws, and that we are in no way advising to produce more than what is defined by said law.

However, my interpretation, which in no manner is a legal definition, or has resulted in me producing greater than the stated amount, is that I would have on hand, no more than 100 gallons of any alcoholic substance produced in my place of residence which in no way defines me as having produced greater than, or less than the stated amount per us law.
 
Well, if you are advocating breaking federal law, I would ask to not post about it on this forum.
So would I. A responsible person asked a responsible question. Some of the answers appear quite irresponsible.

Our hobby is often misunderstood and confused with illegal activity. Some legislators misunderstand it to the extent that they vote against any state legislation to legalize homebrewing (see Alabama) or ban homebrewing where it is already legal (see Alaska). To suggest that we enjoy our hobby outside the boundaries of the law only serves to bolster the arguments to further restrict it.
 
+1 Yuri

Also sometimes it is not about what you can get away with. It is about taking a stand and doing what is right. Just because you can do a thing does not mean you should do a thing.
 
I personally keep my home stuff under the legal limits. 200 for beer and 200 for wine. The reason for that is two fold. 1) I am a professional, my books are checked regularly. If I was to cross my books somehow, I would be in big trouble. I also keep a record book at home so they can see where each batch comes from if needed. 2) I want to distill spirits in the near future, and if questioned, I want my books to reflect all of my stock, distilled or not.
 
To answer your question regarding the limit and cellaring, there isn't any hard and fast proof of how much wine/beer was made in any given year, unless of course you are posting up videos of yourself making every batch. This whole thing basically works on the honor system.

Personally, I keep records of every batch I make along with tasting notes, etc. So it is very easy to look at my brew log and figure out how many gallons I've made in any year.
 
Keeping under the limit is good. I think you could probably store more than 200 gal so long as you have documentation of its production. I have a brew journal that has the dates from start to bottle/kegging. Should be ample documentation if BATFE came knocking. Can't say I am too worried about that happening, but I'm not running a brewery here. Personal consumption for family and friends.
 
How big are those bottles?

I'm getting 200 gallons x 128 ounces per gallon = 25600 ounces per year

Divide by 12 (for a twelve ounce bottle) and you have 2133 bottles of beer on the wall which, when divided by 365 (days per year), gives a fella 5.84 beers per day, aka a six pack.

Math is not my forte, though.

Anyway, I am glad this thread pointed out that wine and beer are separate, not that I come close to the limits.
 
It's probably a good idea to stay under the limit. But if you went over a tad I don't think it would be a big deal.

I think it is more of a guideline amount to keep people from mass producing the stuff. But still I would stay under it.

To be honest, I'm not even sure about the rules up here in Canada.
 
Keeping under the limit is good. I think you could probably store more than 200 gal so long as you have documentation of its production. I have a brew journal that has the dates from start to bottle/kegging. Should be ample documentation if BATFE came knocking. Can't say I am too worried about that happening, but I'm not running a brewery here. Personal consumption for family and friends.

200 gal = about 10000 bottles. 10000 bottles / 365 days is 27.4 bottles a day.

Imagine the weight gain!:mug:

+1

I agree. 200 gallons of alcohol is actually a staggering amount for 1 year. Unless you are throwing keggers daily or trying to sell, normal consumption should be covered under that amount.

Also, IMHO, there is a burden of evidence when it comes to the amount produced in a year. If I actually made lets say 213 gallons of beer and my family and I drank 150 gallons that year and kept no records or receipts it I would only only have 163 on hand by years end.

Again, this is my opinion and I do not claim to be a lawer. I don't recommend breaking the law and if you choose to do so it is at your own risk.
 
When I moved from Maryland to N.C. I had to transfer my entire wine cellar in a pick up truck. The bed was very full and I drove very slow as to not get pulled over.
 
I live in GA and the limit here is 50 gallons. Kind of lame, but I never have more than 20 on hand so I am not really worried about it.
 
Here in Michigan (and I believe quite a few other states), it's not "200 gallons IN ADDITION TO beer", but instead a total of 200 gallons per household of all fermenteds, including beer, wine, mead and cider.

Michigan's law:
Michigan Compiled Laws Chapter 436, Act 58 of 1998, Chapter 2, Section 436.1207, creates an exception to the Michigan Liquor Control Code for home manufacture of beer, wine, mead, honey-based beer, or cider and allows for gifting of such beverages of up-to 20 gallons per year.



For those who think it's in addition to, please check your local/state law.

For example, here's the Texas statute:

(a) The head of a family or an unmarried adult may produce for the use of his family or himself not more than 200 gallons of wine, ale, malt liquor, or beer, per year. No license or permit is required.

(b) The commission may prohibit the use of any ingredient it finds detrimental to health or susceptible of use to evade this code. Only wine made from the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juices of dandelions or grapes, raisins, or other fruits may be produced under this section. Only ale, malt liquor, or beer made from the normal alcoholic fermentation of malted barley with hops, or their products, and with or without other malted or unmalted cereals, may be produced under this section. The possession of wine, ale, malt liquor, or beer produced under this section is not an offense if the person making it complies with all provisions of this section and the wine, ale, malt liquor, or beer is not distilled, fortified, or otherwise altered to increase its alcohol content.
 
I personally keep my home stuff under the legal limits. 200 for beer and 200 for wine. The reason for that is two fold. 1) I am a professional, my books are checked regularly. If I was to cross my books somehow, I would be in big trouble. I also keep a record book at home so they can see where each batch comes from if needed. 2) I want to distill spirits in the near future, and if questioned, I want my books to reflect all of my stock, distilled or not.

1200 750ml bottles of wine seems like plenty! :mug::ban::ban:
 
You are ALL horrible at math. A wine bottle is approximately 1/5 of a gallon or 750 ml. That comes to 1000-1009.5 bottles of wine. A bottle of beer is 12 oz, a gallon is 128 oz. That comes to 2133.33 12 oz bottles of beer.
 

Yeah it is silly. Actually the way the law is written you are only allowed to drink the beer with the people that live in the house. I gather it was a compromise with the churches down here at the time. Either way, I just make sure to keep to my 20-25 gallons at a time and not worry about it. I love my hobby, but it is of course tertiary to my family and job.
 
Please cite specific federal and/or state law that requires homebrewers to do so.

Begging yuri pardon, allow me to restate myself. It is not a LAW to keep records, but if you don't and you have on hand more than the limit for production, you would have no recourse to prove it wasn't all produced within the year.
 
With whom does the burden of proof lie if your production is questioned?

I'm no lawyer, but... Under criminal law, I think that burden is on the prosecution. In civil court, I think it is on the plaintiff.

So, would I ever need to prove that my cellared brew was produced over a period of more than one year? Or is it simply enough that it's possible that it was produced over a period greater than a year?

I don't mean to be TOO nitpicky, but I find it hard to believe that I need to keep a logbook as a homebrewer for any reason other than my own satisfaction.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
With whom does the burden of proof lie if your production is questioned?

I'm no lawyer, but... Under criminal law, I think that burden is on the prosecution. In civil court, I think it is on the plaintiff.

So, would I ever need to prove that my cellared brew was produced over a period of more than one year? Or is it simply enough that it's possible that it was produced over a period greater than a year?

I don't mean to be TOO nitpicky, but I find it hard to believe that I need to keep a logbook as a homebrewer for any reason other than my own satisfaction.

I think this is nitpicking beyond my intent. It's not a law it just makes a highly unlikely legal scenario much easier.
 
Who is going to know if you brew more than the legal limit in a calendar year? BATF has better things to do than to stake-out & raid homebrewers. If nobody complains & BATF has no reason to look closely at you & your activities, you should be good to go.
 
Who is going to know if you brew more than the legal limit in a calendar year? BATF has better things to do than to stake-out & raid homebrewers. If nobody complains & BATF has no reason to look closely at you & your activities, you should be good to go.


Seriously, Follow the golden rule. DONT SELL ANY and don't make an ass of yourself and no one will care. My neighbors love that I brew beer.
 
Who is going to know if you brew more than the legal limit in a calendar year? BATF has better things to do than to stake-out & raid homebrewers. If nobody complains & BATF has no reason to look closely at you & your activities, you should be good to go.

You are now being investigated...

[paranoid rant]

I don't know about in other states, but the TABC is a stickler for perfection in book keeping etc.

Last year we where audited (winery) and they found a discrepancy of 7 cents in our books. They send out an agent if you want to dump a single gallon of wine down the drain. They fine you big time if your bottle has MORE than 755 ml of wine in it. The list can go on. I am sure they aren't going after home brewers currently, but with the number of dry and damp counties/districts here, they could easily do it and succeed. All they need is cause.

[/Paranoid rant]

All in all though, you are more likely to get a ticket for driving 3 mph over the speed limit.
 
State laws on home brewing greatly differ. Federal code cited will preempt any state law that is contradictory as to the federal law (aka conflict preemption). That being said, I doubt anyone would care so long as one is not selling and is only using for personal purposes. How one consumes such a large quantity for personal reasons is beyond me, but whatever. Also, since the state bears the burden on proof on all prosecutions, they would need to be able to show that one affirmatively brewed over federal regs beyond a reasonable doubt. While personal records may be helpful in such an unlikely situation, they are not required as far as I know by federal regs.
 
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