Strange Question To Ask Group....

As I set here enjoying my latest brew to come of age...(Pete's Wicked Ale Clone)....

I'm trying to figure out how to handle an issue that just came up. So at some point most likely a year to year and 1/2 from now I'll plan to open my own brew pub it's a long road.

So i been giving some of my beers out to friends and co-workers.

Well I had friend who I gave three different beers to try. He took them to his barber shop on saturday to share with his buddies.

Now he wants to buy a mix and match case for his frat reunion.....

So how do I hand this one? I'm still building pipeline but I'm sure I could spare a case but I hate to be out a entire case of ingredients for free....

I brewed a batch for a friend and just had him buy the ingredients & bottles....worked great

What should a case of carft brew cost? It's not as simple as 20$ case of BMC.

Any help would be great. By the way I was flattered. It made my day but now I"m stressed over it a bit.

If he's a friend either make it for him at $0 or have him simply buy the ingredients.
Marking up the cost is in bad taste IMO.

Yeah but he will not take 0$ as answer........I could just have pay for my next batch of beer. Kind of like a win win.

Frank99 said:

If he's a friend either make it for him at $0 or have him simply buy the ingredients.
Marking up the cost is in bad taste IMO.

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I completely agree.

+1 on having him buy the ingredients for your next brew. Since it's only 1 case, which is about half of a 5 gallon batch, maybe just have him buy the yeast and the hops (or whatever other combination that makes about half).

Or you could trade him for an equal dollar amount of craft brew.

While I often think, if I were to sell to someone I'd charge the price of ingredients....I also consider the fact that, were I to have someone cover the cost to brew, I should also consider cost of shipping, cost of source of gas, cost of water....and I think that's about it. I mean, I have a bad (financially) habit of giving away beers for free...but it's an interesting thought, figuring out the true cost of your batch.

I respect the opinion just to give the guy a case of beer. However, this isn't an option.
The guy will not do that and I don't blame him either. I totally understand where you are coming from but also I know how much time & money I put into a batch of beer which is roughly two cases. This hobby isn't cheap. I do give away alot of my beers sixers at a time to friends, which is how he now wants to buy a case. He enjoyed it that much and he knows a little about the time and money I have put into it.

So I did offer him the case for nothing and thought I might have enough beers mature enough by toward end of April when he needed them since he was asking for a (Sampler Case) and he said no....

So I know I have to charge him something so I thought I would put it to HBT.

I'm gonna hit the hay see what comes up on here on this topic once I get to work....
Nothing like wasting the work day away on HBT.

Is it even legal to sell it?

jescholler said:

+1 on having him buy the ingredients for your next brew. Since it's only 1 case, which is about half of a 5 gallon batch, maybe just have him buy the yeast and the hops (or whatever other combination that makes about half).

Or you could trade him for an equal dollar amount of craft brew.

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This is the direction I'm leaning...........

Bottom line is when I get my brew pub off the ground. My location will be in this guy and all his friends back yard as it's the right spot for this sort of bar style so I'm basically getting advertising too out of the deal. :rockin:

CaseyS said:

Is it even legal to sell it?

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:rockin: You hit the nail on the head right there............In some states yes however in my state no........infact, it's not even legal to brew it here in Bama yet.........

My friend is aware of this..........:rockin:

Part of the answer is not being public about selling it. If they give you money or anything of value in exchange for home brew, it's selling it and illegal.

brewagentjay said:

This is the direction I'm leaning...........

Bottom line is when I get my brew pub off the ground. My location will be in this guy and all his friends back yard as it's the right spot for this sort of bar style so I'm basically getting advertising too out of the deal. :rockin:

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Dude I know you cant sell your homebrew legally....

BUT

I love teufel hunden brewing, go devil dogs.

2 of my friends in the corps, and 2 generations in my family in, i should have joined. nothing but pride and respect.

best of luck with your brewpub.

I have a friend who has a NFL draft party every year, he loves IPA and I make a pretty good one. This year will be the third year in a row that I supply him with a 5 gallon keg. What we do is, he pays for half the cost of the batch, then he comes over and helps me brew it, when it's ready we both get a 5 gallon keg and I get to drink some of his at the draft party, it's a win-win!!

Eastside

I'm a pretty logical guy so the way I think of situations like this is simple...if someone wants me to brew a batch specifically for them then they have to be on-board for all the labor and pay for all the supplies.

It's all CYA and there's no other logical way around it.

Legally, you aren't selling him anything. He/they did all the work and purchased the ingredients. You just provided the knowledge and equipment.

If they are not willing to put forth the effort then they don't deserve anything FREE...especially at your expense...

If i was invited to the party I would be inclined to charge little to nothing. If i was supplying this without getting to enjoy the party I would be inclined to charge a lot. At this point it's either sentimental value or it's practical cost value to determine what you charge. It's cool that you're opening a brewpub but how does that relate to your question?

homebrewer_99 said:

I'm a pretty logical guy so the way I think of situations like this is simple...if someone wants me to brew a batch specifically for them then they have to be on-board for all the labor and pay for all the supplies.

It's all CYA and there's no other logical way around it.

Legally, you aren't selling him anything. He/they did all the work and purchased the ingredients. You just provided the knowledge and equipment.

If they are not willing to put forth the effort then they don't deserve anything FREE...especially at your expense...

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+ 1, that's the BEST advice in this thread. Regards, GF.

brewagentjay said:

He took them to his barber shop on saturday to share with his buddies.

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If I read this right, a few free hair cuts might equal things out. If not, some other barter of his skills might solve the problem.

Give him two cases and have him pay for the next batch, or one case and split the cost of the next batch. Keep it simple.

mightynintendo said:

If i was invited to the party I would be inclined to charge little to nothing. If i was supplying this without getting to enjoy the party I would be inclined to charge a lot. At this point it's either sentimental value or it's practical cost value to determine what you charge. It's cool that you're opening a brewpub but how does that relate to your question?

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Got to keep potential customers happy.......cause I'll need all the loyal ones I can get once I open.

In some states, homebrewing isn't legal. In some states, you are limited to giving away ONE six pack per friend per year. In some states, you can't even legally carry your homebrew out of your house.

What I'm saying is that many of us homebrewers have worked hard to legalize homebrewing throughout the US, and are still lobbying in places like Alabama. I would never risk my right to brew by selling a case of homebrew, or even bartering (which is considered selling). It's not worth it.

Give him the brew. If he won't take it for free, explain the law (or in Alabama, how you're already risking breaking the law) to him. If he has a barbershop, he has a license. I bet he wouldn't do something to risk losing that state license. He can understand when you explain it to him that way. Just like when you do eventually open your brewpub, you'll not do anything to risk losing your license.

Thanks for some great advice. I think that cost of a half batch is good idea. However this is something I think I'd like to give some more thought for down the road. I have always imagined selling my brew at the pub by the pint and not by the case so curious what a good case of craft brew should cost...

YooperBrew said:

In some states, homebrewing isn't legal. In some states, you are limited to giving away ONE six pack per friend per year. In some states, you can't even legally carry your homebrew out of your house.

What I'm saying is that many of us homebrewers have worked hard to legalize homebrewing throughout the US, and are still lobbying in places like Alabama. I would never risk my right to brew by selling a case of homebrew, or even bartering (which is considered selling). It's not worth it.

Give him the brew. If he won't take it for free, explain the law (or in Alabama, how you're already risking breaking the law) to him. If he has a barbershop, he has a license. I bet he wouldn't do something to risk losing that state license. He can understand when you explain it to him that way. Just like when you do eventually open your brewpub, you'll not do anything to risk losing your license.

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Good Points...I still miss the prior avatar. He doesn't own a barber shop it's his hang out..... He does have real estate license so he does know something about not risking that....

Charge him the full cost of the grain/hops/yeast (fairly easy to figure), rounded up to the nearest $5 to cover difficult-to-calculate things like propane/star san etc., then split the batch at the end. He gets one case for the costs he covered, you get a case to compensate for the time/knowledge/equipment you contributed.

Sounds good. Using Cost. So he wants a sample case of the stuff that is already mature enought to drink. So 4 diffrent 6ers or so. So I'll only charge him for his half of the batch & bottles (if he doesn't want to bring them back when done).
Sort of how I did my brother in law he bought all the ingredient with me and his bottles and I brewed and helped.....

I don't think it would be illegal to make someone buy the grains, yeast, etc. (ingredients) would it? I think the problem would be selling the alcohol. I see nothing wrong with you buying the grains for XX money and then making a profit selling the grains for XX * 25% (or whatever percent) as long as you aren't selling beer.

I am by no means a lawyer or involved with any kind of law enforcement and this is only my opinion and interpretation of law.

I hear ya. I just thought it was an interesting topic to ask the HBT folks. I think I'm gonna go with him paying for a half batch of ingredients and let him decide on the bottles (if he doesn't want to mess with bring them back then they are xx amount).

No harm no worries.........

Get the beer all made right up until you are about to pitch the yeast. Then sell it to him. Then have him pitch the yeast. You can help him bottle it when it's done.

Legally it's not beer until you pitch the yeast. You can sell wort all day long. Just think of it as reconstituted pre-hopped no boil extract.

Edit: Actually the wort would probably have to be made in a certified kitchen, check local health dept. rules.

Interesting.........well I haven't done anything yet still brewing away. I did however get asked by another person how to put in an order.

Little out of hand. I want customers once I'm legal but right now I'm not setup to handle it and I don't want to mess up any chances my state has for making it legal.

I've been asked this before...have them fill up your propane tank, that's $20 by me. Have them bulk order you 20-25 bucks worth of hops...Sounds like he just wants to give you something back for your time and effort. Propane and hops are things that you'll need anyway.

Tell him a case would cost 200 bucks and keep your beer.

I'd just have him drop off a batch's worth of ingredients for the next batch. As a friend would like to see a friend who enjoys brewing enjoy himself. The gift of homebrew to him would happen on a different day and in a different location.

I would assume that this person understands that homebrewing isn't that cheap (compared to BMC beer) and could appreciate the need for discretion.

Or follow Yoopers good advice and simply decline, citing restrictions on selling homebrew.

One other option is for him to help with the brewing, meaning he would be there and help pitch the yeast, which most people understand is the point at which cooking becomes beermaking.

Make a 'donations' jar for future brews, and when he comes to pick up the case... point it out to him.

IanP said:

Charge him the full cost of the grain/hops/yeast (fairly easy to figure), rounded up to the nearest $5 to cover difficult-to-calculate things like propane/star san etc., then split the batch at the end. He gets one case for the costs he covered, you get a case to compensate for the time/knowledge/equipment you contributed.

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this is what I am doing on Sunday. Friend wanted a particular style of beer, so I ordered the materials, he pays for it, and I keep half of the brew (we each get ~ 24 beers).
As far as I am concerned, the $$ investment in all my AG equipment, my experience and most importantly-- my time -- is worth more than that. Plus, he thinks it is fair.

He is coming over to help. I am also making him save, rinse and scrub all his bottles

LVBen said:

Make a 'donations' jar for future brews, and when he comes to pick up the case... point it out to him.

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I like this..........

TheMan said:

I've been asked this before...have them fill up your propane tank, that's $20 by me. Have them bulk order you 20-25 bucks worth of hops...Sounds like he just wants to give you something back for your time and effort. Propane and hops are things that you'll need anyway.

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Another good point you hit the nail on the head. I gave him some to sample knows I spend a lot of time and effort on it.