Can my homebrew survive a plane ride?

I know, I know...kind of a strange question. Hear me out.

I fly to my parents every christmas. Well, I had mentioned to my mother that I started home brewing beer. Seeing as how she is a chef, she was curious about the whole process and wanted to sample the beers I've made.

Now, I fly all the time and I'm well aware of the lame no liquid policy applied to carry-on luggage. I would have to check my beers at the baggage check. I was thinking maybe I could hide them amongst my clothing or perhaps I could check a small bag to hold my beers with foam padding or some way to protect them from the hell they go through with the baggage handlers. I plan on taking at the very least 12 brews.

Has anyone ever tried this? Any tips or pointers?

Well I dont know if this helps or not, but last year I went to Aruba for my Honeymoon and brought back some beer(about 12)It was in cans, and I didnt do anything crazy with the packing, just put them in with my clothes in the suitcase....Good luck with your beer, pack those bottles good

Some info here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=42305

splat said:

Well I dont know if this helps or not, but last year I went to Aruba for my Honeymoon and brought back some beer(about 12)It was in cans, and I didnt do anything crazy with the packing, just put them in with my clothes in the suitcase....Good luck with your beer, pack those bottles good

Click to expand...

Balashi I presume? I work closely with the central bank of Aruba and am very familiar.

As for flying with beer - I would be more worried about the baggage handlers than the flight. Just wrap them up as best you can and don't put them against the outside of your luggage...

Why don't you ship the bottles beforehand UPS is much more likely to heed a fragile sticker than some United Airlines baggage handler making $9.75/hr.

Flying back from mexico on time, my sister in-law was bummed when she got her bag off the conveyer because it was wet and smelled like tequila. She figured that the bottle she brought back must have broken and drenched everthing. After we gave her a hard time for packing glass in her bag and expecting it not to break, she opened up the bag. Her tequila was as intact as the day she bought it, apparently some other idiot on the flight had a nice suprise!

I'm flying to Ohio for Xmas, and taking some brew with me. Gonna box it up, maybe with some newspaper padding, put the box into a plastic bag in case of spills/breakage, and just put it in the middle of my suitcase with all my clothes around it. I think it will be fine, beer bottles are pretty tuff.

I have flown with beers, as long as you pack them up in the middle of your suit case and wrap them up tight so they don't bang around you should be fine.

CHeers

Yeah, I've taken a few bottles, but you'd better have a big suitcase and a whole bunch of socks to put them in if you plan on taking 12+ bottles. Personally, I'd pack them up real nice and cushy in a big box and check that along with your other luggage.

Isn't it a maximum of 2 bags to check now? I already have 2 bags to check so I don't think I can have a dedicated beer bag.

Ah, see I got screwed by the airlines because I had to but a full price ticket for my 2 yr old daughter, but the trade off is that she gets to check in bags as well, so I should have no problem fitting a dozen beers here and there.

I've done it several times this year. I just wrapped the bottles in clothes in my luggage and on one trip wrapped in newspaper and boxed. The only time I had a problem was flying in the middle of July. I lost about 1 in 3 beers to leakage. The only thing I can think is that the high temperatures and agitation combined were enough to overcome the crimped bottle caps. On my trips in cooler weather, all was well.

Looks like wrapping them in clothes is my best bet. I probably have to take less than 12 cause I don't want to risk it.

I just hope I don't get a "random bag check" and they steal a couple of my brews. :cross:

I've regularly flown with beer. Once I just had them in a six in my duffel, and I lost five of them and soaked my suit in APA. I've had the best luck double-socking, boxing, and tying them in a garbage bag in the middle of my clothes.

Kai

I brought 5 bottles of wine back from Denver two months ago. I wrapped each bottle up in a pair of jeans and then packed bulky clothes around them.

feedthebear said:

I brought 5 bottles of wine back from Denver two months ago. I wrapped each bottle up in a pair of jeans and then packed bulky clothes around them.

Click to expand...

I've flown both internationally and domestically many times with either beer or spirits in my checked bag(s)... I've wrapped them in towels or clothes and, if possible, a plastic bag is the best bet. Alternatively, it is much less stressful albeit more expensive and legally "grey" to just ship them UPS; see this for more info.

Personally, I just wrap them up nice and tight and check them. I've yet to have a mishap. (knocks on wood).

Would a corny keg fit into one of the hard golf bag cases?

If you ship it, I'd point away from UPS. I build tube based electronics as a semi-hobby and I've learned the hard way (to the total tune of around 10k) that UPS destroys everything.

I use DHL.

I brought 7 bottles of beer and 1 bottle of Scotch back from Scotland. I had a hard -sided carry on bag on my way there that I then filled with the padded and double bagged bottles and then stuck that in the center of my big suitcase with clothing stuffed all around it. Overkill? Probably, but all of my bottles made it back.

However, I believe you're only allowed to transport commercial products so just (if you can) use some bottles that have the labels painted on so that you can clean them without damaging the commercial appearance.

ratfarmer said:

Would a corny keg fit into one of the hard golf bag cases?

Click to expand...

Brilliant!

I took 4 bottles to Australia last month packed in styrofoam containers I got from work that were used to pack those old timey glass straw dispensers where you lift up the lid to get a straw.
I took bottles that I still had the commercial labels on them to avoid any undue suspicion. Perhaps it was silly, but a free and simple step to take in the likely event they will rifle through your stuff. Since it will appear to be commercial and licensed, shipping them which, by the way, is far less safe than well packed baggage, is an unnecessary step (and expense).

raceskier said:

I've done it several times this year. I just wrapped the bottles in clothes in my luggage and on one trip wrapped in newspaper and boxed. The only time I had a problem was flying in the middle of July. I lost about 1 in 3 beers to leakage. The only thing I can think is that the high temperatures and agitation combined were enough to overcome the crimped bottle caps. On my trips in cooler weather, all was well.

Click to expand...

If it was high temperature, it wasn't from the flight.