Do you have to be "legal" age to buy Home brewing supplies ?

Just wondering... I am way past that point in my life but me and my wife had a discussion on this. After all you are not buying alcohol per say, just the ingrediants to make it.

As far as I'm aware, there are no restrictions placed on purchases of barley, yeast, hops, brewing equipment, etc.

The answer is no... However I do believe in some states there is legislation being pushed to check for ID... I remember reading something about this a few years back...

I think it's entirely dependent on the state you live in. However, none of the online HBS that I use have ever required I prove my age, so even if it isn't legal, I'm sure a minor could get away with it.

I would say no, the ingredients are legal at any age. It's similar to the chemicals needed to make a rudimentary bomb. Entirely legal to purchase at any supermarket or hardware store but the process is then illegal.

That said, I don't believe a Homebrew shop owner would or should sell ingredients to minors. The liability reasons alone would concern me, personally. Police ask "Were did the alcohol come from, son?" and some kid says "The guy at BLAHBLAHBLAH sold me the stuff." Nightmare scenario ensues.

I've never seen a check of ID for beer or wine making ingredients and materials. By themselves, they are just food and equipment items. I've lived and brewed in about 4 different states ... so far.

And I even successfully made wine when I was about 17, although the quality was questionable.



~r~

mmb said:

That said, I don't believe a Homebrew shop owner would or should sell ingredients to minors. The liability reasons alone would concern me, personally. Police ask "Were did the alcohol come from, son?" and some kid says "The guy at BLAHBLAHBLAH sold me the stuff." Nightmare scenario ensues.

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While that could cause some headaches, I don't think it would be any real concern. You can make booze from the stuff bought at a grocery store just as easily.

mmb said:

I would say no, the ingredients are legal at any age. It's similar to the chemicals needed to make a rudimentary bomb. Entirely legal to purchase at any supermarket or hardware store but the process is then illegal.

That said, I don't believe a Homebrew shop owner would or should sell ingredients to minors. The liability reasons alone would concern me, personally. Police ask "Were did the alcohol come from, son?" and some kid says "The guy at BLAHBLAHBLAH sold me the stuff." Nightmare scenario ensues.

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really not a night mare . All the ingredients are legal to buy what you do with it after the sale isn't the owners fault.Hell a minor could buy apple juice and some yeast and have Apfelwein in no time.

loling at the idea of people getting carded when they buy grapes at the grocery.

I thought I had read it on here somewhere that some states (like Texas) say the illegal part comes when pitching the yeast.

Sort of rings a bell.

Well think about it this way, how do people get home brew supplies is states where its illegal to homebrew?

I actually asked my LHBS last time I was in there if he carded people. He said there was no law requiring him to do that. But if a 13yo walked in and started buying hops, grain etc. he would "discourage" them from brewing until they were older.

springer said:

Well think about it this way, how do people get home brew supplies is states where its illegal to homebrew?

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is there any, i dont think so

IXVolt said:

I actually asked my LHBS last time I was in there if he carded people. He said there was no law requiring him to do that. But if a 13yo walked in and started buying hops, grain etc. he would "discourage" them from brewing until they were older.

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But I am buying it for my Dad hes real sick today and wants to brew this weekend ....used to work back in the day for cigs

We're about 50 miles from any homebrew store, but I do shop there when I get over that way. It's a gas station/deli/bait shop/beer store that you often see in Wisconsin. Since it's on the way to Wal-Mart and other stores, my daughter will pick things up for me occasionally. When she was about 17, I sent her for extra light DME and some star-san. The store sold it to her, without even asking what she was buying. (The clerks have no idea about any of the brewing stuff, and I usually tell them what I've got and what it is so they can ring it up as "grocery").

I just went to the Mr. Beer site. You can purchase a "Beer Making Kit" without providing age...how ridiculous is that? haha.

It is plain and simple what you are doing with the kit, yet no age is required. Technically you are not buying alcohol, so it is not illegal. At least that's my assumption.

whalenutz said:

is there any, i dont think so

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Ummm. Yes, there are still 4 states that illeagalize homebrewing of beer.

Oklahoma is one.

But wine, that is leagal so long as you apply for a free annual permit.

whalenutz said:

is there any, i dont think so

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I believe Alabama is the only one left .... I seem to recall Utah made it legal

edit : I am wrong as GilaMinumBeer has stated

springer said:

I believe Alabama is the only one left .... I seem to recall Utah made it legal

edit : I am wrong as GilaMinumBeer has stated

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IIRC, Tennessee too.

I got my 12 year old brother to run down to the shop to get me some carbonation drops the other day (I had already started bottling, and forgot I didn't have any drops!). He said the store people didn't even batt an eyelid.
I'm glad I don't live in the USA, I wouldn't be legally allowed to drink there, I'm only 20. 18 year drinking age ftw!

I fairly sure that if in a court of law it was proved you sold anything for the sole purpose of making alcohol to a minor or taught someone underage to make alcohol you could be found guilty of contribution to the delinquency of a minor. In my state it would be certain.

NovaAesa said:

I got my 12 year old brother to run down to the shop to get me some carbonation drops the other day (I had already started bottling, and forgot I didn't have any drops!). He said the store people didn't even batt an eyelid.
I'm glad I don't live in the USA, I wouldn't be legally allowed to drink there, I'm only 20. 18 year drinking age ftw!

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and why should they??
i mean really people, any kid that is going to make his own alcohol
is not going to be stoped by some age restriction.
thay will just make cider or pruno.

back in the day i used to go to my lhbs to buy DME
and i was not makeing beer, i was making MEA malt extract agar
and i would have been pissed if some dude tryed to hassle me about it

I started homebrewing slightly before I turned 21. The homebrew shop never gave me a second look, and even offered samples to me.

GilaMinumBeer said:

IIRC, Tennessee too.

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I hope not!

<runs of to check>

I'm OK. Permitted in TN.

Just to be crystal clear as we head down this road...

Mods will ban anyone in this forum that is not of legal age in their locality.

This is not because of our own personal sentiment on the legal age of drinking issue.

We do this as a courtesy to all of our members, many of whom would not like to be in a position of abetting anyone that is not of age or mistakenly trading beer with someone that is not of age.

We do this because we do not wish to have this place pressured into being taken down by any number of Neo-prohibitionist groups.

Only a selfish dick would put another member/brewer here in legal or moral peril.

Tonedef131 said:

loling at the idea of people getting carded when they buy grapes at the grocery.

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"I saw this wino, he was eating grapes. I was like, 'Dude, you have to WAIT.' "
--Mitch Hedberg

I'm pretty sure it was one of the New Hampshire stores (NH of all places!) that did ask for an age verification on their website. Only place I've seen it, and I have no idea if that was state law or company policy.

Rick500 said:

"I saw this wino, he was eating grapes. I was like, 'Dude, you have to WAIT.' "
--Mitch Hedberg

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LOL!! Love(ed) Hedberg!

Dunno about age verification, but I do know that in WI you don't pay any taxes on your ingredients, because you are technically buying groceries, which aren't taxed here (yet).

You don't have to be of legal age to buy TP and Eggs but I know certain stores didn't let us buy them together when I was in High School. It's a judgment call.

There's a big sign outside my LHBS saying they will not sell to people underage,that being said I assume that's personal preference rather than law.

It's my understanding that in British Columbia, it's only illegal to buy, sell and consume alcohol unless you're 19. I found out that some Grade 12 students that I teach were homebrewing; that's why I know about the rules.

I said to them "Well, boys, as long as you don't sell it or drink it, it's not against the law". Yeah right.

GilaMinumBeer said:

But wine, that is leagal so long as you apply for a free annual permit.

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What about a light table barleywine with hops for preservative?

Just to echo what others have said, you don't need to be 21 to by grains, nor hops, nor yeast. Its the act of fermenting that is illegal for them.

I just turned 22 and I rarely even get carded for buying beer, unless I am at a big chain like Walmart.

olllllo said:

You don't have to be of legal age to buy TP and Eggs but I know certain stores didn't let us buy them together when I was in High School. It's a judgment call.

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That would suck, eggs usually give me the sh*ts...

TheMan said:

I just went to the Mr. Beer site. You can purchase a "Beer Making Kit" without providing age...how ridiculous is that? haha.

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It's pretty absurd, especially since all the brewery sites now ask you to "prove" that you're over 21 to view their sites. Meanwhile, their ads prominently featuring breasts, fuzzy animals, and people doing stupid things are all over the tv. :cross: What a twisted world we live in!

possession of alcohol under 21 is illegal.....I wonder when it becomes "possession," the moment a single yeast cell converts sugar to alcohol?

Information and ingredients aren't illegal, just the possession of the alcohol (so adding yeast). Kinda reminds me of the breweries during prohibition selling all the ingredients together, and on the label it was like "Do not combine this with 150* water for 60min. Do not boil for 60 min. Do not add hops at 60, 20, and 10 minutes during a boil. Etc" Minors are always going to get booze. The drinking age of 21 is stupid.

olllllo said:

You don't have to be of legal age to buy TP and Eggs but I know certain stores didn't let us buy them together when I was in High School. It's a judgment call.

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Bingo! ......and heaven forbid anyone be permitted to exercise mature judgment, in these latter days of the Republic. When subjects like this come up, I am reminded that the word "decadence" wasn't coined for nothing. The assumption is automatically that human beings are helpless and incapable of thinking for themselves, so of course we have to have laws and regulations for everything.

If I ran an LHBS, no, I wouldn't sell brewing equipment to anyone who was obviously a minor. The ingredients are just food, so of course I would. I wouldn't card, because the law doesn't require it. That's my definition of judgment......not that I still couldn't be sued and crucified by some tort lawyers for doing it, more's the pity.

"The worse the society, the more law there will be. In hell there will be nothing but law, and due process will be meticulously observed."

- Grant Gilmore