Can i sell my homebrew at my brewpub??

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nicholsbrewing

nicholsbrewing

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Hey guys,
Its been a while. I've been blessed to receive a job at a local brewpub as a brewer and bar manager. I'll be brewing once we get our 7bbl system up and running (it's been broken for the last 3-4 mos). It will be likely a month or two before its ready for action. Now, i was curious. I know it is absolutely illegal to sell homebrew to bars, stores, etc. if you don't have a license. However, our establishment has a brewing/sales license. I was wondering if anyone knows if i can fill one of my pony kegs with a homebrew and put it on tap at our brewpub, assuming we pay tax on the beer. The management is all for it in the meantime if its legal, at least until we get out 7bbl system running again.


???
 
no. if you brewed it at home, it's homebrew therefore illegal to sell.
 
Hey! Unfortunately I can't help you with the legality of that, but I'd love to know where you work. I'd love to check it out sometime (after your system is back up), or maybe I already have.
 
Gray's Tied House in Verona. We are beginning a campaign to redo our entire in-house brewing operations to become more of a beer destination. More to come...
 
Great! Never been there. I'll definitely have to check it out. I've gotta branch out past the isthmus anyway. Cheers.
 
Hmmmm, i mean. In all honesty, i could always just bring my entire homebrew setup to work and do everything there in our brewing area. Wouldn't that be the same as running a pilot batch??
 
What if he pitched the yeast into the wort bucket in his car on the way to the brewery but then got reimbursed for gas by the brewery?
 
There may be some health inspector requirement.

I think that you will have to look it up in state and county codes.
 
I think the selling would be legal, since as a brewpub you'd be licensed to brew and sell beer. The question would be location. Not sure if the license has a requirement about where you're licensed to brew it. Also, as said, there's probably health codes and you'd need to have your brewing area in your house inspected as a commercial kitchen or something along those lines.
 
I always wondered if it was legal to have a homebrew bar (with appropriate bar licenses) where you charge a cover to hang out. The cover could come with "free" tickets that you could then trade for beer. Or even not. Just say a $20 cover to hang out, and all the free homebrew you want...
 
It's only illegal if you get caught.

The first rule of brewclub is....

Hindsight is 20/20


Personally, I'd cruise on over to probrewer and ask them if they've been allowed to sell the beer made on their pilot systems. I wouldn't brew at home and bring it in, but would definitely bring the equipment in and run a bunch of test batches to start garnering the clientelle's interest...
 
Check with your state's liquor control office (or equivalent) - not with us amateurs.
 
i'm thinking that anything consumable to be sold would have to be made somewhere that has been inspected. i'm pretty sure you're not even really supposed to do bake sales, but its so innocent that it gets looked over. do a lot of research before you attempt anything like this.
 
You're the brewmaster right? Take the homebrew recipe you like and scale it up to their system :confused:. If you're carrying stuff from home to work, just brew it at work and there's no issue right?
 
I would think that if you took your setup there and brewed it would be fine. I know a small local brewer here used his homebrew rig for quite a long time before upgrading to a 7bbl system. But as others have said, it varies from state to state and county to county for that matter.
Congrats on the new gig though!
 
I always wondered if it was legal to have a homebrew bar (with appropriate bar licenses) where you charge a cover to hang out.
Click to expand...

The only good news about this idea is that the city planning commission would shut you down you on zoning violations long before you owe your $10,000 a month liability insurance bill.
 
pointerDixie214 said:
I always wondered if it was legal to have a homebrew bar (with appropriate bar licenses) where you charge a cover to hang out. The cover could come with "free" tickets that you could then trade for beer. Or even not. Just say a $20 cover to hang out, and all the free homebrew you want...
Click to expand...

Took 12 posts for someone to suggest a "loophole", I'm surprised ;)
 
IrregularPulse said:
You're the brewmaster right? Take the homebrew recipe you like and scale it up to their system :confused:.
Click to expand...

Did you miss the part where he said it was broken?
 
jmf143 said:
Check with your state's liquor control office (or equivalent) - not with us amateurs.
Click to expand...

This is the correct answer. Lawyer up, and talk to the state.

"But someone on the internet said I could do it" is not a defense that will hold up in court ;)
 
ok, i will assume that this thread is a troll. **(a pro brewer asking a bunch of Fred;s about legal issues? Ri-i-i-i-ght!!!!).

if not, then ..... *NO*, phuque no, and NO!!!!!!

make it there.

don't take my word, for it, but then again, don't call me for your bail either. good luck.

- - - -

if you didn't ask this on probrewer.com first, quit now *(sorry, i had a bad day)
 
As far as I have researched, being bonded as a brewery (brewpub) requires a physical location. It doesn't say that the gear you are bonded with is the gear you have to use. But all beer brewed for sale must go into tax determination tanks (i.e. serving tanks) and that those are kept separate from the fermenters (and have their own designated location). So, I'm thinking, yes. But check with the SLA. I would not ask it that way though. So.. "Can I brew and sell beer on-premise using my pilot system since the main rig is broken?".... not "can I sell beer brewed on my homebrew rig?"...
 
Take your system to work, you're brewing a test batch to see what the customers will like so when the main system is functional again you can put it into production.
 
TopherM said:
The only good news about this idea is that the city planning commission would shut you down you on zoning violations long before you owe your $10,000 a month liability insurance bill.
Click to expand...

Unless you live in Austin Texas. No zoning laws, they can have a Walmart in the middle of a neighborhood if they want.
 
no zoning laws in Houston....definitely in Ft Worth and pretty sure Austin as well

But here's another version to the question.
Can I barter a batch of homebrew to the local pub for food? What he then does with the brew is his issue, right?
 
chezhed said:
no zoning laws in Houston....definitely in Ft Worth and pretty sure Austin as well

But here's another version to the question.
Can I barter a batch of homebrew to the local pub for food? What he then does with the brew is his issue, right?
Click to expand...

There is no way around the law. Any exchange of goods or services whatsoever, whether it be indirectly (tip jar, cover charge for event, beer tickets, etc) or direct payment/bartering is illegal.

That said I do it with my friends dad who buys some indregients, but I would never do it in any situation where it could be sold.
 
Germelli1 said:
There is no way around the law. Any exchange of goods or services whatsoever, whether it be indirectly (tip jar) or direct payment/bartering is illegal.
QUOTE]

In Louisiana there's a way around every law ;)

wierd laws, this Napoleonic code system has......
Click to expand...
 
The answer depends on your state/county/city rules. Your brewing permit may or may require you to use certain volume equipment, certain standards, etc. and may require conforming to local health regulations. Either way, you would also have to see if it violates health code and/or your local permits to brew using your homebrewing equipment, if you would need additional floor drains, keep all equipment elevated, etc. Your health inspectors may take issue with selling beer fermented in buckets sitting on the floor.
 
Brew it on the premises that have the brewers license, then your square with the feds. You would need a pilot brewery license if you were to brew at home and then sell in the pub. I say just scale it up and sell it as a seasonal, if no one likes it then don't make it again.
 
During a tour of a micro in St Paul, I saw small buckets fermenting on the floor (within the berm) right next to the huge fermenters. I asked about them and the reply was that they were experimental brews.
 
jmf143 said:
Check with your state's liquor control office (or equivalent) - not with us amateurs.
Click to expand...

+1,000,000

I can (from my knowledge of food and bev laws and regulations stemming from cooking/managing for 10+ yrs) say that in Ohio it is illegal to sell anything in a restaurant or pub that was not made on the premises unless where you made it has passed a health inspection. But that is Ohio. These laws vary state to state, but generally not that one.
 

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