DSean said:
Depending on your state/county, this may not eliminate any of the ABC-licensing requirements, plus, you'd have to get a brewer's license since you're selling your beer off-premises.
No, my point is that it is on-premises. Some may call it a "lawn". Others would call it a beer garden.
There still are the Federal, State, and County requirements. They will suck 20-40 hours out of your life each year. If it's taking longer than that, you should probably hire someone more competent to handle those aspects. Plus, you'll have to pay whatever you pay your accountant.
As for dealing with bureaucracy, I think people just worry about it too much. I have experience dealing with the EPA, City of Chicago, State of Illinois, IRS, Cook County, and numerous other entities. I have negotiated a settlement for a client with a liquor control law violation and in the process met a few very knowledgeable attorneys and got to know the laws pretty well myself. I also set up procedures to meet all City of Chicago, State of Illinois, OSHA and EPA guidelines for starting an automotive repair shop.
I flat out simply do not understand why people complain about bureaucracies. I've never had a problem in any of my official dealings. And I never saw a problem that took more than 10 hours to hammer out.
Nowadays, the thing about these kinds of bureaucracies is that all of the information you need is pretty much commonly available on the internet. Unless you're the type who is afraid of numbers, afraid of reading rules, or afraid of filling out forms, it's really not all that time consuming assuming you have your ducks in a row and are well organized and are willing to do the work yourself. I mean, how long would it take you to fill out your own IRS 1040? Most folks that I know spend DAYS on their own. They stress about it. Me? Mine is done in under an hour. That includes a schedule C. It's just not a big deal. But people spend more time b*tching about it than they spend doing it.
I know a guy who runs a meadery with minimal support staff. And I know folks (not personally) who somehow miraculously manage to run tasting rooms for their wineries. For as ridiculous as most regulations are, they have a raison d'etre. Figure out where the real interest lies and you can generally work yourself into the right cracks in the rules to get what you want to work out.
They're employees, you have to pay them a minimum wage and all that. They could be independent contractors, but they'd still have to be paid the minimum wage and paper work would have to be kept.
To hire someone 4 times a year, I most certainly would not hire them as an employee. Think about it. Have you ever heard of an employee who works 4 days a year? You'll pay them, issue a 1099-MISC at the end of the year and be done.
I like your idea, but sadly, there are way too many government regulations to do it legally. I say this not to criticize or anything, but more to highlight how ridiculous the patchwork of alcohol-regulations in this country is. Hell, if you're purely a homebrewer, you can't even sell your beer to the local bar without going and getting a license from the ATF, the state, and probably the country you're in. Then each will require you to have a surety bond, a ****-ton of insurance, and god knows what else.
The surety/insurance aspect is one which I am not too up on. however, I'm assuming it's based on your projected production volume.
Oh, and local zoning laws probably won't let you brew for profit in your own home. Oh yeah, even of you wanted to GIVE your homebrew to a bar to sell, you can't without the federal and state licenses.
As for brewing for profit from home, I'll tell you what I see when I drive to work. I see houses on main streets with bakeries on the bottom floor and an apartment up top. I see a confectionery which runs the same way. At least where I live, combined retail establishments and residences are frequently conjoined. And in college a friend lived above a bar.
But anyway, yeah. It's just a silly dream. I'm aware of that.