Home brewery

[danhercules]

On Facebook, I see a gentleman that got a license to brew beer, (assume he can sell it) and he is doing it at home. He is in Sweden. Is this allowed in the US?


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[Zamial]

Nope. When you think you found a loop hole the answer is still no. It is 100% illegal in the US to sell homebrew. When you have a legal brewery you can sell your beer but it is not homebrew anymore it is brewery beer aka craft/micro brew.

 

[user 30639]

Short answer. No.

Long answer. Nooooooooooooooo

Longer answer. I could see a scenario where a person ran a nano out of a free-standing garage or other building on their property. But you would need a perfect storm of state and local laws to pull that off. That doesn't mean you can start brewing in your barn and selling it. You'd still have to be licensed just like any other brewer.

Edit to add: Isn't Hill Farmstead on some family property? I think I remember reading that. Of course, I have no idea of the people live there and what the zoning laws are like.

 

[lawyerjim]

There are many breweries operating out of buildings on the same property as their home, but it is illegal to sell beer made in your home.

C.F.R. Title 27: Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

§25.21 Restrictions on location.

A brewery may not be established or operated in any dwelling house or on board any vessel or boat, or in any building or on any premises where the revenue will be jeopardized or the effective administration of this part will be hindered.

(Sec. 201, Pub. L. 85-859, 72 Stat. 1389, as amended (26 U.S.C. 5402))

 

[Phunhog]

Well...it is currently illegal but it might change (sort of) in CA. There is legislation going through right now in CA that will allow a home brewing non-profit to put on a beer festival 2x a year. Now it would seem that just about anyone can start an some sort of home brewing non profit....heck it can probably be a few buddies. So then you could put on your own home brew festival and charge admission. All proceeds have to go to the non profit but I would think that could open up some doors.

 

[Biergarden]

There are many breweries operating out of buildings on the same property as their home, but it is illegal to sell beer made in your home.

C.F.R. Title 27: Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

§25.21 Restrictions on location.

A brewery may not be established or operated in any dwelling house or on board any vessel or boat, or in any building or on any premises where the revenue will be jeopardized or the effective administration of this part will be hindered.

(Sec. 201, Pub. L. 85-859, 72 Stat. 1389, as amended (26 U.S.C. 5402))

What do they mean by dwelling house?

 

[CA_Mouse]

Well...it is currently illegal but it might change (sort of) in CA. There is legislation going through right now in CA that will allow a home brewing non-profit to put on a beer festival 2x a year. Now it would seem that just about anyone can start an some sort of home brewing non profit....heck it can probably be a few buddies. So then you could put on your own home brew festival and charge admission. All proceeds have to go to the non profit but I would think that could open up some doors.

Before you start trying to sell this as fact, you may want to re-read the statute. The bill allows homebrewed beer to be sold at a non-profit charity function as long as all the proceeds go to the non-profit charity. The non-profit has to be registered and must get permits for the sale of alcohol at the charity function. This is why we lost the Southern California Brewers Conference this year, possibly the Northern California Brewers Conference later in the year and, quite literally could impact the AHA from having the NHC in San Diego in 2015.

You and your buddies would never get passed the permits before they shut you down.

 

[nextgenxx]

Just have a donation jar near the door on the way out! There your not selling anything now.


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[RatsoRizzo]

On Facebook, I see a gentleman that got a license to brew beer, (assume he can sell it) and he is doing it at home. He is in Sweden. Is this allowed in the US?

I think I know which guy you are talking about; he brews in his garage but obviously has to comply with all the regulations for brewing commercially. He also makes low alcohol beer which probably makes getting a licence easier. Getting licenced in Sweden is pretty tough I would imagine; Swedes love their booze but alcohol is highly regulated.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Okay, I see a lot of breweries in production that aren't licensed yet, but host fundraisers at restaurants and such and give their beer away there to get people to drink it while they work on opening the brewery. it seems kinda sketchy but I see it happen a lot. Is something like this in any way legal?

 

[Hello]

Okay, I see a lot of breweries in production that aren't licensed yet, but host fundraisers at restaurants and such and give their beer away there to get people to drink it while they work on opening the brewery. it seems kinda sketchy but I see it happen a lot. Is something like this in any way legal?

Depends. Some states may not allow you to serve your HB outside your home. Check with your local laws.

 

[Ayuir]

The other issue when you donate your beer to a restaurant while you build out your nano/micro/craft brewery is the liability the restaurant assumes when they start serving (whether free or not) beer from an unlicensed (and therefore according to the government unregulated) source.

 

[Calichusetts]

A guy does it in my town out of his barn. License and all. I think its a 2 bbl system.

 

[ColeR]

A guy does it in my town out of his barn. License and all. I think its a 2 bbl system.

here in WA its not hard to do this,
1. the outbuilding must get a "home occupation" permit from city or county and must comply with all ADA stuff, and meet all regular codes for plumbing, health, electric, fire etc...
2. apply to the Liquor Control Board. 90+day process
3. apply to the TTB. 120+ day process

if you can make all these people happy you get your brewers notice and then you can start brewing, lots of hoop to jump thru, but its more paperwork than it is hard. some of the things they are asking for, i dont have a clue about..

as far as i know, here in WA you cant sell your homebrew at all, even a charity, for free at any open public event, cuz if some one get sick... you are F'ed

sharing it at home, brew club meeting/events, and competitions - your good.

ColeR-

 

[levtbeas]

What do they mean by dwelling house?

I believe it's a building in which any number of people live (ie your kitchen/bedroom/dining room/attached garage are all NO good), but it may also have something to do with different health codes and zoning as well.

 

[YNOT2K]

here in WA its not hard to do this,
1. the outbuilding must get a "home occupation" permit from city or county and must comply with all ADA stuff, and meet all regular codes for plumbing, health, electric, fire etc...
2. apply to the Liquor Control Board. 90+day process
3. apply to the TTB. 120+ day process

if you can make all these people happy you get your brewers notice and then you can start brewing, lots of hoop to jump thru, but its more paperwork than it is hard. some of the things they are asking for, i dont have a clue about..

as far as i know, here in WA you cant sell your homebrew at all, even a charity, for free at any open public event, cuz if some one get sick... you are F'ed

sharing it at home, brew club meeting/events, and competitions - your good.

ColeR-

Check this guy out -

http://www.foggynogginbrewing.com/

He has a brew shed, of sorts, and sells the beer out of his ATTACHED GARAGE. I've been there.

 

[opiate82]

as far as i know, here in WA you cant sell your homebrew at all, even a charity, for free at any open public event, cuz if some one get sick... you are F'ed

sharing it at home, brew club meeting/events, and competitions - your good.

ColeR-

Up in Bellingham they have their big "April Brews Days" beer festival coming up. I know in years past the local homebrew club has been serving up homebrew at the festival. It is a huge festival so I am assuming they have all their ducks in a row in regards to the legal stuff.

 

[ktblunden]

Before you start trying to sell this as fact, you may want to re-read the statute. The bill allows homebrewed beer to be sold at a non-profit charity function as long as all the proceeds go to the non-profit charity. The non-profit has to be registered and must get permits for the sale of alcohol at the charity function. This is why we lost the Southern California Brewers Conference this year, possibly the Northern California Brewers Conference later in the year and, quite literally could impact the AHA from having the NHC in San Diego in 2015.

You and your buddies would never get passed the permits before they shut you down.

Phunhog is referring to the bill they are working to pass now, not the one passed last year. The new one, AB 2609, would specifically allow organizations composed of homebrewers to hold festivals and specifically states that entrance fees do not constitute selling homebrew. The passage of this will allow SoCal Homebrew Fest to happen, as well as NHC. The full text can be seen here:
http://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2609/2013

 

[invictusbrew]

Phunhog is referring to the bill they are working to pass now, not the one passed last year. The new one, AB 2609, would specifically allow organizations composed of homebrewers to hold festivals and specifically states that entrance fees do not constitute selling homebrew. The passage of this will allow SoCal Homebrew Fest to happen, as well as NHC. The full text can be seen here:
http://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2609/2013

Thanks for the link, this is the first I have heard of this. Good to know. Also, how's Lancaster? I used to live there near the Jethawks stadium (The Hanger I think it's called?).

 

[CA_Mouse]

Phunhog is referring to the bill they are working to pass now, not the one passed last year. The new one, AB 2609, would specifically allow organizations composed of homebrewers to hold festivals and specifically states that entrance fees do not constitute selling homebrew. The passage of this will allow SoCal Homebrew Fest to happen, as well as NHC. The full text can be seen here:
http://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2609/2013

Thanks for the link. It did not save SCHF for this year though.

No 2014 SCHF, stay tuned for other CHA events that weekend!
With great sadness, we are announcing that there will not be a Southern California Homebrewers Festival in 2014.

http://www1.calhomebrewers.org/

 

[ktblunden]

Thanks for the link, this is the first I have heard of this. Good to know. Also, how's Lancaster? I used to live there near the Jethawks stadium (The Hanger I think it's called?).

Probably about like you remember it. We're on the east side, surrounded by more criminal elements than we'd like. I've lived in the AV most of my life (grew up in Palmdale) and it's gone seriously downhill within the last decade, we won't be living here much longer I think. But hey, we've got two breweries and an awesome homebrew shop now, so there's always that.

 

[ktblunden]

Thanks for the link. It did not save SCHF for this year though.

No 2014 SCHF, stay tuned for other CHA events that weekend!
With great sadness, we are announcing that there will not be a Southern California Homebrewers Festival in 2014.

http://www1.calhomebrewers.org/

Nope, it's still going through committee. Apparently there's some heat behind it, though, with NHC representing millions of dollars. I'm pretty sure Fest 2015 and NHC San Diego will go forward.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Nope, it's still going through committee. Apparently there's some heat behind it, though, with NHC representing millions of dollars. I'm pretty sure Fest 2015 and NHC San Diego will go forward.

SCHF 2015, NHC and NCHF 2014 should all be good to go at this point. Evidently with only 3 weeks to get SCHF 2014 set up and organized, there was no way to get it done in time.

 

[invictusbrew]

Probably about like you remember it. We're on the east side, surrounded by more criminal elements than we'd like. I've lived in the AV most of my life (grew up in Palmdale) and it's gone seriously downhill within the last decade, we won't be living here much longer I think. But hey, we've got two breweries and an awesome homebrew shop now, so there's always that.

Yeah, that's what I've heard. Too bad really, I liked it while I was there... But that was also 15 years ago. Here's to hoping you find a nicer place to live.

Cheers