how come selling/buying is not allowed?

[abcd123]

How come people are not allowed to sell their homemade beer here? Is it aagainst the law? The thing is that ive been a daily drinker of about a 12 pack for about 10 years and i have messed up my digestive system ive tried to quit before but never could until last month i switched to non-alcoholic beer. I havent had a real beer since. I just really like the taste of beer even ****ty beersince thats whatvi mostly drank.

So its been working so far but theres still 2 other things, non alcoholic beer is expensive to me compared to the $1.29 24 Oz cans i used to get now im paying close to same forr a 12 oz can.

So i thought i would look for a homebrewer to make me non-alcoholic beer maybe its cheaper but i see its not allowed here. Is it allowed anywhere? If not whats the reason?

 

[GoldMiner]

Against the law.

I guess brewing your own is too much work?

 

[z987k]

I assure you if I made an N/A beer, it'd cost you a lot more than $2.60 for 24oz.

 

[Pappers_]

Good luck and best wishes on your sobriety efforts. I hope your health improves.

 

[Airborneguy]

Best of luck with your sobriety. A 12pk a day is a lot of beer. Maybe you should try skipping the NA beer also. In my dealings with AA, I know they really don't recommend that as an alternative.

 

[abcd123]

I guess brewing your own is too much work?

It's not that, I would be interested but, I wouldn't be allowed to do it where I currently live. Unless it's something I could do quietly in my bedroom without anybody finding out.

What if I rent one of those self-storage places and setup a brewing kit and do it in there? I haven't looked into the costs or if there's electricity (or if it's needed, haven't done any research yet on homebrewing) is that something you could get in trouble for? I wouldn't want somebody to see me with supplies and think I'm doing something crazy like building a meth lab or something, I would have much bigger problems on my hands.

 

[Shooter]

Maybe you should try skipping the NA beer also. In my dealings with AA, I know they really don't recommend that as an alternative.

Really?!?!? I've been known to drink NA beer occasionally. I find it's a good alternative to give me a "beer" like flavor and not have to worry about the pesky effect of alcohol if I have to drive or something like that. Seems like a perfect way to enjoy "beer" without the problems. Is this kind of like not letting kids eat those candy cigarettes or bubblegum cigars?!?!? To be honest though, I probably do look a little odd in the checkout line with my 12 pack of O'Douls and another of Sierra Nevada. Talk about sending a mixed message!

As to the OP, I don't think you're going to make NA beer for much cheaper than you find it in the store.

 

[Airborneguy]

AA is very fanatical. I had some "forced" interaction with them in 2006 and they talked to all the new recruits about not replacing alcohol with NA products. AA is a cult, flat out. I hate having to say that for those who need it, but that was my take away.

 

[Shooter]

AA is very fanatical. I had some "forced" interaction with them in 2006 and they talked to all the new recruits about not replacing alcohol with NA products. AA is a cult, flat out. I hate having to say that for those who need it, but that was my take away.

Thank you for having the courage, sir, to speak the thoughts that were going through my head!

 

[passedpawn]

Becks NA, both normal pilsner and dark, are my favorites. I've tried them all.

And for the OP, I've never heard of a homebrewer successfully making an NA beer.

 

[bigbeergeek]

AA is a cult, flat out.

It's a cult that's saved a lot of lives and a lot of families, mine included. Perhaps not all opinions should be aired out on these threads -- especially ones that would sway a struggling addict from getting the best help available.

 

[bottlebomber]

I'm pretty sure making NA beer requires costly equipment...

 

[weirdboy]

Against the law.

I guess brewing your own is too much work?

Well non-alcoholic beer probably isn't against the law.

 

[Psych]

Yeah the point is being missed here, you can't make non alcoholic beer with ease at home like you can a regular beer. You'd need, what, a mega vacuum chamber to boil off the alcohol or something?

It's not homebrew viable.

 

[Hang Glider]

brewing your own never really saved anybody any money. It's a hobby. Most hobbies cost money. If one dollar twenty nine is tight, homebrewing is probably not for you.

I wouldn't want to guess how many thousand dollars I've spent.

 

[bottlebomber]

brewing your own never really saved anybody any money. It's a hobby. Most hobbies cost money. If one dollar twenty nine is tight, homebrewing is probably not for you.

I wouldn't want to guess how many thousand dollars I've spent.

I'm sure there's the occasional guy on the forum that does BIAB in paint strainer bags and a turkey pot, reuses yeast and makes low grav low IBU batches for $6.75, but I know that isn't the norm

 

[Shooter]

Yeah the point is being missed here, you can't make non alcoholic beer with ease at home like you can a regular beer. You'd need, what, a mega vacuum chamber to boil off the alcohol or something?

It's not homebrew viable.

You could just not pitch the yeast. It would of course be a very sweet and worty concoction!

But that's just me expressing my opinion on an open forum!

 

[Airborneguy]

It's a cult that's saved a lot of lives and a lot of families, mine included. Perhaps not all opinions should be aired out on these threads -- especially ones that would sway a struggling addict from getting the best help available.

You had a good experience with them, I didn't. My first comment about AA was sort of in support of their ideals btw. I always say that the shame of AA is that they come off way to strong which probably turns away a lot of people who need their help based on first impressions.

 

[azscoob]

Becks NA, both normal pilsner and dark, are my favorites. I've tried them all.

And for the OP, I've never heard of a homebrewer successfully making an NA beer.

I am working on doing it, I think I have a good process that may work, but I need to do some testing and verification first.

 

[Palefire]

Becks NA, both normal pilsner and dark, are my favorites. I've tried them all.

And for the OP, I've never heard of a homebrewer successfully making an NA beer.

I have, actually. I made 2 batches last year as a Christmas present for my brother-in-law, who had stopped drinking a few months earlier. An Oatmeal Stout and a N/A version of Ed Wort's Pale. I used the "boil off the alcohol" technique from the BYO article that people always reference whenever the topic comes up.

It ended up being a bit of a PITA to do, but both batches ended up really good. I added a hop tea when bottling the Pale, and IMO the beer ended up tasting as good as many commercial pales. Bro-in-law loved both of them.

 

[abcd123]

To you guys making NA beer, is it completely NA, or less than .5% like the kind they sell in stores?

As for AA, I was also "forced" a couple years ago and I agree that they were too strong and all I ever heard was "war stories" from "back in the day" that people shared. There' also a lot of talk about religion, a higher power like god which I don't believe in, I'm not religious at all. If it works for people that's fine, it didn't for me and I was still drinking. My health is my only reason to cut-down that's the reason I've switched to NA and in 3 days it's going to be a full month without a "real" beer and that's the longest I've gone in the last 10 years. I realize I'm not completely sober since it has that .5% but, I'd much rather end up drinking 10 NA's than 10 real beers.

I don't see myself going back to real beer. At first when I switched I told myself that I would drink real beers some days like on the weekends but, I have no urge to. I just continue to drink NA, since it gives me the taste of beer and it gives me my "drinking time" with a 1/10th of the harmful effects (as far as I know).

It's been a blessing to me, or else it was so difficult, a few years ago I started realizing the damage I was doing to myself with real beer but, I just couldn't stop it and every day it felt like I was sending myself down a downward spiral with no way out, health wise.

 

[passedpawn]

I have, actually. I made 2 batches last year as a Christmas present for my brother-in-law, who had stopped drinking a few months earlier. An Oatmeal Stout and a N/A version of Ed Wort's Pale. I used the "boil off the alcohol" technique from the BYO article that people always reference whenever the topic comes up.

It ended up being a bit of a PITA to do, but both batches ended up really good. I added a hop tea when bottling the Pale, and IMO the beer ended up tasting as good as many commercial pales. Bro-in-law loved both of them.

Fantastic. An oatmeal stout would be a great beer to test this on. I'd love to ask a bunch of questions, but I'm afraid we've gone off topic already, so i won't. I'd jump into another thread if you (and azscoop) want to open a new topic. I've had some ideas of doing this myself.

 

[passedpawn]

I've opened a "Brewing a Non-Alchoholic Beer" thread. Let's take any further discussion of that over there. Looking forward to that.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/homebrewing-non-alchoholic-beer-state-union-278865/

 

[Pumbaa]

aa is very fanatical. I had some "forced" interaction with them in 2006 and they talked to all the new recruits about not replacing alcohol with na products. Aa is a cult, flat out. I hate having to say that for those who need it, but that was my take away.

thank you for having the courage, sir, to speak the thoughts that were going through my head!

+1

 

[david_42]

The BYO (that's Brew Your Own magazine) technique gives you a final product around 0.5 ABV. Getting much lower than that is very difficult without a vacuum distillation system.

You might also look into any local homebrewers clubs. You might find someone that is interested in exploring the technique and will brew with you on their gear.

 

[abcd123]

The BYO (that's Brew Your Own magazine) technique gives you a final product around 0.5 ABV. Getting much lower than that is very difficult without a vacuum distillation system.

You might also look into any local homebrewers clubs. You might find someone that is interested in exploring the technique and will brew with you on their gear.

Thanks for the tip but i guess its pointless for me since my main reason was cost but as others stated that its not going to be cheaper to brew my own correct?

 

[bottlebomber]

Thanks for the tip but i guess its pointless for me since my main reason was cost but as others stated that its not going to be cheaper to brew my own correct?

If you are talking about not only brewing but also de-alcoholizing your own beer, and you value your time even remotely, then no it will not be cheaper.

If you're ever able to get your drinking habit under control though, I highly recommend making your own alcoholic homebrew!

I've actually heard a lot of people mention they drink much less of their own beer than they did when it was Bud/Miller/Coors

 

[Homercidal]

I've still got a stout in the fridge that needs to be boiled off. I think the cost is very reasonable if you were to do it homebrew style, but it's a bunch of work.

My design for getting rid of the alcohol is to attach a vacuum to the spout on the carboy, and also heat the carboy to the boiling point of the alcohol (which is much less due to the vacuum) Really just working on the attachment to the carboy (actually a wine jug) to a small pump from a vacuum sealer or aquarium.

 

[bigbeergeek]

I've still got a stout in the fridge that needs to be boiled off. I think the cost is very reasonable if you were to do it homebrew style, but it's a bunch of work.

My design for getting rid of the alcohol is to attach a vacuum to the spout on the carboy, and also heat the carboy to the boiling point of the alcohol (which is much less due to the vacuum) Really just working on the attachment to the carboy (actually a wine jug) to a small pump from a vacuum sealer or aquarium.

I thought heating carboys was a bad idea?

 

[Shaft333]

Buy cheap beer and cook the alcohol out.
Probably better way to experiment with creating NA beer.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

If this guy has to hide his brewing there's probably a lot to this story we don't know and we probably don't want to know it...

 

[bottlebomber]

If this guy has to hide his brewing there's probably a lot to this story we don't know and we probably don't want to know it...

Kind of what I was thinking...

"Hey whatcha doing in your room guy, you've been in there all day."
"Uhhh... nothin'."
"What's that funny smell coming from there?"
"Uhhhh.... I made nachos."

 

[emjay]

I'm guessing he lives in a recovery center, halfway house, or with someone that has made sobriety a condition.

 

[emjay]

I thought heating carboys was a bad idea?

It is. I'm not sure how much negative pressure they can take either. Depending on the the vacuum, the boiling point will vary, but it seems to me that a carboy would shatter well before the point where the vacuum is strong enough to allow it to boil off at a temp that I'd be comfortable *warming* it to. The boiling point of alcohol is sufficiently high, and the ability of a carboy to withstand pressure is sufficiently low, that I just don't think a "sweet spot" exists where alcohol is able boil-off while the vacuum and the heat are BOTH low enough to ensure the carboy remains uncompromised.

I think a giant pressure-cooker would work best. Easy to *sterilize*, and is already built to seal, unlike a brew kettle.

That, or an equally giant borosilicate flask. Also can be sterilized, and systems that apply vacuums to flasks are already quite common, so they're comparatively easy to design.

 

[seabass07]

I thought about a pressure cooker as well. If the lid could be inverted to hold negative pressure, it would probably work well. Otherwise suction would just suck the lid into the pot.

 

[bigbeergeek]

This thread has wandered into NA beer territory and has nothing to do with buying/selling homebrew. Take it somewhere else boys.

 

[Homercidal]

This thread has wandered into NA beer territory and has nothing to do with buying/selling homebrew. Take it somewhere else boys.

I get your point, but consider that buying/selling NA homebrew may not be illegal.

 

[passedpawn]

I've opened a "Brewing a Non-Alchoholic Beer" thread. Let's take any further discussion of that over there. Looking forward to that.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/homebrewing-non-alchoholic-beer-state-union-278865/

This thread has wandered into NA beer territory and has nothing to do with buying/selling homebrew. Take it somewhere else boys.

??

 

[bigbeergeek]

I get your point, but consider that buying/selling NA homebrew may not be illegal.

It would still be illegal, because it will still have some alcohol in it. That's why kids can't buy "NA" beer. It's quite far from the original question at hand here.

??

Not very confusing. A lot of people were still posting after the fact.

 

[emjay]

It would still be illegal, because it will still have some alcohol in it. That's why kids can't buy "NA" beer.

You sure about that? Obviously the laws may be different, but I remember when I was a kid and would go buy 0.5% wine coolers with my buddies. They're definitely allowed to here.