So...has anyone had the cops called on them for brewing?

Yakima 728
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I live in east Tennessee and everyone here makes meth, so when me and my buddy are out in the workshop brewing, people think we are just normal hillbillies getting our meth thing on...no cops yet though....lol
 
shortyjacobs said:
I have not had a cop-stop yet. But I have had a neighbor fill my mailbox with pamphlets on how bad deep fried turkey is for you. After talking to a few neighbors, the prevailing theory is that I eat 1-2 deep fried turkeys per week.
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Got the same comment...."We thought you REALLY like turkey!!!" :ban:
 
Had couple neighbors look a little suspicious at me brewing one day. So I just walked over there and interduced myself. Told them I was brewing beer and offered them a frosty mug of homebrew.

As for the cop thing... You might be a little surprised how many of us brew!
 
i had the fuzz come over a little while ago attempting to interrogate me about someone discharging a firearm. i said hell no i am not coming outside, nor am i discharging firearms unless someone attempts entry to my house uninvited. crazy neighbors these days.
 
after seeing all the meth lab busts, i bought a white lab coat for when i culture yeasties. i had my mom switch the breast pocket from inside to the outside and add a pen containment stip. she asked what is it for. i say im starting a meth lab. she about killed me. apparantly that is not a "joke to make"?
 
Haven't had the cop thing but I brew inside as it is the 'raining season' and I don't have a turkey fryer yet.

However my UPS guy did bring me some hops from off his vine one day and my co-worker came in and asked why I have marajuana (sp?) in my cubby...I explained and she thought it was cool. I did have to hide them when my boss came in but I highly doubt she thought twice about it.
 
I brewed my first beer at my old apartment. 3 hrs after the hr boil my landlord shows up, which is great because he lives 1hr and a half away. Proceeds to engage me in small talk and then asks if he can have a few to take home... I hadnt even told him i was brewing beer, one of my neighboors knew the smell, called him, and he drove all that way for some homebrew. Luckily it came out pretty good.
 
lady_brewer said:
I think this is more about typical neighbours than typical cops :D

No issues here, but I live in cabin country... my neighbours may not like my homebrew (light BMC drinkers.... but they get it)

:mug:
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Those cops in the video were ignorant "kill or blind someone"
what are they talking about.I can see them taking the weed and the brass knuckles,but the kegs,cooler,chiller?????????
 
dkershner said:
...he goes into a story about how my neighbors think I am making meth. These neighbors moved in about a week before...

So, anyone else ever had the cops show up at their door? Anyone in a state where it actually is illegal?
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That story rules...only a matter of time for me I guess :drunk:
 
It happened twice the first year I was brewing. First time were uniformed LEOs and upon pulling up one recognized the smell. We chatted, I invited them in to see the keezer and the assorted hops in the freezer. His partner wasn't so sure of the hops but the first assured him it wasn't weed. The second time was plain clothes who insisted they were Jehovah Witnesses. I told them I understood they were LEOs due to the size of their necks and biceps and lack of having any issues of the Watch Tower with them. They were interested as I explained the process and showed them the equipment. I invited them to come back when they were off duty to enjoy some beers. They never came back and never admitted they were LEOs. As for talking to my neighbors about it, I don't have any intention of learning Spanish.
 
Neighbors always came across the street to see what was going on since I brew in my driveway. One time I saw the cops just doing usual driving around and they stopped at my house. Walked over to me and were very friendly about "Mind if we ask what on earth this crazy contraption is". There timing was pretty good as I was just about to sparge so they actually stuck around for like 20 minutes to ask some questions and see some of the sparge.
I asked if they got a call from one of the neighbors but they were just curious as they were driving around
 
Good to know there are some knowledgable cops in town!

Bend has it's share of busy bodies that is for sure.

Nice to see a fellow 'Bend' Brewer. Cheers!
 
BendBrewer said:
Good to know there are some knowledgable cops in town!

Bend has it's share of busy bodies that is for sure.

Nice to see a fellow 'Bend' Brewer. Cheers!
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I think I would hide inside if I was on the westside. Over here in the east I have a 40:10:1 ratio of Beer, food, drugs.
 
If this happens to me I could go to Jail....I guess since it's still illegal in my state. Got to love swee home alabama.
 
dkershner said:
I think I would hide inside if I was on the westside. Over here in the east I have a 40:10:1 ratio of Beer, food, drugs.
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Yeah, over on the Westside it's more like 40:5:35. But we do what we have to do!

Plus when the cops do knock on my Westside door, I can normally just point to another house on the street and tell them they have the wrong house. It's about 50/50 that they find something more interesting over there!
 
Only one cool cop episode with myself. Our house got robbed a while back and the officer who came out for the police report saw my 15 gallon megapot goes, "oh you must be a home brewer." Instantly raised my opinion of him. :)
 
only once and not at home I went to my nephews apt and I had the wrong apt # .... The woman who answered the door mouth must have dropped about a foot .. Guess a guy with a 5 pounds of DME and some Corn sugar in plastic bags and three vials of yeast does look a little suspicious ..



cops do come to my house for other things .. seems the one neighbor don't like 5 grand hole shots done in the driveway with a 396 with open headers ..everyone else was there maybe he was pissed I didn't invite him over
 
springer said:
cops do come to my house for other things .. seems the one neighbor don't like 5 grand hole shots done in the driveway with a 396 with open headers ..everyone else was there maybe he was pissed I didn't invite him over
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i thought i was the only one that does burnouts in my driveway or in front of the house.
 
I was brewing in my shed last weekend and the neighbors kid came over (about 10 years old) as I was sparging.. he says "what are you doing?" - "making beer" - "is that illegal" - " no it's not illegal, it's just a bunch of grains and water".. I grabbed a pack of hops off the workbench and dumped it into the boil and he goes "now I KNOW that's illegal, we talked about THAT in school" :)
 
LOL, I was sorting my hops and vacuum sealing them in the garage Saturday and it looked like a pot distribution operation, lol, my 9 year old had a friend over and asked, what is that, I told her and she just plugged her nose...lol
 
All the streets around me are filled with college students, so no :)

I have had people ask what I was cooking. I say beer and then they get all excited and interested. My grain compost pile is in the bushes in between my house and the neighbors.
 
No cops, but the fire department.

I just threw the wood chips on the smoker, and someone "SAW SMOKE SO I DIALED 911!!!"

Hey asshat, didn't you notice the smoke was a perfect pillar, and it SMELLED LIKE MEAT?
 
bad coffee said:
No cops, but the fire department.

I just threw the wood chips on the smoker, and someone "SAW SMOKE SO I DIALED 911!!!"

Hey asshat, didn't you notice the smoke was a perfect pillar, and it SMELLED LIKE MEAT?
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I had a similar situation right before a tropical storm.Winds about 25-30 mph
pouring rain i got sent home early due to the storm coming.It was friday and i had planned to cook my brisket satuday.so I said why not and fired up my pit
on the patio of my second story apt @ the time.My girlfriend was over meat was smoking away when i heard a knock at the door.I said "who in hell would be out in this weather" I opened the door and there was a fireman @ my door complete with a team of them includind a ladder truck,ambulance.So he say's to me "we had a report of a fire here i can see it is your bbq pit" we both
laughed and they went on there way.
 
I keep expecting a visit, but so far nothing. I live in a neighborhood with young and old families, and there's an alley with garages on it between our street and the next. We don't have a garage, but we do have a concrete slab where it used to be, so I generally brew on that. People ride their bikes past, walk their dogs, drive... No questions or even a second look from any of them.

Maybe if I start growing my own hops I'll get some attention :ban:
 
I only have 1 batch under my belt so no cops yet. I decided to brew in my garage for my first beer and the outside temp was around -10F with wind chills in the -30-40 range. When we opened the door to put the boil pot out in the cold to chill the steam buildup was amazing. It just poured out of the garage. It reminded me of the car in Cheech and Chong where you couldnt see anythign but smoke. I thought for sure someone would see it and call the cops. It probably didnt help that there were two drunk idiots laughing histarically like stoners as the "smoke" poured out of the garage...

Good times...
 
I've never had the cops called to my house for my homebrewing, cuz....well......I are the cops. In fact, at one point, two other guys in my department besides me were all homebrewers. :mug:
 
my other story wasn't brewing, but burning my firepit.. one of the neighbors called the fire dept.. i was standing in the back yard with a 10 foot fire, a big glass of red wine, and the hose lying on the ground.. i saw the lights and wondered what was going on, when the fireman walked up I think I said "great hat" before noticing it was a fireman.. he said "theres not many places where a fire like that's appropriate, but I gotta say, that's one of them.. good job on the hose." then they stood around for 5 mins and left..
 
i had one like that with similar sized flames leaping out of a washer drum-pit. they told me to "roast some weiners next time" and off they went.

i 1/4'd a honda crx with a sawzall. then decided to get the oxy-acetylene out. well the carpet padding and glue from 1985 was, lets say a blocks worth of nasty black smoke. like a pile of tires. the fd rolled up. i showed them the hose and x-er a few feet away. they advised me to wear a respirator and left.
 
I never had the cops called on me for my brewing; but was brewing when the cops happened to be doing a "safety survey and public information" thingy they were doing. I ran to the door and told him I had no problem doing the survey if they could come with me as I dropped hops into my wort. They were amazed and of course told them to come back in two months so they can pick up some beer once it was bottled and conditioned. Sure enough those guys held up and came back by off duty and I hooked them up. It also benefited that one of the officers was on the case when my wife was hit by a dumb arse drunk driver and I really wanted to hook him up.
 

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