Otherwise, how is the ABLE commission gonna have any way to prove anyone has brewed anymore than what is available?
I mean, it's not like we get our stuff tax exempt and there is any record of the raw materials we have consumed. Furthermore, if tickets were available to show what was bought, how could it be proved beyind a reasonable doubt the materials were used for beer and not, perse, bread or otherwise?
This is something like the deposition I was in, one time. This was a trade secret case, and the deponent had left my client's company to work for a competitor. The big issue in the case was whether the deponent had taken papers, plans, drawings, etc. from my client to bring to his new employer. The attorney taking the deposition asked the deponent, point blank, if the deponent had taken any such information and given it to his new employer. The deponent answered, all full of himself, "sure I did, but you'll never be able to prove it." That was the end of the deposition, and the case settled, quite favorably for my client, within 48 hours.
Admissions are even better than records of raw materials, a raid on your house, or anything like that. You can argue back and forth all day about what certain records might mean or what might have happened to all that grain, but someone will take an admission and stick it right up your ass.
Also remember that this isn't just some sort of ATF or FBI issue, it's also a tax issue (i.e., you are supposed to pay taxes on what you brew over the limit). You are probably right if you think the guys with guns do not want to fool around with some homebrewer, but the IRS lives for this sort of thing. When they send you a tax bill for brewing more than 200 gallons because you posted something here just so you can whip it out and show everyone how big you are, that'll kill your buzz a heck of a lot faster than some fuddy-duddy lawyer advising you to quiet down. If you demand proof about the tax bill, and they show you a copy of your post here, that ought to pucker you up in a big hurry.
Don't think the "friend" bit even comes close to getting you out from under the IRS, either. The next question will be "so, who's your friend?" Pick your poison.
Guys, I'm just trying to give you a little free advice. If you want to brag about what you or some "friend" is doing, just don't do it in writing. And, remember, this is all in writing! I am amazed at how quickly the forum will point out an underaged poster or a distilling thread, but then everyone comes in to flaunt how they have brewed more than the legal limit.
Brew strong, brew long, but keep your friggin' head in the game.
TL
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