Airlines and homebrew

[bowtie]

I'm flying to a family function and would like to bring some homebrew. Anyone know what regulation are? How to best bring a 12 pack along?

 

[brewshki]

I'm flying to a family function and would like to bring some homebrew. Anyone know what regulation are? How to best bring a 12 pack along?

My girlfriend and her brother have both successfully transported home brew in checked baggage. I don't think they really care if it is checked. It was SouthWest if that's makes a difference for you.

 

[Yooper]

You can take as much as you can fit in your checked baggage- there aren't any rules against it. I'd pack it well, as I've seen suitcases dropped and thrown great distances.

I've never had a bottle break, and I've flown a lot with beer in my luggage.

 

[Derp]

I've had one can leak out of several hundred bottles and cans that I've checked in my luggage. I put bottles in socks and try to distribute them equally between layers of clothes.

Don't be surprised if you find a note from the TSA in your bag when you arrive. No big deal.

 

[botigol]

I do the same as Derp, except that I take the extra precaution of using the gallon sized Zip-Loc storage bags at two bottles per bag. Been doing this for years and have yet to lose one.

 

[NTexBrewer]

What everyone above has said plus some airlines allow you to check boxes. I have done this before. It was with American Airlines and the ticket agent asked what was in the box and I said beer and had no problems. Airlines don't care about beer. They do care about distilled spirits and have limits on those.

 

[pshankstar]

As others have said, wrap them up well in your luggage and check them. Also, make sure you do not exceed the airlines weigh restrictions or you could be paying an additional fee. I usually bring back some local brews when I travel and haven't had an issue as long as I wrap them really well with the clothing I have.

Also, my luggage didn't make it to my destination one trip. So the airline (Southwest) said they would deliver it to my house when it arrived the next day. They asked for a description of the suitcase and describe some of the contents inside. I said it's a red suitcase (carry on size), with a few clothes and two 12 packs of New Belgium's Ranger IPA (cans).

It arrived the next day without any issues and no additional questions asked either!

 

[wisconsinitebrewer]

I agree with what everybody else has said. Flown and taken beer no problem in checked luggage no problem. I put each of the bottles in a ziplock bag, in case of breakage, and wrapped them around clothes.

 

[secondbase]

I've flown with lots of beer and wine. I wrap it in bubble wrap and put each bottle in a ziplock bag. I put those in a trash bag in my luggage so if they do break and for whatever reason also break the ziplock bag, I won't have a horrible mess to clean up. It's an extra step, but I've never had a bottle break. I have had friends fly with beer and wine that wasn't packed well that has broken though. So be careful!