bad idea to take ingredients on a plane?

[Pivot]

I have to fly home tomorrow night, and have a number of ingredients to take back with me. do you think the security at the airport would get suspicious seeing bags and bags of grain in my luggage?

Not to mention I have a lb of pale DME for starters that could easily be mistaken for cocaine.....

do you guys think it will be a problem? I really dont want to get delayed because of a small bag of DME or something/

 

[android]

i'm sure you'll be fine. are you checking the bag or carrying it on?

 

[mikfire]

Oh good lrd. Small piece of advice. Don't. Just don't even try.

Get yourself to a UPS store or a Kinkos or something and ship the ingredients to yourself. They are on "high alert" at the airports right now and anything out of the ordinary will likely get you selected for the extra-special searches that involve latex gloves.

 

[impatient]

I guarantee, DME looks or feels NOTHING like cocaine.

I have no idea why you would take that on a plane. I can buy enough grain for 15 gallons with the price of checking a bag.

However, if you insist, I would check it. I do not prefer to tote anything around on a layover.

 

[bpgreen]

I've flown a lot and I doubt if beer making ingredients will cause any problems. If the DME is in a sealed bag and is labeled as DME, it's not likely to be mistaken for cocaine. That doesn't mean that it won't be opened by somebody who wants to check it, so bring some extra zip lock plastic bags just in case.

You might want to give yourself a little extra time, but you should only need enough time to deal with having bags opened and needing to reseal some of the ingredients and repack. You're not looking at getting pulled in for the strip search, questioning, etc.

If you check your bags, put all of the ingredients that they might open in ziplocks, even though they're already in sealed bags. If you do something like use a garbage bag (or double bag) and tie it shut, you can't depend on it getting tied again, but a ziplock is pretty easy so you're less likely to have a suitcase full of powder mixed throughout the bag.

If you check your luggage, it won't add any time to your airport experience, but you won't have control over how things get resealed. If you carry on, you'll have more control over the resealing/repacking, but you may spend more time at the security check.

 

[DavidSteel]

lol my friend from new mexico brought me some hops that he got from hopsdirect when he flew down. I don't think he encountered any problems.

 

[Joeywhat]

Bring a bag of corn sugar wrapped in plastic wrap - no label or anything.

Looks a LOT like a big 'ole bag of cocaine...I'd keep a bag of it like that in my truck sometimes 1 to see if someone would steal it and 2 because it was hilarious when people would park next to me and look inside.

 

[Pivot]

I guarantee, DME looks or feels NOTHING like cocaine.

I have no idea why you would take that on a plane. I can buy enough grain for 15 gallons with the price of checking a bag.

However, if you insist, I would check it. I do not prefer to tote anything around on a layover.

Im home right now in Toronto Canada where I can get stuff fairly cheap, and tomorrow am getting on a plane to go back to Fredericton where I would have to have everything shipped which would cost like another 20 bucks. and because I am a dirt poor university student, that extra 20 means alot!

 

[MattHollingsworth]

I don't think you'll have a problem as long as you put it in your checked bag.

I flew from LAX to Croatia with 3 lbs of DME, 3 Wyeast Activator packs, a buncha hop plugs, and a step down electrical transformer that weighed 30 pounds, that looks like this:

With that transformer, I actually told them about it and told them they'd wanna search my bags. And I watched them search my bags and see all of this crap and they weren't concerned.

 

[Houblon]

do you think the security at the airport would get suspicious seeing bags and bags of grain in my luggage?

Yes and its not because they think its drugs, the xray will show a large semi solid mass that may or may not get inspected. TSA suck and might never even notice or they may freakout, you never know with them --( they failed up to 60-80% of Red Team test )

Get yourself to a UPS store or a Kinkos or something and ship the ingredients to yourself. They are on "high alert" at the airports right now and anything out of the ordinary will likely get you selected for the extra-special searches that involve latex gloves.

This would be best at this time. my wife & me have had to deal the SSSS treatment everytime we've flown and its sucks.

I guarantee, DME looks or feels NOTHING like cocaine.
I have no idea why you would take that on a plane..

He should be able take what ever he wants as long as its not a risk to the plane or fellow flyers, but see above why the tsa may have a problem.

I've flown a lot and I doubt if beer making ingredients will cause any problems.

Have you've flown in the past week? I too have taking beer & beer related stuff on planes (within USA & to & from Europe) without problems but things have changed.

Im home right now in Toronto Canada where I can get stuff fairly cheap, and tomorrow am getting on a plane to go back to Fredericton

You might want to read this link>
Canadian airline passengers are barred from bringing any carry-on luggage aboard U.S.-bound flights

New rules>
TSA Security Directive SD-1544-09-06

Anybody that flys very often may want to check this forum, I call them professional flyers >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-safety-security-222/

 

[Brew-boy]

lol Corn sugar on a plane, I would pay to see that

 

[mosyslack]

As long as it's all powder and labeled, you should have no problem. Liquids... that's another story. You may get an extra search where someone goes thru your bag, and swabs for the explosive sniffer, but that would be about it...in my best, educated guess.

Let us know how things go.

 

[Pivot]

You might want to read this link>
Canadian airline passengers are barred from bringing any carry-on luggage aboard U.S.-bound flights

New rules>
TSA Security Directive SD-1544-09-06

Anybody that flys very often may want to check this forum, I call them professional flyers >
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-safety-security-222/

Well that doesnt have anything to do with me really, Im flying Toronto to Fredericton, which is Canada to Canada so I'm obviously not concerned.

But yea Ill be getting on the plane in a few hours and all my stuff is neatly packed away in my luggage. Ill let you know if I get a colonoscopy when I arrive on the other side.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

I've had this same conversation with other people about homebrew supplies and about taking bottles of beer, liquor or wine in luggage (checked luggage!) over and over and have never heard about anyone having any trouble. Bon voyage!

 

[Dalarast]

Yeah I think bags of Corn Sugar stuffed in your carry-on next to some small baggies of crushed hops would always go over well. Just make sure you keep scratching your neck and sniffing alot.

Of and if you get your arse checked out by airport security just think it as a pre-colon check! In fact ask the very friendly security officer if he can check your prostate why he is up in there... he could save you from cancer!

 

[Pivot]

well my flight was cancelled tonight due to our crazy canadian winters, so Ill be flying tomorrow instead. hopefully without getting a hand up my ass. ill keep ya posted!

Oh and when I originally flew here for christmas, I brought 3 bottles of wine in my checked bag and didnt hear a thing about it

 

[nbspindel]

go for it. i brought 32 lbs LME in my checked bag (with miscellaneous metal fittings) and all my grains, hops, yeast, etc in my carry on. No problems with either. And this was the day after that nigerian tried to blow up his leg! TSA checked my checked bag, too, but didnt even bother looking at the LME inside a box inside 2 tied grocery bags! I scattered recipe sheets throughout the luggage though, which might have convinced them i'm a drunk, not a terrorist.

 

[Pivot]

well i made it to my destination without getting any anal probes, but the stupid airlines lost my luggage !!!!

 

[Dalarast]

well i made it to my destination without getting any anal probes, but the stupid airlines lost my luggage !!!!

So you still got f'd in the arse? Worrying about one way they are going to put it in you and then boom like a scene out of a shower scene in OZ they get you where your not looking...

 

[jspence1]

O that was your bag....sorry But I promise I will brew up something nice with it

 

[rico567]

The answer is.....you'll probably be fine. The other answer is.....maybe not. It just depends on what happens if and when an inspector sees the stuff, and we have no control over that variable. I do know that before my son and his family flew back to VA yesterday, I offered him part of a large bag of thyme to take home. His answer was "Carry a ziploc bag full of a green leafy herb? Think I'll pass, Dad." Upon reflection, I think that was wise.

 

[Houblon]

Still want to risk taking stuff on a plane? You can't make this crap up

Better tell HoneyBear he's not welcome on airplanes...

*******************************************************
Honey shuts down California airport for hours
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/01/05...own/index.html

A man had five glasses of honey in his checked luggage. The bag did test positive for explosives but nothing was found but honey. Two agents became nauseated when they opened the suitcase and were hospitalized (must have been some awfully strong honey!). Man released without charges.

------------

A massive investigation at Meadows Field Airport involving hazardous materials experts, a bomb squad and the temporary evacuation and closure of the airport was all triggered by some bottles of honey.
-
They did a swab test of the interior of the bag and the exterior of the bottles, which tested positive for an explosive, the sheriff said.

Another kind of test was positive for a different explosive, Youngblood said.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x113238874/Meadows-Field-evacuated


--------------
A passenger's suitcase tested positive for TNT at Bakersfield's Meadows Field during a routine swabbing of the bag's exterior, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said. When TSA officials opened the bag, they found bottles filled with an amber liquid, he said.

"Why in this day and age would someone take a chance carrying honey in Gatorade bottles?" Youngblood asked. "That itself is an alarm. It's hard to understand."

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14126941?nclick_check=1

 

[MattHollingsworth]

Yeah, I'd still do it, and still WILL in the future. I wouldn't repackage anything though. Leave stuff in its original packaging.