Buying by the sack?

[MaxStout]

Last year a local brewery gave me a few sacks of grain they weren't going to use. They order base malt by the pallet, and always get a little more than they project needing, so they had a few sacks left. I think they just wrote it off as "spoilage" or something, because the malt was approaching its use-by date and the brewery didn't want to use it that close to the edge. The malt was fine, just that they didn't want the optics of using "almost expired" ingredients if word got out.

Asking a brewery to add a few sacks to an order is a little different. The brewery could sell off a few extra sacks and call it "surplus," or just have that camouflaged as part of their normal use. They're not in the business of reselling grain, so the piggybacked grain would have to comprise a small percentage of their overall needs, so as to make it look like it's part of their normal supply chain. If you ask a brewery to get you some grain, discretion is key. They don't need a bunch of homebrewers beating a path to their doors, looking for malt.

BTW, Minnesota is also a state with no sales tax in food items, and the list includes brewing grains. Hops are exempt as well, being considered "herbs (seasoning)."

 

[PCABrewing]

In Illinois they tax pretty much everything, except certain retirement income.

 

[AdjunctBrewer]

Last year a local brewery gave me a few sacks of grain they weren't going to use. They order base malt by the pallet, and always get a little more than they project needing, so they had a few sacks left. I think they just wrote it off as "spoilage" or something, because the malt was approaching its use-by date and the brewery didn't want to use it that close to the edge. The malt was fine, just that they didn't want the optics of using "almost expired" ingredients if word got out.

"Expired Malt" now that's a joke. That's like saying expired barley seed. If it's stored dry it's essentially good forever. The imposition of accounting liabilities introduces false mechanics into the natural course of things.

 

[MaxStout]

"Expired Malt" now that's a joke. That's like saying expired barley seed. If it's stored dry it's essentially good forever. The imposition of accounting liabilities introduces false mechanics into the natural course of things.

 

[Bobby_M]

Breweries would likely just pocket it as cash off the books because they are not in the business of selling grain and would have no accounting flow for it

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

They don't need a bunch of homebrewers beating a path to their doors, looking for malt.

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On a related topic - hosting local / regional homebrewing conferences - "Brew Files – Episode 170 – Colorado Homebrew with the Brew Hut" is about a local home brewing conference that was hosted by a regional brewery. There's a couple of minutes on the legal issues that the brewery had to work through. It's plausible that other breweries may not see value in managing the risk (perceived or real) of hosting these type of events.

For anyone thinking of starting such an event, the podcast is worth a listen.

 

[MaxStout]

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On a related topic - hosting local / regional homebrewing conferences - "Brew Files – Episode 170 – Colorado Homebrew with the Brew Hut" is about a local home brewing conference that was hosted by a regional brewery. There's a couple of minutes on the legal issues that the brewery had to work through. It's plausible that other breweries may not see value in managing the risk (perceived or real) of hosting these type of events.

For anyone thinking of starting such an event, the podcast is worth a listen.

Being I'm an attorney, that's relevant to my interests. Thanks for posting that!

 

[deadwolfbones]

When you buy from the brewery do they ask for a TaxID or do they just charge retail sales tax?
I know some states have sticky laws about what a brewery can sell, or are required to sell alongside their beverage product.

So far they haven't charged me anything except the cost of the malt per BSG.