Byohb...???

[Niilo]

Here in Chicago there are tons of BYOB restaurants. Does anyone know of any legal restrictions of bringing homebrew to these places? And since I can't legally sell my homebrew can they legally charge me a corkage fee? Thougth about this while I was on the redline today and passed a huge BYOB sign.

 

[beninan]

Hmm never heard of these types of restaurants. What is this corkage fee?

 

[Niilo]

I'm not 100% sure they do it for beer. Well the sketchy asian and mexican joints do. But I've seen anywhere from $15 a bottle all the way up to $25 a person. I'm a bartender here in Chicago so I always pay attention to these things. Even if it was homemade wine or mead. I wonder if they can charge me even though I can't charge anyone...

 

[keeku]

Legal or not, I can't imagine anyone coming up to you and saying, "Dude, there's no label on your beer, you can't drink that here!" Rolling up with a corny keg might be a different story.

I was recently told by a lawyer that restaurants in Chicago can't charge a corkage fee. They can charge a glass fee or something like that, so there are ways around it. I still pay the corkage fee and don't complain.

 

[keeku]

Sorry, BYOB's can't charge corkage fees... Restaurants that have liquor licenses can charge whatever they want.

 

[Niilo]

I should have made that destinction. But you just did it for me. So even if it's homebrew, which is very very illegal to put a price tag on, they can still charge me for bringing in my homebrew? Even if I made it absolutely clear that it is homebrew and nobody can legally charge anything for it?

 

[Niilo]

totally rolling in a corny next time I'm out for dinner...

 

[KUbrew]

I used to bring in growlers and bottles of homebrew all the time to BYOB places. I tried to find the ones that didn't have a corkage fee, the ones that did definitely charged it but I don't think they thought it was homebrew. Nobody ever gave me any problems about bringing it in though.

If you do the corny for BYOB take a picture, I always wanted to do that.

 

[Mustangfreak]

There is a very nice home cooking restaurant back in my hometown that is BYOB and my family loves to go to. I've thought about bringing my HB, but my mother would say something I'm sure about me being to into the hobby (worrys too much, but thats what mothers do)

 

[worstbrewing]

My LHBS actually uses BYOB as one of the reasons to homebrew on their website and gives a list of known good BYOB places around Philly. It may vary per area of course but it's very open around here to bring your own homebrew

 

[Airborneguy]

The fact that it is homebrew shouldn't matter. A "corkage" fee or whatever they are calling it, is not charging for the alcohol; they are charging for either the glass yo uare using, or the container with ice they give you, or the service of opening the bottle, etc. Most BYOB's don't have liquor licenses, so this "fee" technically has nothing to do with the selling of the alcohol. There are a lot of BYOB's in NJ, although I must admit I have never brought HB to any.

 

[PanzerBanana]

Um....what exactly is the point of paying to drink something you've already bought or made? I'll just stay home and order a pizza.

 

[rustbucket]

that just sparked an idea... (make the corny look like an oxygen tank... that you need for breathing.. then make it a party style tap.... it may just work! haha i know is much larger than an O2 tank but weirder things have happened

 

[curlyfat]

Um....what exactly is the point of paying to drink something you've already bought or made? I'll just stay home and order a pizza.

I'm with this guy. I've never heard of a BYOB establishment, and have a hard time picturing myself patronizing one.

"Hey honey, want to grab that sixer out of the fridge and head down to Bob's Place? They'll open the bottles for us! It's only $25 for us to sit there and drink our beer!"

"Shut up, Curly."

 

[Rob_B]

I'm with this guy. I've never heard of a BYOB establishment, and have a hard time picturing myself patronizing one.

"Hey honey, want to grab that sixer out of the fridge and head down to Bob's Place? They'll open the bottles for us! It's only $25 for us to sit there and drink our beer!"

"Shut up, Curly."

BYO places are great, the point is you get to choose what you drink instead of drinking BMC which is all a lot of places carry. It esecially pays off if you like to have a nice wine with your meal. Think about buying a $25 bottle with the 300% mark up or just paying the corkage. There's an obvious savings with the better bottle you bring in, it wouldn't pay to bring in Yellow Tail.

EDIT: I also agree with Airborneguy that you're paying for the use of the glassware and service since you aren't buying one of their drinks. It would be just as bad to go to a place and make your own lemonade with their lemons and sugar and refuse to pay.

 

[motobrewer]

it's more common with wine. people were sick of paying $40 for a $12 bottle of 1 year old wine so it's nice to bring in your own vintages.

 

[curlyfat]

I see the point, I just can't imagine myself utilizing it. We very rarely go out to eat, so if we do we are usually going somewhere for a nice meal that has good quality stuff. I can cook a steak at home for less money, but will pay someone to cook it for me. That doesn't mean I want to cook it at home and then take it somewhere to eat it and then pay them for the privilege of eating it in their establishment.

I get it, though. I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm just saying it's not for me.

 

[kpr121]

We love our local greek restaurant that has BYOB, they do not have a liqour license. It is a nice atmosphere, the food is excellent and well priced. They used to charge a corkage fee (it was only 3 dollars per person), the owner said he just wanted to cover the price that a soft drink would normally be since that is a large markup item that many restaurants make bookoo bucks on, plus the waitress will keep in in their coolers and serve in glassware for us.

They have since stopped charging the corkage fee, it may very well be because of the liquor license, or maybe they are just trying to be nice.

Anyway, whenever we BYOB, whether it be homebrew or commercial wine/beer, I always leave a few for the owner/staff to do what they please with them. We have never been charged a corkage fee, presumably because of this. I was just happy to share a brew with the guys who are working hard to make us great food.

 

[keeku]

totally rolling in a corny next time I'm out for dinner...

I'm inviting myself to this!

BYOB's are the best. Rather than paying $5 a beer, I can bring a 6-pack of awesome beer from home. Yes they charge you a $1 or $2 glass fee, but you're still saving a ton of money.

In Chicago, the BYOB can't legally open/pour/touch your bottles or the restaurant becomes liable. So yes they can charge a glass fee, no they can't charge a corkage fee.

 

[FromZwolle]

I'm with this guy.
"Shut up, Curly."

I think the byob places are pretty cool, but only the ones that don't charge. They don't have to pay for the liquor license and I don't have to worry about what crappy beer they have on tap.

 

[Teromous]

I think uncorking fees are a bit ridiculous anyway. I went to a place yesterday that charges $10 to uncork a bottle that you buy from them. I would think they would be courteous enough to do it for free considering that you're paying for the bottle and likely a meal as well. When people whittle you with fees it reduces the class of the establishment.

 

[curlyfat]

You know, the more I think about this idea, the more it makes sense. I'm not sure I'd be a customer, but it makes a lot of sense for the business. Do they have to check IDs of people bringing in their own beverages? That would be the only liability issue I would be afraid of.

 

[kpr121]

You know, the more I think about this idea, the more it makes sense. I'm not sure I'd be a customer, but it makes a lot of sense for the business. Do they have to check IDs of people bringing in their own beverages? That would be the only liability issue I would be afraid of.

I have been ID'ed a few times. I agree that it could definitely be a liability (say you get in a wreck in the establishment's parking lot after a dinner of boozing), although I'm sure there are much less in terms of responsibility for the establishment.

 

[KUbrew]

I've never been carded at a BYOB, but have been at multiple other establishments, not sure what the rule is on that.

I agree that paying $10 or more for someone to open my bottle is ridiculous, but I've found lots of places that have no fee or maybe $1 to $2 per person. That I'm ok with, sometimes I want to go to the local hole in the wall Thia restaurant and have a beer with my meal and normally those types of places don't serve alcohol so I'm fine with paying a dollar or two.

 

[motobrewer]

You know, the more I think about this idea, the more it makes sense. I'm not sure I'd be a customer, but it makes a lot of sense for the business. Do they have to check IDs of people bringing in their own beverages? That would be the only liability issue I would be afraid of.

the main issue with beer is that it's cheap enough already. doesn't make sense to charge a $2 glass fee on a $9 bomber of stone smoked porter. with wine, the cost ratio is better. also, there's the whole vintage thing. "regular" restaurants don't really have the greatest cellars. most restaurant wines are what, 1-2 years old? so if you're a vino lover, i imagine it's great to be able to grab a bottle or two of a 2004 cab to have with a good meal.

our curling club (well, we're associated with a country club, so it's the club charging us) charges a corkage fee when guys bring in wine. they usually let us get away with 1-2 fees for a couple 3-4-5 bottles.

 

[Paramecium]

I have been to a few BYOB's while in Chicago. The owner of one of the restaurants we go to frequently said that the reason for them being BYOB was a cap on liquor licenses in the city. Depending on where your establishment is located a new license may be out of the question as the city will not issue any more for that area. Buying an existing license can be quite expensive so BYOB is a better option and in Chicago is quite common. This place charged a $2 fee be it corkage, glassware or whatever you want to call it and they said they were allowed to pour the first glass and then could not touch it afterwards.

 

[Bobby_M]

Sure, if every different ethnic restaurant were fully stocked with good craft beers all the time and they were reasonably priced, BYOB would fail. In some cases the business works because people like bringing in the exact beverages they like while also enjoying the ability to sit at large tables with friends and enjoy unique foods. In some cases they HAVE to be BYOB because the crazy liquor license laws restrict how many can be issued in proximity to each other.