Diageo and AB-InBev petitioning the government/FDA to regulate homebrewing

[unionrdr]

Home brewing is what saves the main character in my book I'm writing from the FEMA camps. The well-healed people got him to brewing craft beer for them. And it's illegal to bottle or can it so folks can't take it home. you have to go to the pub.

 

[Brewcycle69]

Kind of like the Keebler Elves wanting to put regulations on homemade cookies.

 

[itsme_timd]

I received a reply from Gary Glass at the AHA and he hasn't heard anything of this. He's passed the info along to the Brewer's Association Government Affairs committee.

Whether it's crazy talk or legit info, at least we're talking about it and checking it out in case something is going on behind the scenes.

 

[JPrather]

That being said, I can most certainly see where these huge corporations would love to screw everybody that home brews. Cutting into the bottom line and all that nonsense.

Well, the second part of "every conspiracy theory ever is started by someone knowing a trustworthy guy" is "and is about something people are eager to believe 'could be true anyway'".

 

[broadbill]

The Lawyer fees alone that InBev would have to pay just to have them sit down and discuss this with the FDA would be more than what they lose in revenue because people are brewing their own.

All this assuming that the FDA would be the the governing body in which to get these sort of regulation...and it is not, as MalFet points out.

 

[itsme_timd]

The Lawyer fees alone that InBev would have to pay just to have them sit down and discuss this with the FDA would be more than what they lose in revenue because people are brewing their own.

All this assuming that the FDA would be the the governing body in which to get these sort of regulation...and it is not, as MalFet points out.

As far as the lawyer fees go I'm sure the big boys have a team of lawyers and lobbyists on payroll anyhow. As to why they'd go after homebrewing, someone else mentioned that homebrewing is where the craft beer movement is born, cut off your competition at the source.

One scary thing with the FDA is that they have a lot of flexibility over what they do and can regulate. I'm a cigar smoker as well and that's a big battle we're facing - the FDA wants to regulate premium cigars. We said the same thing at first, "The FDA doesn't have any jurisdiction over cigars!" However, we're fighting against them now as they seem determined to get involved.

 

[Easterbrook]

AB InBev sponsors an employee home brewing club and annually provides free hops to home brewers who visit the St. Louis brewery (this was actually last weekend, as much as you could carry). The company seems far from anti-home brewing.

 

[itsme_timd]

AB InBev sponsors an employee home brewing club and annually provides free hops to home brewers who visit the St. Louis brewery (this was actually last weekend, as much as you could carry). The company seems far from anti-home brewing.

That's pretty cool, first time I've heard that.

 

[PastorofMuppets]

i pretty much believe this is a load of crap.
The reality is those big brewers macro all ya want
are supporting the craft industry more than ever.
No they arent giving up much shelf space but they arent going to try and harm homebrewers anytime soon.

 

[VT-NAV]

Home brewing is what saves the main character in my book I'm writing from the FEMA camps. The well-healed people got him to brewing craft beer for them. And it's illegal to bottle or can it so folks can't take it home. you have to go to the pub.

What is a FEMA camp?

 

[tagz]

That's pretty cool, first time I've heard that.

They posted a thread about it last week. Invited folks to come out to the St. Louis brewery with any size bag they want. Take as much as you can carry. They were giving away 2011 Hallertau that had been stored at -40. Pretty sweet.

 

[unionrdr]

Dang. I could use some Haulertaur for my hybrid lagers next month.:rockin:

 

[MalFet]

One scary thing with the FDA is that they have a lot of flexibility over what they do and can regulate. I'm a cigar smoker as well and that's a big battle we're facing - the FDA wants to regulate premium cigars. We said the same thing at first, "The FDA doesn't have any jurisdiction over cigars!" However, we're fighting against them now as they seem determined to get involved.

A 2009 law put all tobacco commerce (including cigars) explicitly under the FDA's regulatory mandate. Without that kind of action by congress, however, the FDA is just not in any position to license home brewers.

 

[tagz]

A 2009 law put all tobacco commerce (including cigars) explicitly under the FDA's regulatory mandate. Without that kind of action by congress, however, the FDA is just not in any position to license home brewers.

But that doesn't explain the FEMA camps.

 

[clarksc4]

But that doesn't explain the FEMA camps.

I think that was something from a story that uniondr wrote

 

[whoaru99]

What is a FEMA camp?

[ame]http://youtu.be/QHZPx1LDm9Q[/ame]

 

[rodwha]

That's the first time I've heard of AB being anything near cool with anybody. I've seen how, compared to Miller/Coors they didn't interact much with the employees or give them much opportunity to do anything but work, and I've heard terrible things, since In Bev bought them, about how they do others.

 

[unionrdr]

I think that was something from a story that uniondr wrote

http://youtu.be/QHZPx1LDm9Q

This video is but one of many. Scary stuff we better be aware of. And that's "unionrdr". Spell checkers wanna change it to uniondr. The camps are woven into my story of the dystopian world we're headed for if we're not careful. At least home brewing saves the main character from the camps. But,dystopian societies being what they are,he has to bring it down. Change it back,or at least to something better. Another example of how beer saves the world!

 

[hunter_le five]

Subscribed. This is better than the "funny things I overheard about beer" thread.

 

[rycollier]

It doesn't make sense. InBev is backing small breweries more and more. They wouldn't have these new investment opportunities if they squashed home brewers. AB use to lead and create the market. Now they do less of that and more investing. If they are being accused of foul play, they can only blame themselves. They have been pretty stubborn and greedy pushing the crappy mass marketed stuff.

 

[unionrdr]

Maybe they collectively feel that they've bought enough small craft brewers out to control that part of the market percentage-wise? Some companies do have foolish ideas they've convinced themselves could work...

 

[Calichusetts]

This is shenanigans.

As someone just pointed out, the Budweiser homebrew club is pretty epic and very much supported.

Petitions and laws are never "hush-hush." The information would be out there. Sounds like this "source" is just spreading rumors. I think we need to separate the continual "evil corporation" idea from every large company we hear about and therefore assume the worst.

PS- The only information I found on this was your reddit post a few days ago.

 

[unionrdr]

You're probably right,but you never know what evil lurks in the hearts of men...

 

[meadowstream]

Do we need a home-brew prepper forum here at HBT? Haven't seen the acronym WTSHTF yet and no one has suggested that we bury our equipment in the backyard yet, have they?

 

[BrewLocal365]

This wouldn't make any sense because compared to commercial craft breweries, home brewers put only a minor dent in their revenue streams. If they were going to pursue some type of legislation is would be against the smaller commercial brewers. This is exactly what "big food" does with food inspections to take out small farmers / meat processors. There *ARE* food safety concerns out there but if you're a big company, once the government is regulating / watching you you're best bet is to work WITH it to create maximum barriers to entry. Make is expensive to compete. Similarly, though, they wouldn't go after home gardeners. America has a long tradition of privacy rights at the individual level that would make the home brewing battle not worth fighting given the $$, especially consider how recently so many states have weighed in to move their legislation in the opposite direction.

Given all that, plus the fact that it sounds like the jurisdictions are all wrong (FDA is not the right agency), I'd say whatever your source heard was a misunderstanding. The ONLY plausible thread would be pasteurization (since home brewers don't pasteurize). As we all know on these boards that's ridiculously unnecessary, but the USDA and FDA have been known to raise pasteurization concerns regarding home food preparation of items that don't need to be pasteurize because they are actively cultured or fermented and can be done so safely (yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi). However what they issue is guidelines, not home-regulations.

 

[BrewLocal365]

By the way, this is reminding me of something: on the iPhone App I routinely see discussion threads that have political titles and are listed under the "Debates" forum (I think), but they are always locked. I have never seen these when accessing via my computer. Can someone tell me what the deal is, because I would love to read some of those and get involved. One of my favorite things about this community is that it's hugely diverse yet everyone is pretty cool and supportive. There aren't many places these days where you can have a congenial online conversation that involves a spectrum from libertarian "preppers" to East Coast Liberals to everything in between and many that don't fall, in any way, in between.

 

[BrewLocal365]

Never mind… I just dug through and answered my own question… looks like I'll be signing up to be a Premium Member!

 

[BrewLocal365]

:: Double Post :: Oops.

 

[fuzzy2133]

This video is but one of many. Scary stuff we better be aware of. And that's "unionrdr". Spell checkers wanna change it to uniondr. The camps are woven into my story of the dystopian world we're headed for if we're not careful. At least home brewing saves the main character from the camps. But,dystopian societies being what they are,he has to bring it down. Change it back,or at least to something better. Another example of how beer saves the world!

One of the videos that was tagged as a FEMA camp being constructed on Treasure Island (San Francisco, CA) turned out to be a Google project for a floating show room on a barge. The idea being they could move it and store it for less than leasing a building. The project was very hush hush until it was floating out in the bay and the coast guard had to reveal the owner.

Sadly AB/In Bev has a long standing history of not laying claim to what they make make that is not a light lager. Some one needs to tell the R&D department no more hiding behind a curtain we are putting our name clearly on the front.

 

[BrewLocal365]

Never mind… I just dug through and answered my own question… looks like I'll be signing up to be a Premium Member!

See?