Got called a meth dealer...

[Airborneguy]

I'm sure it would surprised the crap out of a brewer if the cops were called on them and the responding officer invited them to his homebrew club's meeting...

With all the BS calls I've gotten, I've never gotten one for this.

 

[moti_mo]

I've never understood these stories. I know they happen, obviously, but I can't fathom how some people think they're so unbelievably perceptive and clever that they've caught someone red-handed cooking meth in their driveway, on their front porch, etc.

If someone was going to go to the trouble of doing something so blatantly illegal/sketchy/stigmatized that they're certain to do time if they were caught, logic should tell you they wouldn't be doing it out in the open for the entire world to see. Of course, the accusers are typically allergic to logic, but...

 

[emjay]

Especially with my yeast culturing equipment, constantly ordering from a lab supply company to my house, I wouldn't be surprised if I was on some watchlist. Probably didn't help that I asked if they had documentation on the P2P method (no, not really )

People over have certainly commented that it can look like a meth lab. If the cops came over, they'd find not just a bunch of lab equipment, but about six 1-pound bags - and countless 1oz bags - of fragrant leafy green stuff in my freezer (from the taxonomic family cannabaceae, no less), as well as about a dozen 1-pound "bricks" of white powder (dextrose and lactose), and a handful of small bags and vials of white (brewing salts) and tan (amylase, yeast nutrient) powder in a nearby cupboard. And even a few baggies of unmarked pills - servomyces capsules (customs actually opened that particular package because of them!), whirlfloc tablets, and campden tablets.

Oh, and two 5gallon buckets full of more tan-colored powder, as I recently bought 25kg of DME during a group grain buy - I actually brew all-grain, but I packaged it extremely well, and couldn't pass up the chance to pay such a great price for a ton of quality DME to use to make starters, correct OG even if I just slightly miss my target, mix up some malt agar, and even just brew extract batches if I'm feeling lazy, or want to experiment with hops, yeast, techniques, or anything else.

I'm putting my house on the market tomorrow, and while all my lab equipment is in a cabinet, people are snoopy, so it should be interesting to see if anything happens as a result of the open house

 

[AussieBrewerInColorado]

I always wonder what people going by think when i'm brewing AG in the garage.

 

[jd3]

Especially with my yeast culturing equipment, constantly ordering from a lab supply company to my house, I wouldn't be surprised if I was on some watchlist. Probably didn't help that I asked if they had documentation on the P2P method (no, not really )

I am the owner/manufacturer/devoloper of an aquarium fertilizer product for Planted Aquariums. I have drums of Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Sulfate, and monopotassium sulphate delivered to my driveway. If I'm not on a watch list somewhere I don't think anyone is...

One of the products I sell is in gelatin capsule form. It literally looks like I'm selling drugs...

 

[emjay]

I've never understood these stories. I know they happen, obviously, but I can't fathom how some people think they're so unbelievably perceptive and clever that they've caught someone red-handed cooking meth in their driveway, on their front porch, etc.

If someone was going to go to the trouble of doing something so blatantly illegal/sketchy/stigmatized that they're certain to do time if they were caught, logic should tell you they wouldn't be doing it out in the open for the entire world to see

What if the meth cook is just so clever that they're actually counting on this fact?

(Don't bother answering, it wasn't a genuine question; I am fully aware of the fact that this makes no sense, since even if everybody who saw it used this line of reasoning, it is still an absolute impossibility for there to be less risk in doing so vs just keeping it private.)

 

[GLWIII]

Next time her dog visits your yard...

...give it a handful of some old hops ;-)

 

[emjay]

I am the owner/manufacturer/devoloper of an aquarium fertilizer product for Planted Aquariums. I have drums of Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Sulfate, and monopotassium sulphate delivered to my driveway. If I'm not on a watch list somewhere I don't think anyone is...

One of the products I sell is in gelatin capsule form. It literally looks like I'm selling drugs...

I would actually be extremely surprised if you WEREN'T on some sort of list somewhere, due buying those chemicals in bulk! Though it's not like people are generally made aware of this fact.

But either way, you really shouldn't have anything at all to worry about.

 

[jd3]

I would actually be extremely surprised if you WEREN'T on some sort of list somewhere, due buying those chemicals in bulk! Though it's not like people are generally made aware of this fact.

But either way, you really shouldn't have anything at all to worry about.

I am very sure I am.... I ship out ~100 packages a week of little packs of gel caps, too. So I'm sure that gets someones attention.

 

[Caboose]

I havent had any issues while brewing in the drive way. Yet. I do have a KY State Trooper across the road and a Sheriff 6 houses down.

I have had an issue with a crazy neighbor. And she is literally crazy, but more so paranoid. I have an acre lot 1/2 of which is woods. I had a few dead trees on the edge of the woods that needed to come down and be cut up for fire wood. So I get my chainsaw out and cut them down. Well they are a little further in the woods than I would like to cut wood up. So I drove my jeep around the house (the side that we share, which is the side my garage is) and tie it to a chain and pull it out. Then I continue to cut it up and split the logs. Drive back around, no issues......for now.

The next day I get home from work and while I was gone, she had taken string and gone from the pole we share at the front corner of the lot and the lot marker at the back and made a property line marker.

Now we have been in this house for a year and growing up I always have made a point to have a good relationship with my neighbors. And all the others on my road are great and they like me the same. Probably because of the fact I make beer.

So trying to make sure I hadn't done something wrong I go over to talk to her, which in the past has been fine.

This time she answers the door automatically yelling at me about how I drove through her yard and over her septic tank. I asked her where I drove and she point to a part of the yard, I walked her out and showed her my tire tracks (now I have big mud tires and you can see the tracks very well) where she said I was, was about 15 feet from the tracks and in the middle of her yard.

So she continued to yell on and on for about 15 minutes until I told her that I had had enough and was going back in and she then tripped over her string. Being a "decent"person I offered/tried to help her up being that she is in her late sixties. She then tried to call for help yelling that I pushed her...

Once I got inside I call Mike, my State Trooper neighbor to ask what I should do to protect myself. He said to call the Sheriffs office and file a report before she filed a complaint. I did, but they said they couldnt officially do anything.

Well about 5 months later she came and apologized. She said she over reacted. As she left I also informed her that her septic tank was on the OTHER side of the house! lol

 

[unionrdr]

Well,I won't be surprised if I start getting something like these stories when my neighbors find out I'm a home brewer. There is no specific law I'm aware of in Ohio that says I can brew beer for myself/family's use. It just says,if I want to sell it,I need all the usual permits. Great. I finally find something I'm good at & enjoy doing,& it sit smack dab in a gray area. B-E-A-utiful. As if I didn't have enough to worry about...
But,then again,those revised codes haven't been updated since October '08 that I can find. And there are plenty of LHBS's in Ohio,1 10 mins away from me in Westlake.????

 

[Jefathome]

Until Oklahoma finally legalized Homebrewing I kept my brewdays mostly concealed in the garage.

Once it was legalized I stopped caring.

???????
When was that? So it was ILLEGAL in the recent past?

 

[Jefathome]

I brew on the driveway too and have had similar accusations. I fixed it in a hurry by offering them a free beer. I bring um in the garage and even let them pull the tap handles themselves. I go from suspect to hero in 1 min

Well you ARE in Chino hills, so I could understand the confusion.

 

[Jefathome]

I am the owner/manufacturer/devoloper of an aquarium fertilizer product for Planted Aquariums. I have drums of Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Sulfate, and monopotassium sulphate delivered to my driveway. If I'm not on a watch list somewhere I don't think anyone is...

One of the products I sell is in gelatin capsule form. It literally looks like I'm selling drugs...

I'm not "THAT" bad, but I too am an aquarist (coral reef tanks) so on top of the bags of leafy green stuff (Hops), burners, kettles and vials, I also have a coral prop system in my garage with a 400w MetalHalide, bags of chemicals (CaCl - Driveway de-icer, CaHO3 - Pickling lime, Baking powder, Mg-sulfate) as well as some Solar-tubes on the roof over out livingroom with that blue Actinic light reflecting up off the water surface until late in the evening (about 10pm), and a HUGE electric bill.

 

[Revvy]

???????
When was that? So it was ILLEGAL in the recent past?

Uh, yeah....In 2009, Utah legalized homebrewing. In 2010, Oklahoma successfully passed its own homebrewing legalization law. This year, Mississippi has homebrewing bills pending in its legislature. It's still hasn't been voted on in Alabama iirc.

 

[Gunfighter04]

The Amish probably don't have a clue as to what I'm doing, so I don't give it much thought. Besides the horses I don't think anyone is closer than a mile from my house.

 

[r8rphan]

Okay.. here's a dumb one.. There's a few of us at a sports forum that have been arguing politics, economy, and religion for years.. We all know each other well from this forum, and we even get together once a year at a game... But like the rest of this country the ideology is sharply divided into two camps.. and the debate is pretty heated (most of the time)... But there's this guy that I can tell from his disjointed logic, that he gets up and hits the bong first thing every morning... Well, I posted some pics of my brewing set-up, and he accused me of having a still (because of the CFC)..

Here's the crazy part.. He's an avid home brewer.. WTF?

 

[r8rphan]

The Amish probably don't have a clue as to what I'm doing, so I don't give it much thought. Besides the horses I don't think anyone is closer than a mile from my house.

Everything I've ever learned about the Amish, suggests that they distrust the government far more than they would you, avoiding contact with them as much as possible.. so I wouldn't worry too much..

 

[ChshreCat]

The Amish don't drink as often as other folks but it's not forbidden. And since they tend to do things themselves, you might just find one that would teach you a think or two about brewing your own.

 

[o4_srt]

Everything I've ever learned about the Amish, is that they distrust the government far more than they would you, avoiding contact with them as much as possible.. so I wouldn't worry too much..

Besides, they have been known to run drugs with the pagans

 

[Revvy]

Okay.. here's a dumb one.. There's a few of us at a sports forum that have been arguing politics, economy, and religion for years.. We all know each other well from this forum, and we even get together once a year at a game... But like the rest of this country the ideology is sharply divided into two camps.. and the debate is pretty heated (most of the time)... But there's this guy that I can tell from his disjointed logic, that he gets up and hits the bong first thing every morning... Well, I posted some pics of my brewing set-up, and he accused me of having a still (because of the CFC)..

Here's the crazy part.. He's an avid home brewer.. WTF?

Do you realize that THIS is the only *ahem* "pot" reference on the ENTIRE forum this afternoon? I kept expecting a 4:20 @ 4:20 thread, or something. I haven't imbibed in that sort of thing in over 20 years since I tossed my cookies on some of the Motown Funk brothers I was "celebrating" with. But I do know what today is....and this was the only reference to a certain substance this afternoon.....

Sorry I couldn't resist.

(Back to our regularly scheduled program)

 

[Brewphish]

We're thinking of moving up to Columbus, OH... I see several brewers from there, so the supply/community must be decent.

Living in Columbus and just started brewing about 6 months ago. There are two LHBS in town, both offering some unique items that the other doesn't stock. Several good beer shops, brew pubs, and beer related events in town as well. Drop a line if you do end up in town.

As for the Metheads comment, I brew in the garage/driveway and have received some strange looks from people passing by, but usually I just raise my glass and they put two and two together. The Mrs. does tease me occasionally by referring to the brewery (garage) as "The MethLab" though

 

[snowveil]

The Amish don't drink as often as other folks but it's not forbidden. And since they tend to do things themselves, you might just find one that would teach you a think or two about brewing your own.

Yeah...I've definitely been to a few dive bars drinking next to some Amish dudes.

 

[Airborneguy]

I haven't imbibed in that sort of thing in over 20 years..

Damn, I haven't smoked in almost 20 years, and I'm only 33! You kept it up for awhile huh?

 

[Revvy]

Damn, I haven't smoked in almost 20 years, and I'm only 33! You kept it up for awhile huh?

I was under 30 when I quit....But honestly I didn't start it til I was out of college and working in radio/tv/the music industry. SO it was about less than 10 years. I actually never liked it as much as I liked beer. And then the whole hurling on the famous musicians thing....It took me awhile to live it down.

 

[Airborneguy]

Yeah I can see how that would make it an undesirable substance

Oddly enough (for obvious reasons that you know ) I was the opposite. I HATED alcohol before I joined the Army. The plant that some celebrate today was a favorite companion of mine until I went off to wear the camouflage.

 

[DeafSmith]

Damn, I haven't smoked in almost 20 years, and I'm only 33! You kept it up for awhile huh?

Been about 35 years since I smoked - started in college in the late 60's. Funny thing is - even then I preferred alcohol, or even both at the same time - a joint and a quart of Lone Star Draft.

 

[GuldTuborg]

We're thinking of moving up to Columbus, OH

I haven't read through the rest of the thread yet, so forgive me if I'm missing something, but Columbus is a good town. It's big and interesting enough that there's always something to do, if you know where to look, but small enough you won't get swallowed whole by the giant whale of anonymity (think, NYC). There's a lot of diversity, so you're bound to find a neighborhood you like, housing is affordable, and crime isn't too bad unless you live in the wrong place. Plus, we have Barley's Alehouse, who make the best damned English cask ales this side of the Atlantic (as far as I'm concerned).

 

[leviticus]

Yeah, both sets of our parents live in Columbus, and HWMBO is from there, so we make it back every once in a while. We're just tired of Atlanta (not hard to accomplish IMO - lots of reasons), so the switch won't be a hard one.

I was used to dealing with annoying neighbors when we were in an apartment, and really enjoy the neighborhood life now, but the year in this rental and next to this neighbor has given us a much better perspective on what to look for in our next home. Regardless, the brewing will not be hidden wherever we live.

BTW - Thanks for the link on the legality stuff! I can't believe it's only 50 gallons in GA! Good luck enforcing that though

 

[GuldTuborg]

I can't believe it's only 50 gallons in GA!

I'm pretty sure it's 100 gallons per adult per household here. So if you do move back to Columbus, you can brew 4x as much. Need I say more?