Homebrew bill passes Oklahoma State House

[viking73]

Do a petition drive and get a measure on the ballot that legalizes home brewing(beer, Wine) and distilling. Prohibit licensure of brewers that brew 200 gallons or less. Then let the voters decide.

 

[rico567]

C'mon guys. You spend what? A couple hundred (if not thousand for some people here) dollars / year on homebrewing? You can't affort to buy a now free license (which could become something like 50-100$ later)? In fact, you have to realize the progress that has been made. From illegal to legal if you take the free license... or a 35-100$ license in some years... Some progress has been made!

I think I would personaly make that effort -- to keep my peace of mind. Then again, I'm not in Oklahoma.

Glad you brought it up, "Erythro,"....even if at the end of your post.

The rest of you Okies in this thread- you've been brewing illegally for X years, why on earth "turn yourself in" by getting a permit now? The only difference will be that you're tagging yourself for the inevitable when they hang whatever tax (which they will term a "fee") they deem "appropriate" on that license.

This is one of those instances where the old anarchists' axiom needs to be quoted:

"The natural end of all government is a state of affairs where everything not prohibited is compulsory, and everything not compulsory is prohibited."

 

[maxamuus]

Being ahead of AL in this discussion is like being the tallest midget (i apologize in advance if there are any dwarf homebrewers out there that I may have just offended). I have not been brewing as long as most of you, am not from OK originally but reside here now, and all of my brewing has been done in OK - and I WILL NOT pay to do what I have been doing for free for the past 2.5 years.

For me, it is beyond the $5, $50, or $100 they want to or will ultimately end up charging us, it is about principle. Every state that borders us has "normal" alcohol laws (not restricting you at 3.2% abv, not restricting brew pubs to serve no higher than 3.2% beer that they create, not able to get cold beer in liquor stores - which limits some of the better breweries in this fine country from distributing here, excessive taxes on breweries looking to open shop, etc etc etc) and their world's have not come crashing down on them. What is OK so afraid of? I get it, it's the "Bible Belt" but last time I checked it's 2010 and we have far worse problems in this country and state than a beer that is 8% abv being served cold from a liquor store, or me creating my own beer at my house for my personal consumption. If "their" fear is that I am going to go into a liquor store and buy a 12% abv beer and chug it in the parking lot: 1)why wouldnt I just do it with the $6 bottle of Kentucky Deluxe? 2) Just do it with a warm beer, bc If I have that bad of a problem, warm or cold probably isnt going to matter much. Our country's political corruption is to blame here in the end. Liquor laws arent going to change because distributors dont want them to and they have the deepest pockets that they then turn and line our politicians'.

We are getting a Whole Foods here in OKC (finally) but dont expect there to be the traditional wine tastings or HUGE selection of craft beers like the Whole Foods in our bordering states because we are apparently too afraid of what might happen if we serve citizens of this state beer above a certain abv, or give people the option to buy a bottle of wine in the grocery store as they're buying the ingredients to make an italian dinner.

Sorry for the rant, I just am so frustrated with living in such a backwards state that excessively charges people to enjoy the same luxuries of our neighbors. And please, dont just tell me to move bc we all know people are tied to places for work, family, etc - moving isnt going to solve the problem in OK, it is simply an easy answer to ignore what everyone wants to just sweep under the rug.

Whoa, what the hell just happened...I think I just had a rage blackout.

Sounds EXACTLY like Utah! Although they recently legalized homebrew.

Mormons make up 50% of the population but some how make up 95% of the state legislation. EVERY SINGLE PERSON on the Utah Alcoholic Beverage Control board is Mormon and thereby doesnt drink, yet they are in charge of the liquor stores and laws around alcohol sales. Heck in my county you can even buy beer on Sunday. In fact on Sundays you cant even SEE beer. That's right they have to hang up tarps over the beer section in the grocery stores so you cant even see it. The mere site of beer on sunday will send ya to hell!

So yes OK might be bad, but it could be worse. You could live behind the Zion curtain.

 

[Surface_Tension]

This is "Big Brother" seeing the growing popularity of home brewing and realizing they are going to be missing out on a revenue stream. It might be free now, but it is a foot in the door.

"If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Regan

 

[COLObrewer]

Well, don't come to Colorado, you used to be able to go to public lands without a fee, now its 5$, min. If you get more than one hunting license it's 10$. Too many people here now anyways. Aaah, to be in the "good ol days" again. Great googaleemooogaleee!!!

Just trying to head off the inrush

 

[Brewham]

Don't let that camel get its nose under the tent. First comes the "free" registration, then the "nominal fee" license, then the tax to pay for the inevitable regulation needed to protect the public from impure products.

Live Free or Die.

 

[thedude00]

That sucks...... Look like they are trying to make money every where.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Our Governor said it best on an interview discussing legalization,

"Jesus didn't drink beer"

Uggg.

In reality, NOBODY has a damn clue what Jesus did and didn't do...it's all fantasy...

 

[MVKTR2]

Our Governor said it best on an interview discussing legalization,

"Jesus didn't drink beer"

Uggg.

Actually chances are overwhelming that Jesus did drink bier. If he did or not isn't really the issue. For hundreds of years Christians both Catholic & Protestant had no issue with alcohol, we know about the monks, etc. This is a modern revisionist religious approach. The bible aint so hard to figure out, drinking = ok drunk = not ok, any questions? Thankfully in MS, even though getting the bill out of committee is a problem, our Repub. Gov. Haley Barbour says he'll sign either the HB or raise the ABV bills into law. Haley's a rarity, uses a lot more common sense than most politicians.

Calm down man. the permit is free.

It's well established that the cost or non-cost isn't the issue. The issue is that government seeks to control the citizenry more and more to the point that I no longer feel like a citizen. I'm a subject of the state.

So yes OK might be bad, but it could be worse. You could live behind the Zion curtain.

Zion curtain, that's pretty good.

Schlante,
Phillip

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

I'm happy to be brewing outside the law.

Permit? No way!!

 

[bh10]

C'mon guys. You spend what? A couple hundred (if not thousand for some people here) dollars / year on homebrewing? You can't affort to buy a now free license (which could become something like 50-100$ later)? In fact, you have to realize the progress that has been made. From illegal to legal if you take the free license... or a 35-100$ license in some years... Some progress has been made!

I think I would personaly make that effort -- to keep my peace of mind. Then again, I'm not in Oklahoma.

Thats not the point.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Thats not the point.

Agreed. Its just another way for the state gov't to cash in on something they have no business being involved in.

 

[WortMonger]

I hear we are finally legal... in May??? Why didn't I hear about this? There is no way I am getting a free permit so they can take a count of us and charge us even more. I'm surprised they don't make us pay to bake our own bread here! By the way Gila, I'm one street north off Memorial but I have an Edmond address.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Yeah, no plans to get a permit here either. You're right down the street from me, I'm at Penn & 164th.

 

[Soonerbourne]

I also have no plans on obtaining a "free" permit.

 

[TotemWolf]

I was born and raised in OK. I will never move back because of crap like this.

I support everyone of you who will not be getting the licence.

 

[rico567]

A homebrewer obtaining a permit can have only one outcome, be it sooner (so to speak) or later. Given the present climate of government at every level looking for sources of additional revenue, you will be taxed. Count on it. If I lived in OK, you could count me among the homebrewers who won't be obtaining a "permit."

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Meh. I got the permit. Only part that sucked is they require a notary. I don't recall ever having to get that for the Wine/Cider license but, meh, I work with several notaries so....

Took nearly 3 weeks for the actual license to arrive.

 

[buzzkill]

I will not go and get this permit..once they see how many of us are out there,they will start thinking about how much revenue they are missing out on. under the radar has worked so far. and if the permit is free,how much trouble could I really be in? no I dont want to find out.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yeah. No harm in not getting it. The only real reason to have it is it is required for entry to State Fair contests. At least, is was for wine.

 

[SoonerDoc]

I'm considering getting one. I don't tend to subscribe to the same government paranoia that many others do. Not that they couldn't eventually tax me, but I think they'd have zero ability/manpower to enforce that tax. How would they even prove how much I've been brewing?
Anyway, I'm thinking about it.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

That is just it. They can't unless they require periodic audits. And they won't.

They'd likely just require a fee for the license once they've tallied the numbers or it would prompt higher taxation on materials. the ABLE commission does not have enough resources to police homebrew. they have enough on their hands just with legal trade for commercial establishements. And they are understaffed for that.

 

[BendBrewer]

Huh......out here in Oregon, we get permits to grow weed. You guys have a lot of catching up to do.

 

[jgln]

Huh......out here in Oregon, we get permits to grow weed. You guys have a lot of catching up to do.

I heard about that on NPR (radio) and I was wondering on how these growers keep their crops from being stolen? My image of a pot grower for legal sale like medicinal purposes with a license would need to have a secure growing location such as a building or something looking like a prison with guards. They did mention high utility bills so I assume they are growing indoors under artificial lighting.

 

[BendBrewer]

Yeah, almost entirely indoors due to the growing season here. Over in the valley they can get away with outdoor gardens.

And the fear was the same that I see some in here have over the permit. That they will now have a record of growers. Well, good luck doing anything about that. When you consider every block in town has an average of 5 growing operations, it is well beyond the point of being out of hand for law enforcement to do anything about if the laws were changed.

I love Liberal states. Try doing this in the Bible belt.

 

[redalert]

Man...Fu_K the government and the politicians!! I said it. A revolution in this country is waaayyy overdue.

 

[BendBrewer]

Man...Fu_K the government and the politicians!! I said it. A revolution in this country is waaayyy overdue.

Or you could simply move to a Liberal State like Oregon, Washington or Vermont.

It's those Red States and the way they want you to live YOUR life that you have to worry about.

 

[throwbookatface]

Or you could simply move to a Liberal State like Oregon, Washington or Vermont.

It's those Red States and the way they want you to live YOUR life that you have to worry about.

You could even try Texas - the one red state that sometimes actually feels like a small-government state, at least to me when I grew up there. But of course, in San Francisco there are real speakeasies and under-the-table brewpubs, which is pretty fun too...

 

[MistyMountainHops]

Edmond guys: 2nd St between Kelley and Santa Fe here.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Edmond guys: 2nd St between Kelley and Santa Fe here.

OKC guys, are there any brew clubs or get togethers in town? I'm relatively new to the area and think it'd be cool to hang out with some other people that share the passion. None of my friends in town are really drinkers at all so its...frustrating, to say the least.