I wish I had this problem, but I'm curious.

[QuadConPana]

I was reading a thread that asked when beer is beer for the purpose of calculating the legal number of gallons brewed per year. (Thinks like, if I drop a glass carboy right after pitching yeast, at which point it technically is considered beer, does that count towards my 200 gallons?)

Now, I am so far below 200 gallons, that questions like that have no impact on me, but I can't help but wonder if anyone has ever heard of someone actually running into trouble because they went over.

I could see if somebody had a half barrel system they ran every weekend and was buying tons of grain, but otherwise how would the feds prove you make 250 gallons instead of 200? And, would anybody really have time to check up on you, anyway?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I have known several who exceed the limit but have never met anyone who faced any legal issues because of it.

 

[unionrdr]

Me neather. I guess if they wanted to, the feds could look at how much ingredients you've ordered in a given year? Not something to worry about too much, as long as you're not trying to sell or barter with it on a grand scale.

 

[kombat]

They'd never know, and they know they'd never know. The law only exists to appease those anachronistic busybodies clinging to the temperance movement. As it happens, they still vote, so this way politicians can claim they're doing something about it without having to actually do anything about it.

 

[Rev2010]

Me neather. I guess if they wanted to, the feds could look at how much ingredients you've ordered in a given year?

They'd probably be in bigger trouble for violating some privacy rights trying to find out the actual number of gallons you've made than you would be for brewing over the limit.

Seriously though, it's a non-issue. As long as it's for yourself/family and you're not trying to do something completely stupid then there's nothing to be concerned about.


Rev.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Me neather. I guess if they wanted to, the feds could look at how much ingredients you've ordered in a given year? Not something to worry about too much, as long as you're not trying to sell or barter with it on a grand scale.

There are no prohibitions against having any quantity of the ingredients.

 

[OkanaganMike]

They'd never know, and they know they'd never know. The law only exists to appease those anachronistic busybodies clinging to the temperance movement. As it happens, they still vote, so this way politicians can claim they're doing something about it without having to actually do anything about it.

That and your revenuers. Too bad you're not in Canada, no legal limit here. :cross:

 

[Newsman]

Related question --- I always thought it was against federal law to sell homebrew. Someone told me that in some states it's perfectly legal to sell it. What's the truth?

 

[tnorman93638]

No worries because I get 200, my wife gets 200, my 2 kids get 200. I don't think I can drink 800 gallons in a year.

 

[Hello]

I think that unless you are out there selling your home brew, the Feds have bigger fish to find and fry. It seems as though they're not looking at the average home brewer.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Related question --- I always thought it was against federal law to sell homebrew. Someone told me that in some states it's perfectly legal to sell it. What's the truth?

Excerpt bullet points from TTB website (in context of BOP);

- Adults may produce beer for personal or family use without payment of tax;
- Adults are defined as 18 years of age or older (or the age required for the purchase of beer in the locality of the BOP);
- Adults may produce, without payment of tax, per household, up to 100 gallons per calendar year if there is one adult residing in the household, or 200 gallons of beer per year if there are two or more adults residing in the household;
- Adults who produce beer at a BOP may remove their beer for personal or family use, including use in organized affairs, exhibitions, or competitions (such as homemaker's contests or tastings);
- Adults may collaborate with other adults in the production of beer at a BOP provided they are not considered a corporation or an association; and
- Adults may not produce beer for sale or offer their beer for sale.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

No worries because I get 200, my wife gets 200, my 2 kids get 200. I don't think I can drink 800 gallons in a year.

Wrong. Funny, but (legally) wrong.

 

[kombat]

That and your revenuers. Too bad you're not in Canada, no legal limit here. :cross:

I'm not in Canada???

 

[ThatVideoKid]

Ifs cop doesn't see you brew 200 gallons how will they know!

 

[jrcrilly]

Many homebrewers ignore the 100/200 gallon limitation. I believe that an even greater number ignore the "personal or family use" restriction by handing out beer to friends and coworkers. It would appear that these restrictions aren't enforced in and of themselves, but are instead used to eliminate arguments and excuses when folks are caught illegally selling their product.

 

[Remmy]

There are no prohibitions against having any quantity of the ingredients.

This.

And that's because I buy 10 lbs. of grain for my "2-gallon" batches. Session.

 

[day_trippr]

Me neather. I guess if they wanted to, the feds could look at how much ingredients you've ordered in a given year?[...]

That wouldn't work very well. One could claim to have brewed nothing but barleywine.
Figure you could bury ~4x the typical grain bill in there...

Cheers!

 

[slym2none]

Related question --- I always thought it was against federal law to sell homebrew. Someone told me that in some states it's perfectly legal to sell it. What's the truth?

"Someone" was fibbing.

 

[RM-MN]

Me neather. I guess if they wanted to, the feds could look at how much ingredients you've ordered in a given year? Not something to worry about too much, as long as you're not trying to sell or barter with it on a grand scale.

I never mention how much beer I brew in a year in any forum online. There is no point in giving the Feds a lead. Let them try to figure it out.

To make it much more difficult for them, I don't buy all my ingredients. I have a farm and some of the grains I use come right from the bin. Some variety of hops grows wild on my place too so that won't tell them how much I brew from how much I buy, and I reuse some of the yeast too.

 

[unionrdr]

Good points. I don't announce how much I brew in total either. Just what I'm doing atm. They could figure it out if they were so inclined, but they apparently don't if they didn't get you for some other violation.

 

[kombat]

Come to think of it, has anyone, in any state, ever been charged with producing too much personal use home brew, in the past 40 years? Does this law ever actually get used?

 

[unionrdr]

Probably not. The closest I & several others on here have come, is when some nosey neighbor things we're running a meth lab. That's about it as far as I know...

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Come to think of it, has anyone, in any state, ever been charged with producing too much personal use home brew, in the past 40 years? Does this law ever actually get used?

In Alaska, a person can be charged for just having the ingredients to make homebrew.

 

[kh54s10]

In Alaska, a person can be charged for just having the ingredients to make homebrew.

Looks like the Kilcher family (Alaska: The Last Frontier) are in trouble. They brewed a 20 gallon batch of brown ale on TV!!!!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Looks like the Kilcher family (Alaska: The Last Frontier) are in trouble. They brewed a 20 gallon batch of brown ale on TV!!!!

Has more to do with being on some communal black list labelled as a drunkard. Found an article where a man was charged in 2007 for having yeast and sugar in his home.

 

[kh54s10]

Has more to do with being on some communal black list labelled as a drunkard. Found an article where a man was charged in 2007 for having yeast and sugar in his home.

I saw that on tv somewhere. Small towns with big alcoholism problems. I think it is similar to Dry towns in the continental US. Local only.

 

[beernutz]

Well if the ABC agents got hold of my Beersmith I might have some splainin' to do but otherwise I don't think I have much to worry about especially since I was an outlaw homebrewer here in Alabama from 1995 until legalization finally happened in 2013.

If you think the 200 gallon limit is repressive you'd be amused that when Alabama finally legalized, our ultra-conservative, less-government legislators imposed a 120 gallon per year limit.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Well if the ABC agents got hold of my Beersmith I might have some splainin' to do but otherwise I don't think I have much to worry about especially since I was an outlaw homebrewer here in Alabama from 1995 until legalization finally happened in 2013.

If you think the 200 gallon limit is repressive you'd be amused that when Alabama finally legalized, our ultra-conservative, less-government legislators imposed a 120 gallon per year limit.

Federal law actually limits to 100 gallons per adult, maximum 2 adults per household.

 

[Roadie]

Wow some of you are suffering from paranoia if you think that federal authorities will be coming after you for brewing too much beer so you get your ingredients from somewhere where no record is kept of the transaction, you pay cash and seal the deal with a secret handshake. Two things they don't have for enforcement are time, resources and inclination - ok that's 3 things. It would only be on a basis where you hit their radar for something else and they wanted to "throw the book at you" that this would ever come up.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Don't think anyone here comes across as "paranoid". Mostly just curious about the legal facts and any actual cases of litigation.