Is this legal??

[RDWHAHB]

I'll have check out the blog. I thought they had a Liquor Control Board in PA.

Edit: Looks like they were Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE) Agents. The chauncy aticle I read before called the Troopers. Chaulk one up to the Ollllo.

 

[olllllo]

This is a good podcast on it. I loves me the SIDT guys too.

http://www.shouldidrinkthat.com/main/2010/03/16/episode-61-lew-bryson-interview-philly-beer-raids/

 

[doctorRobert]

If this isn't the case in CA, then why don't I hear about homebrewers serving their free beer in bars?

Because that wouldn't be a profitable bar...

 

[billvon]

If this isn't the case in CA, then why don't I hear about homebrewers serving their free beer in bars?

I can think of several bars/breweries out here where homebrewers "serve" (i.e. give away) their own beer. It's pretty common for someone to come in with a few bottles of X and give it out. Heck, in San Diego, QUAFF does that all the time with homebrew - and they're big (100 people per meeting) very public (i.e. they advertise their meetings regularly, charge dues and give out membership cards) and take place at big bars like Trophy's.

 

[Gremlyn]

I can think of several bars/breweries out here where homebrewers "serve" (i.e. give away) their own beer. It's pretty common for someone to come in with a few bottles of X and give it out. Heck, in San Diego, QUAFF does that all the time with homebrew - and they're big (100 people per meeting) very public (i.e. they advertise their meetings regularly, charge dues and give out membership cards) and take place at big bars like Trophy's.

You forgot to mention that the club is mostly comprised of stuck up, snobby *********s.

 

[olllllo]

I can think of several bars/breweries out here where homebrewers "serve" (i.e. give away) their own beer. It's pretty common for someone to come in with a few bottles of X and give it out. Heck, in San Diego, QUAFF does that all the time with homebrew - and they're big (100 people per meeting) very public (i.e. they advertise their meetings regularly, charge dues and give out membership cards) and take place at big bars like Trophy's.

Such an unprofitable move according to doctorRobert. Really? You don't think a bar or restaurant would love to give away free beer occasionally? No business ever offered you a freebie?

I'd like to know the circumstances for that. in AZ we are in the process of negotiating such an arrangement. The deal is, the bar is supposed to call the DLLC and designate a portion of the bar as license free. No commercial beer can go in and no homebrew can come out of that area. That's why I mentioned to the Op that the org may have to suspend it's license.

My guess is that a similar situation exists in CA. Whether QUAFF and that bar follow the wishes of the alcohol board is an enforcement question rather than a legal one,presuming my assumptions are correct. Again the OP should talk to the board about it.

 

[doctorRobert]

Its entirely legal in mass. And yeah its stupid to give out beer you don't sell. If you're gonna give out beer, at least do beer that's for sale. You really think the average consumer is going to go to your bar, because they're giving out 'homebrewed beer', really? You think that's smart? Most people think home brewed beer is hillybilly moonshine stuff.

Now hosting a brew club is entirely different story.

 

[carnevoodoo]

You forgot to mention that the club is mostly comprised of stuck up, snobby *********s.

Now, now. They're not all snobs. Some of them are totally clueless, too. What really pulls the group together is an absence of humor. And there are like 4 I've met so far that I really like. I think they're all pro brewers, too, but whatever.

 

[Gremlyn]

Now, now. They're not all snobs. Some of them are totally clueless, too. What really pulls the group together is an absence of humor. And there are like 4 I've met so far that I really like. I think they're all pro brewers, too, but whatever.

That's why I said 'mostly'

 

[olllllo]

I'm not saying that I'm 100% on any of this, but our club specifically asked Gary Glass about serving homebrew at events, festivals, etc and here's what he said.

I did hear about the AZ Liquor License Control agent shutting down the homebrew booth at a commercial beer festival. I was not at all surprised by
that, as I would imagine this would be an issue in just about any state.
I presume that there is a fee to get into the festival. As long as that
is the case, you will be up against the issue of paying for homebrew.
You've got a public event where people are paying an admission fee to
drink alcohol. I'm not sure how you would draft a bill that the LLC
would agree to that would allow the serving of an unlicensed, untaxed
beverage at such an event. Now if it were a festival where there is no
admission fee, and festival goers pay per drink (such as with tickets or
tokens), you might be able to get away with serving homebrew if you
weren't taking tickets or tokens for samples.

We don't serve homebrew at the Great American Beer Festival for the same
reason AZ LLC won't allow homebrew served at AZ festivals.

Granted, that's his opinion, but he is the AHA Governmental Affairs guy. If you factually know that this can be done, you shuold probably email him.

Also, in the 4 years that I've been on this board, I've never heard this, plus we've had moderators from MA, so I'm just surprised that it never came up.

Again. I learn stuff every day, so if this is true, I guess I'd like to see some sort of citation or account. That would be good news for homebrewing.

 

[doctorRobert]

Correction, I dont know if it's legal in mass, only that I've seen it done many many times. Usually a new beer a bar has on tap or in bottle and has women in very little clothing passing it out. And Mass has some of the strictest beer laws (no such thing has happy hour here), and I doubt bars in downtown Boston want to break the law. And it's usually crap beer.

 

[springer]

Correction, I dont know if it's legal in mass, only that I've seen it done many many times. Usually a new beer a bar has on tap or in bottle and has women in very little clothing passing it out. And Mass has some of the strictest beer laws (no such thing has happy hour here), and I doubt bars in downtown Boston want to break the law. And it's usually crap beer.

I have seen this done also its legal because the beer comes from a licensed brewery and they pay the tax on it per barrel.I have been to places where they have a all tap beers next 5 minutes free but usually crappy selection

Here the bars do what is called buy backs . After x amount of beers/drinks the next is on the house.

 

[RDWHAHB]

In CO there are places that tap a keg and beers are free off that keg till it's gone.

 

[BendBrewer]

Yeah, you would need a Brewery License in Oregon, to the tune of 500 bucks a year.

 

[olllllo]

Colorado is the only state that I know of that allows homebrew in licensed premises.
It's the law that MI homebrewers are trying to get passed.

www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/government-affairs/statutes/colorado. The relevant text is:

(d) Malt liquors produced pursuant to this subsection (2) may be
transported and delivered by the producer to any licensed premise where
consumption by persons over the age of twenty-one is authorized for use
at organized affairs, exhibitions, or competitions, such as home brew
contests, tastings, or judgings. Consumption shall be limited solely to
the participants in and judges of such events. Malt liquors used for the
purposes described in this paragraph (d) shall be served in portions not
exceeding six ounces and shall not be sold, offered for sale, or made
available for consumption by the general public.

We elected, in AZ, not to go this route because our federal exemption is written differently. We did not want to put that clause at risk, We are currently negotiating with the DLLC on allowing a bar to suspend it's license in a given area. We had a dry run on Tuesday, but the DLLC failed to return our call, so we couldn't test the matter.

 

[skadalajara]

o|||||o: That's cool that you're trying to get this done.

 

[olllllo]

A good chunk of the work has been done by Andy Ingram of Four Peaks, so you Zonies raise a glass to him next time you're in the Valley.

He's doing this for homebrewers. It's really not going to help his bottom line at all.