Legal to trade brew?

[Saboral]

It would be interesting to know of prosecutions successful or otherwise of homebrewers that wandered into gray areas. Especially where and under what circumstances.

Bet you’d find 0 or close to it.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Bet you’d find 0 or close to it.

I looked pretty hard and found one homebrewer that was accused of distilling in a dry county. It sounded like total bull squat because the “still” was a counter-flow chiller. He plead out for misdemeanor possession of alcohol.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I live in a dry county, with two county seats. The northern county seat is wet, inside city limits. So I can brew my own in my back yard (state law trumps county law), but if I want to buy beer, I have to drive 20 miles north. Unless it's a Sunday. State law limits me to brewing max 5% ABV, but there is no enforcement. I can drive 2 miles to a neighboring state and buy cold beer at a gas station or grocery any day of the week. But only 3.2% ABV. If I want anything else, I have to go to a liquor store, if it isn't a Sunday. And they can't sell it cold! I could go on and on. Liquor laws are written by hyper-pious lunatics, crooked politicians, and greedy liquor distributors. Ok, I'm done.

 

[PlexVector]

I did the same thing when friends kept wanting homebrew, and they did show up for an early morning brew session. They didn't make it to the end though. I think for most sane people, the time involvement is a showstopper. But they don't know that until they get involved. Until they see the process, they think you've got the Big Rock Candy Mountain in your backyard, where beer flows from a hole in the ground.

okay...I understood everything but the empty boxcar...

 

[ancientmariner52]

okay...I understood everything but the empty boxcar...

Can't sleep or ride in a loaded one. The Big Rock Candy Mountain comes from American hobo folklore. Bo's just riding aimlessly and hopelessly were said to be heading for said mountains.

 

[BeerChemistWhiskey]

There is certainly an area of the law between something that is definitely justifiably illegal (firing guns out of car windows while driving through town), and that which the government has little interest in seriously enforcing unless it aggravates their constituents or costs them significant (tax) money. People homebrewing and responsibly sharing with their adult friends, for an unknown/presumably zero (wink wink) amount of compensation, falls in the latter, IMHO.

Don't go posting flyers around town that your friend gave you a 6'er of Sierra Nevada for a 6'er of your homebrew, and I doubt that any reasonable person is going to give a **** or make any effort to stop you.

 

[jaybo]

I live in a dry county, with two county seats. The northern county seat is wet, inside city limits. So I can brew my own in my back yard (state law trumps county law), but if I want to buy beer, I have to drive 20 miles north. Unless it's a Sunday. State law limits me to brewing max 5% ABV, but there is no enforcement. I can drive 2 miles to a neighboring state and buy cold beer at a gas station or grocery any day of the week. But only 3.2% ABV. If I want anything else, I have to go to a liquor store, if it isn't a Sunday. And they can't sell it cold! I could go on and on. Liquor laws are written by hyper-pious lunatics, crooked politicians, and greedy liquor distributors. Ok, I'm done.

I live in your neighboring state and completely agree with you. Thankfully, the laws here will allow higher ABV in October, so maybe you won't have to drink BMC swill for too much longer..

 

[AzOr]

Sell them a jar for money and then give them complimentary beer.

This is probably terrible advice and don't do it

Ha! Before recreational weed was legal in OR, there was a guy that set up a cart down the street. He was “giving away” weed. He was charging $10 and $20 for the container.
The cops left him alone for a long time. Neighbors would complain, he would just move the trailer down the street.
My inlaws we’re visiting from the Midwest. Talk about culture shock.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I live in your neighboring state and completely agree with you. Thankfully, the laws here will allow higher ABV in October, so maybe you won't have to drink BMC swill for too much longer..

I'm looking forward to the change. We had an initiative on the ballot in '16 to standardize the laws statewide. The Little Rock liquor distributors and certain churches poured money into fighting it and it failed.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I'm looking forward to the change. We had an initiative on the ballot in '16 to standardize the laws statewide. The Little Rock liquor distributors and certain churches poured money into fighting it and it failed.

Edit: Oklahoma was completely dry from 1907 (statehood) until 1957. Will Rogers said "Oklahoma will stay dry as long as the voters can sober up enough to stagger to the polls." It's the hyprocisy that infuriates me. Who ever heard of a politician or a preacher who wouldn't take a free drink?

 

[pinchegil]

In colorado it is legal to share it with friends as long as they are 21 or older and their is no law in transporting it as long as it is not to a public place, there is also no law against friends sharing their grain with you so it is a non issue in this state. Which I guess is understandable in a state where people openly sell pot on craigslist.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

Just a simple question, i guess at some point when your friends try your beer and like it, they'll ask to buy some. Of course it's illegal, but would it be legal to do a trade? Say like I'll give him a 6 of my brew for a 6 pack of craft beer and it's a deal. Is that legal or still a no no?

Just give the beer away for free then charge $5 per person for restroom access.

 

[Manoau2002]

Friends/Family give each other presents all the time. If I had home brew I could give it to a friend. My friend, (knowing home brewing is my hobby) could give me home brew supplies as a present as well. Just friends giving friends presents. Happens all the time for birthdays, christmas, etc.

That and like others have said, the police are far to busy (and very understaffed) dealing with drug dealers and the like to be bothered with someone who sold six beers to an adult of legal drinking age.

 

[Saunassa]

You bring the steaks, pizza, burgers and I will bring the beer...

 

[Brewernaut51]

If you ask me the OP just sounds like two friends sharing beer.

I give homebrew away all the time and have been asked if I could sell a six pack and even get requests for beers I've brewed in the past. I always say I don't want the ATF to show up at my door. That actually sounds like a solution to me.

Most hobbies can be turned to profit if people like what you make. Shame ours can't.

 

[SEndorf]

I anticipated the responses.
You need to check the laws in your state.
Generally, beer for money (or any other form of consideration) is illegal.
Yes... many aspects of the laws are illogical
Yes... the chances of you getting caught are virtually zero
Sure, friends can buy the grain you need. Here, it's illegal. They've just bought your beer. Simply for me, it's a road I don't want to go down on principal. One thing generally leads to another.
But if you call BS on this, I wouldn't blast it up here.

 

[aprichman]

I anticipated the responses.
You need to check the laws in your state.
Generally, beer for money (or any other form of consideration) is illegal.
Yes... many aspects of the laws are illogical
Yes... the chances of you getting caught are virtually zero
Sure, friends can buy the grain you need. Here, it's illegal. They've just bought your beer. Simply for me, it's a road I don't want to go down on principal. One thing generally leads to another.
But if you call BS on this, I wouldn't blast it up here.

Yeah one minute you're sharing homebrew with friends and the next you are cooking meth in an RV in the deserts of New Mexico.

Watch out for that slippery slope fellows!

 

[Phunhog]

I don’t see a problem. If my buddy buys me beer at the store and I pay him the cost of the beer plus a little extra for his time did we break the law? Is my buddy now an unlicensed alcohol seller? Heck....he didn’t even check my ID! See how ridiculous this argument can get. No one cares if you trade homebrew with your friends.

 

[bpgreen]

Laws vary by state. I live in Utah. I looked into the laws almost a decade ago (when Utah legalized brewing). I can't legally share home brew with anybody except relatives. And I can't take more than a six pack out of my house (for example to a picnic).

Do I think it's likely that these laws will be enforced? No. Am I willing to risk it? Also no.

 

[TwistedGray]

Laws vary by state. I live in Utah. I looked into the laws almost a decade ago (when Utah legalized brewing). I can't legally share home brew with anybody except relatives. And I can't take more than a six pack out of my house (for example to a picnic).

Do I think it's likely that these laws will be enforced? No. Am I willing to risk it? Also no.

What do you do if you were going on a weekend vacation where you wanted to enjoy your homebrew?

 

[bpgreen]

What do you do if you were going on a weekend vacation where you wanted to enjoy your homebrew?

I would forgo enjoying my homebrew. Actually, I'd enjoy 6 of them.

 

[6thGoal]

Wow, just read the statute in California, can brew up to 100 gallons per adult in the household. I'm good for 200 gallons this year and giving away as much as I can to friends.

 

[TwistedGray]

Wonder if you can donate a keg to a brewery for them to give away as samples? California

 

[bpgreen]

Wow, just read the statute in California, can brew up to 100 gallons per adult in the household. I'm good for 200 gallons this year and giving away as much as I can to friends.

As a clarification, you can brew up to 100 gallons per year per adult, but only up to a maximum of 200 gallons total. So if there are 3 adults, the maximum is still 200 gallons. That's a federal limit. Individual states can set a lower limit, but not a higher one. I found something with the home-brew laws for all states:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/financ...me-manufacture-of-alcohol-state-statutes.aspx

 

[bleme]

I went over to a friends house on Saturday afternoon and took potato salad and my latest brew. It wasn't long before he was cracking open a NEIPA he picked up in Massachusetts and put venison burgers on the grill. A little bit later he pulled out a brett sour he picked up from Almanac that was pretty tasty. Then we compared that to his own brett peach sour that's barely a year old, which was even better! Deciding it was a special occasion (I'm still not sure what occasion that was) he pulled out the last 2 bottles of a green apple sour he did 5 years ago so we could compare. That was mighty tasty too! We followed up with a session IPA he keeps tweaking the recipe for, before finally popping open one of the NEBIPA's that I brought over.

The point of this story is that if I kept track, I'd be so far in the hole that I'd never see sunlight again. Fortunately, my friend doesn't keep track either. He seems genuinely happy just to have someone to share a few beers with and get some feedback on what he has been working on. If everyone is worried about keeping the scales balance, you're never going to be able to just relax and enjoy the company.

 

[Lax coach]

What if you sat out in your front lawn giving beer away (checking IDs of course) for free?

In Illinois, you can give away samples (size specified in another regulation I couldn't be bothered to look up) without doing anything else. If you wanted to give away full glasses, you'd need to purchase a $25 permit.

 

[Yooper]

Wonder if you can donate a keg to a brewery for them to give away as samples? California

No- and they probably wouldn't take it. It has to do with taxes and rules on beer/liquor sales. Anyone with a liquor license or a brewery license would steer clear because something like that could mean losing their business.

 

[biochemedic]

"Try to do the right thing, play it straight, but the right thing changes from state to state," as Soul Asylum sang in the early 90's....

I've been fortunate that the past 2 states (NC and PA) I've lived in have become fairly liberal with the beer laws, although PA still has some oddities related to the amount you can buy outside of a "beer distributor" (where you can only buy cases, and used to be the only place you could buy beer...)

The homebrew laws are pretty allowing in both states...you can definitely share homebrew, and as long as it's for charity, it seems it's OK to indirectly sell homebrew. In Charlotte, the annual Oktoberfest is run by the local homebrew club, and other clubs come from all over the state to also serve homebrew. There's easily as much, if not more, homebrew there than there is commercial beer. All of the ticket profit is donated to local charities. In Pittsburgh, one of the two homebrew clubs sponsors a beer event that is almost entirely homebrew, with a few local breweries joining in as well, and the event proceeds all go to the cystic fibrosis foundation in honor of a club member's family member who has the disease...

Both pretty good uses of "sharing" homebrew, if you ask me!

 

[TwistedGray]

No- and they probably wouldn't take it. It has to do with taxes and rules on beer/liquor sales. Anyone with a liquor license or a brewery license would steer clear because something like that could mean losing their business.

So, even if you went to the bar, sat in a corner, and poured out a legal portion of beer for free that, too, would be breaking some law, correct? That's simply because you are in a bar/liquor store/etc, and they have specific laws to abide by?

 

[RustyHorn]

Check the laws for your State. It may be possible that in your State your home brew cannot leave your premises.

Woah. What? Next you'll be telling me that some States still have the death penalty. Imagine that in the 21st Century!