Mailing beer to a different state

[phil74501]

I have a friend that lives several states away that is a huge beer drinker. I was thinking about sending him some of my homebrews. Is it legal to mail, or ship, alcoholic products? I don't think the USPS will do it, but what about UPS or something like that? How would I go about finding out the legalities of it? I would hate to end up in the pokey next to The Bandit and Snowman.

 

[Leadpencil]

I have shipped it via dont ask dont tell. Wrap the bottles in bubble wrap and a bag.

 

[NTexBrewer]

USPS is most definitely not allowed.

UPS and FEDEX it is technically ok. You are allowed to ship liquids.

The easiest thing to do is set up an account with UPS or Fedex and pack, weight and print your label at home. When you take it to the shipping store and it already has a label they just take it and say have a nice day.

I live in Texas and my cousin lives in Florida every few months I'll send him some beers from Texas including home brew. I use UPS. He then returns the box with FLA beers and homebrew using Fedex. We have never had any problems.

We double bag the bottles, wrap in bubble wrap and use a 4 bottle wine shipping box that is essentially a double box setup. To squeeze as many bottles in the box my cousin shipped some bottles upside down. One of these leaked a little but the ziplock back caught the spillage. Funny thing is since the bottle was upside down no oxygen got into the bottle, I chilled it and drank it the next day and it had great carbonation.

Here are some pictures of the box I use. Bought it from a great bottle shop near me. Really any box will work but we have found this to be the perfect size to send a few beers and not cost too much. The last picture is of a sampling of beers you can squeeze into this box. You will notice that we also put tape around the top of the bottle. Some feel this prevents the cap from getting pried off if it rubs against another bottle.

 

[phil74501]

I have a box that the beer bottles came in. I attached a pic of it. There's also a cardboard insert to put over them just like the one on the bottom that the bottles are sitting in. I figure that if the bottles could get here without breaking, they should be good filled with beer. I also have that bubble wrap stuff from previous purchases. I kept the stuff for this purpose. If I stuff them around each of the bottles, that should do the trick. I'm worried about the legality of it. I know my parents bought some wine from California a few years back. It was shipped here from there. I would assume that means it's legal. I did try to order some mead from a meadry in Texas once. They told me it was illegal for them to ship it to Oklahoma. But, if I knew someone in Texas, they could ship it to them and then that person could ship it to me, and it be legal.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I always do USPS. Here's my packing/shipping method. Folded paper towel goes around the cap. Bottle gets vacuum-sealed with bag to spare. Sucked bottle gets wrapped in bubble wrap. Bottles get placed in box with more bubble wrap. Washers, coins, bottle caps, and bb's get put into a TP/paper towel roll then stapled/tapes shut at both ends. This disguises the sloshing sound that bottles may make. It can survive a ten story fall without breaking. Any leaks will be contained by vacuum bags.

 

[C-Rider]

For the past 3 years I have entered contests on another island and had to ship my beer. I use FEDEX, and they never ask what's in the box.
1-I put each bottle in a zip lock bag
2-I wrap each bag in a 1' square of bubble wrap
3-I place bubble wrap on the sides and bottom of a box a few layers thick.
4-I place the wrapped bottles in the box and then fill all spaces w/more bubble wrap and some crunched up newspaper.

I've never been told of a broken bottle so I know my method works. Just don't be stingy w/the bubble wrap it's pretty cheap.

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

I've been mailing beer for about 10 years and here's my advice based on my own experiences..

Do not ship USPS. Ship with FedEx or UPS but no not tell them what you're sending. I always tell them it's "food items in glass containers". I once had a UPS store guy lose his **** on me for 10 minutes over the phone when he learned the box I had sent from his store had beer in it. In my defense it was before I knew you couldn't ship alcohol to my state and he had giant signs in his window stating "We ship beer and wine".

Use one of those Styrofoam beer or wine shipping boxes. I wrap the bottle with electrical tape in case of leaks then wrap the styrofoam box in a heavy duty plastic bag and seal it up and slide it into the box.

If you don't have one of the styrofoam boxes then bubble wrap each bottle with 2-3 "squares" of bubble wrap and tape it securely. You want to eliminate and chance of the bottles clanking around in the box. Fill the box and pack in the open spaces with packing paper, newspaper, etc until the box is completely solid. If can manage to fit a plastic bag inside the box before you start filling the box then do so and seal it up tight once it's full.

I use Fragile and This End Up stickers on the box and make sure to put the shipping label on the part of the box facing up.

 

[dsaavedra]

Washers, coins, bottle caps, and bb's get put into a TP/paper towel roll then stapled/tapes shut at both ends. This disguises the sloshing sound that bottles may make.

Devious...

 

[Qhrumphf]

Do not ship via USPS, period. It's a felony to do so. Odds of getting caught are fairly small, and odds of being charged smaller, but it's potentially a year in prison if you get caught (and in the even more unlikely event that your shipment injures someone, penalty can go up from there, as far as life in prison or even death penalty if it kills someone). It's not worth the risk.

If you ship via UPS or FedEx, like others have said don't tell em what you're sending. It's against their policies, but not against the law. Worst case scenario, they learn what you're shipping, halt shipment, and don't refund your money. Most likely the person who found beer drank the beer.

Even then, I shipped via UPS for years, and have had two issues. One broken bottle, where they removed the damaged bottle, repackaged the whole shipment and sent it on its way to its destination (even though against policy), and another (my most recent shipment for the record) where nothing was broken, but random inspection (which they do to keep their hands clean in the event they ship contraband) caused them to halt my shipment (of some damned nice beers for the record) and didn't refund my money. I wasn't happy about that. I'll be switching to FedEx after that.

Unfortunately there's no truly up and up way to do it, unless you want to pay a private courier to do it for you who knows what they're shipping, and you'll have to pay big buck for it.

So go UPS or FedEx, don't tell em what you're sending (print the label out at home, attach, and just drop off, they'll seldom ask questions), and perhaps doing something to disguise the package.

 

[phil74501]

Do not ship via USPS, period. It's a felony to do so. Odds of getting caught are fairly small, and odds of being charged smaller, but it's potentially a year in prison if you get caught (and in the even more unlikely event that your shipment injures someone, penalty can go up from there, as far as life in prison or even death penalty if it kills someone). It's not worth the risk.

If you ship via UPS or FedEx, like others have said don't tell em what you're sending. It's against their policies, but not against the law. Worst case scenario, they learn what you're shipping, halt shipment, and don't refund your money. Most likely the person who found beer drank the beer.

Even then, I shipped via UPS for years, and have had two issues. One broken bottle, where they removed the damaged bottle, repackaged the whole shipment and sent it on its way to its destination (even though against policy), and another (my most recent shipment for the record) where nothing was broken, but random inspection (which they do to keep their hands clean in the event they ship contraband) caused them to halt my shipment (of some damned nice beers for the record) and didn't refund my money. I wasn't happy about that. I'll be switching to FedEx after that.

Unfortunately there's no truly up and up way to do it, unless you want to pay a private courier to do it for you who knows what they're shipping, and you'll have to pay big buck for it.

So go UPS or FedEx, don't tell em what you're sending (print the label out at home, attach, and just drop off, they'll seldom ask questions), and perhaps doing something to disguise the package.

We have a store here where you can ship through both UPS and Fedex. It's a locally run thing, not like an UPS store. I've thought about just going in and asking them. Only problem is, if they say no, then I'm sure they would remember me if I went in there again, and then check the box to see what's in it. I know my parents had wine shipped to here from California. In boxes that said they had wine in them. Something from one of those Napa Valley wineries. So I know it is possible to do it. Unless they just did it, not worrying about any legalities, and nobody said anything.

 

[Qhrumphf]

We have a store here where you can ship through both UPS and Fedex. It's a locally run thing, not like an UPS store. I've thought about just going in and asking them. Only problem is, if they say no, then I'm sure they would remember me if I went in there again, and then check the box to see what's in it. I know my parents had wine shipped to here from California. In boxes that said they had wine in them. Something from one of those Napa Valley wineries. So I know it is possible to do it. Unless they just did it, not worrying about any legalities, and nobody said anything.

I know FedEx will ship wine and beer (and I believe UPS will too), but ONLY from licensed retailers/distributors, and only in certain states (the laws vary state to state). Their policies say the average person isn't allowed to (but it's not actually illegal, and you'll seldom get caught). So if your parents had wine shipped from a winery, that'd be a different scenario. But yes, if you blatantly tell them what you're doing, your odds are far, far higher of your shipment being refused.

 

[phil74501]

I know FedEx will ship wine and beer (and I believe UPS will too), but ONLY from licensed retailers/distributors, and only in certain states (the laws vary state to state). Their policies say the average person isn't allowed to (but it's not actually illegal, and you'll seldom get caught). So if your parents had wine shipped from a winery, that'd be a different scenario. But yes, if you blatantly tell them what you're doing, your odds are far, far higher of your shipment being refused.

Okay. That pretty much answers my questions. Thanks.

 

[Saboral]

I always list my shipments as Yeast Samples in suspension. No violation of shipping policies, no lies, and I feel like a potentially lower risk of shipment rejection upon inspection.

 

[phil74501]

I always list my shipments as Yeast Samples in suspension. No violation of shipping policies, no lies, and I feel like a potentially lower risk of shipment rejection upon inspection.

Rehydrated yeast preserved in alcohol?

 

[Dog House Brew]

I just say perishable food

 

[CoreyD]

My LHBS will package and ship beer for customers. I haven't done it yet, so I don't know the cost. Maybe check with one in your area to see if they do.

 

[grrickar]

I have shipped bottled water via USPS many times. Thing is, when it got to the other end it had fermented and turned into beer. Crazy, man....