Mississippi Home Brew Bills Die AGAIN

alestateyall · Mar 7, 2012

eagle83 said:
I wasn't as concerned over the homebrew bill as the ABW bill. The ABC has stated they are not concerned with homebrewing. We have lots of brewers in the state, and had at least 3 homebrew competitions last year. One competition (The Keg and Barrels's Outlaw competition) was the second year in row for it, and had around 100 beers entered I believe. If the law enforcement was really concerned about homebrewing, it wouldn't be hard to find the homebrewers.

Also I don't think there is a law in MS that outlaws homebrewing, but there also isn't one making it legal. It would be nice for it to be 100% legit, but I will be happy enough this year if the ABW bill passes.

It is expressly illegal to brew without a license.

MISSISSIPPI CODE of 1972
Miss. Code Ann. § 67-3-15

Permit and/or license required

Any person who shall brew or manufacture or sell any beer or light wine without first having secured a permit and/or license from the commissioner authorizing the brewing or manufacture or sale of such liquor, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($ 1,000.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or both, in the discretion of the court. Any person so convicted may not apply for any permit or license issued by the commissioner until five (5) years have elapsed from the date of such conviction.

http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/mscode/

alestateyall · Mar 7, 2012

eagle83 said:
The ABC has stated they are not concerned with homebrewing.

The ABC enforces alcoholic beverage laws. MS defines alcoholic beverage as wine with ABW > 5% and spirits. Beer is not an alcoholic beverage and therefore not enforced by the ABC.

However, beer and light wine laws are intended to be enforced by your local authorities (namely your county district attorney and local law enforcement).

I don't like not knowing where my local DA stands on the issue. I would rather have a law that expressly makes home brewing legal. Wine makers have a law in MS. Home brewers should have the same.

alestateyall · Mar 7, 2012

msbrewblog said:
Lazy Magnolia is a sponsor of Raise Your Pints, and yes they do support the homebrew bill

I asked this because of an article on your blog (you are msbrew.com??) titled "Lazy Magnolia Brewery Breaks Silence On Beer Bill". The head line implies Lazy Magnolia may have been holding back on taking a position. Also the body of the article doesn't discuss home brew at all, just ABW and the right to sell unlimited ABW out of state.

Airborneguy · Mar 7, 2012

eagle83 said:
Also I don't think there is a law in MS that outlaws homebrewing, but there also isn't one making it legal. It would be nice for it to be 100% legit, but I will be happy enough this year if the ABW bill passes.

In New York, we have a situation called "legal by omission". Basically, NY's alcohol laws are based on taxed and untaxed product. Since home brew is legally untaxed as per the Federal Law, the state doesn't have to legalize home brewing specifically. It actually works in our favor because as long as we follow other pertinent alcohol laws (namely open containers and not selling it), we can do just about anything else we want.

msbrewblog · Mar 7, 2012

kehaar said:
I asked this because of an article on your blog (you are msbrew.com??) titled "Lazy Magnolia Brewery Breaks Silence On Beer Bill". The head line implies Lazy Magnolia may have been holding back on taking a position. Also the body of the article doesn't discuss home brew at all, just ABW and the right to sell unlimited ABW out of state.

That's how WLOX worded the article and headline...not sure why they did it that way.
http://www.wlox.com/story/16976891/lazy-magnolia-brewery-breaks-silence-on-beer-bill

Misplaced_Canuck · Mar 7, 2012

Airborneguy said:
In New York, we have a situation called "legal by omission". Basically, NY's alcohol laws are based on taxed and untaxed product. Since home brew is legally untaxed as per the Federal Law, the state doesn't have to legalize home brewing specifically. It actually works in our favor because as long as we follow other pertinent alcohol laws (namely open containers and not selling it), we can do just about anything else we want.

Well if there's no state law about it (regardless of legal or illegal), the federal law applies. I think this is the case in most states...?

MC

Airborneguy · Mar 7, 2012

That's our case here, but I don't know how many other states don't address it at all. NYS law doesn't mention homebrewing at all. Someone pointed out earlier in the thread that it is in fact mentioned and illegal to in Mississippi.