Shipping Homebrew

[MikeCass]

I recently put together a pumpkin ale and I want to share it with my friends.

Us, all being recent college graduates have now dispersed throughout the country. I now want to mail each of them a six pack.

I have researched how to go about mailing homebrew and that shouldn't be a problem. However, I want to mail it out as soon as possible meaning that, I want to send it out once it's bottled.

The only thing I am concerned about is the possibility of a bottle bomb during shipping. Has this ever happened to someone? Could I be arrested for terrorism or something if a bottle bomb would occur mid-shipping? I have never actually had a bottle bomb ever, but I know they are common. I would really like to ship them ASAP but I also don't want to risk being arrested or something of the sort.

Is there a period of time I should wait and then I will be safe? Say, wait a week after bottling then ship? Would I be safe then? Or is this an unpredictable. I know the obvious answer to this question.... "Don't ship right away, because of the risk."

I am more looking for anyone else' experiences or advice?

Thanks!

 

[insanim8er]

I recently put together a pumpkin ale and I want to share it with my friends.

Us, all being recent college graduates have now dispersed throughout the country. I now want to mail each of them a six pack.

I have researched how to go about mailing homebrew and that shouldn't be a problem. However, I want to mail it out as soon as possible meaning that, I want to send it out once it's bottled.

The only thing I am concerned about is the possibility of a bottle bomb during shipping. Has this ever happened to someone? Could I be arrested for terrorism or something if a bottle bomb would occur mid-shipping? I have never actually had a bottle bomb ever, but I know they are common. I would really like to ship them ASAP but I also don't want to risk being arrested or something of the sort.

Is there a period of time I should wait and then I will be safe? Say, wait a week after bottling then ship? Would I be safe then? Or is this an unpredictable. I know the obvious answer to this question.... "Don't ship right away, because of the risk."

I am more looking for anyone else' experiences or advice?

Thanks!

Lol I'd love to see the news article for that... Terrorist arrested for bottle bombing fedex cargo plane. You'll be notoriously known as the home brew bomber.

Check your gravity 3 times over a period of a few days. If it's stable, bottle. Just be careful of how much sugar you prime with. Ship it while it's fermenting. Or play it safe and wait it out. Wrap the bottles up in plastic incase of an emergency.

Other than that, I doubt you'll get into trouble if the bottle breaks. They wouldn't be able to determine if it was a bottle bomb or they accidentally mishandled the box.

 

[duboman]

You cannot use the USPS. Fed ex or ups is fine but IMO you don't list it as homebrew, they can deny it.

Wait until all bottles are carbed and conditioned properly to ensure you are sending them a quality beer

Use bubble wrap and good packaging and Ip lock each bottle or bag the entire content of the box so if something does break it doesn't leak all over the place.

The AHA site has a packaging primer for shipping and packaging