Legal ease

[knightnorth]

If I wanted to start a failed business I'd open up one of the hundreds of amateur microbreweries that pop up every year. Nothing against anyone with that dream but brewing is just a hobby for me. A dedicated hobby as I carefully tend to the now 30 gallons of fermenting/conditioning beer and wine I have but still just a hobby. I already have a full time job I couldn't dedicate the time and effort needed to create a successful microbrew just to hope I'm the one just that lucky enough to actually create a successful business. The regulatory practice is just too stringent to allow an average home brewer make the leap to micro very successfully.

So you know what really makes me mad? People can legally sell marijuana out of permitted shops in Washington DC or sell cardiac burgers out of the back of their conversion van if permitted properly. So why can't I give a 6 pack to my neighbor and recoup some costs of my well crafted beer without feeling like a bootleg moonshiner? I don't want to open up a 7bbl system in some light industrial park that hopefully after modest upgrades I can maybe get a permit for. I just want to brew a batch on the weekend. My wife can knit a scarf and sell it at the flee market the next week but I can't take my beer to a farmer's market because of some sentiment of an ancient prohibition law. I understand the unjust stereotype alcohol has since beer has been used improperly in the wrong hands. I'm willing to take an ABC class so I know the signs of drunkenness. But if you think a drunk with a car is bad; placed in the right hands a knitted scarf could suffocate but I don't see any regulation passed down from the consumer commission on yarn.

So I come here and make this plea. Am I completely out of line? I have the ear of the man who will likely be the next representative in my district. If we can get the laws changed on the local level like marijuana shops did we might be able to reduce the regulation and stigma of home brewing. I know most of my friends think I'm brewing in a bathtub before they think I'm sterilizing buckets but that's the stereotype we'd fight against. Before I take this cause to my friend running for General Assembly I want to have a wide grasp of the subject. What are your opinions for and against the legalization of selling a limited amount of home brew? Thank you for your response.

 

[Polboy]

Its all about money, you want be able to sell it because state and feds make too much money out of fees and taxes on alcohol and you trying to take a small cut out of their cake. Med marijuana and food trucks are regulated and taxed it would be much harder for gov to implement taxation on homebrewing scale

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Its all about money, you want be able to sell it because state and feds make too much money out of fees and taxes on alcohol and you trying to take a small cut out of their cake. Med marijuana and food trucks are regulated and taxed it would be much harder for gov to implement taxation on homebrewing scale

This.

That food truck is more regulated than you think. It has to pass local health code inspections, pay taxes, carry a business permit, etc. It's not just some guy with a foreman grill buying hamburger meat at Wal-Mart and driving around selling burgers. Well, not if it's a legal venture.

A brewery is not much different. It also needs to pass health code inspections, pay taxes, etc. One significant difference is that breweries use a lot of water so the city needs to be able to regulate the flow of water in the municipal system.

 

[TyTanium]

I'm with you in thought, but it would never be that simple. The implications (regulation, taxation, etc) would be crippling, I fear....

Keep the government out of homebrewing as much as possible! Even if it means we can't recoup a few bucks.

 

[TxBrew]

For the record marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. You may try to start a grass roots campaign for your area to sell your beer. If they can get it legalized the feds may not touch it.

That being said, they might and then you have a huge issue.

 

[H-ost]

If we can get the laws changed on the local level like marijuana shops did we might be able to reduce the regulation and stigma of home brewing.

Sadly its not that simple. Yes the constitution says that the states should govern themselves but the feds really don't give a crap. The states should (and some are trying) to make their own laws but guess what, if the federal government isn't making money from it then they don't care about what we should be able to do.

That being said, I think it would be awesome if you could start the movement towards legalizing the sale of homebrew and I think you should definitely try but be ready for an uphill battle complete with potholes and a-holes.

 

[viking73]

If your neighbor really wants to help out, have him buy a couple pounds of grain in exchange for a sixer.

As far as the gov't goes, we're below the radar right now. And if you start making noise the big boys and distributors will come down with all their cash and then blammo! We're regulated and taxed, filling out 1040-HB's at tax time.

 

[Zuljin]

If your neighbor really wants to help out, have him buy a couple pounds of grain in exchange for a sixer.

As far as the gov't goes, we're below the radar right now. And if you start making noise the big boys and distributors will come down with all their cash and then blammo! We're regulated and taxed, filling out 1040-HB's at tax time.

Keep your lights working and your tags straight. You don't need to be fast. Can't outrun the radio anyway. Evade, and you don't have to escape.

This has been a public service announcement from your local outlaw network. Had this been an actual emergency, you wouldn't hear a sound.

 

[IXVolt]

filling out 1040-HB's at tax time.

1.050-HB would be more applicable.


But as to the OP, I would love to see progress in that direction, but as it's been stated already... It's all about money.

As much as I'd like to sell half a batch and fund the next brew at farmer markets, I doubt that will ever happen.

People sell homemade soap, food products and all sorts of things at farmer markets, vast majority is unregulated. However the first person to show up with something "spirited" all hell would break loose.