Most Liberal Brewing Laws

[PJM]

So which state has the most liberal home brewing laws? I am familiar with what is going on in California but what about other states? Are there any states that are more liberal than what is being proposed in California?

 

[evrose]

What is being proposed in California?

Details man, DETAILS!

 

[Phunhog]

In CA homebrew clubs that are non profits will be able to sell beer 2x a year as a fundraiser under the proposed law.

 

[Paradigm]

HOT DAMN, what kind of regulations would that follow? Seems nuts that they'd allow that. Brb moving to Cali.

 

[mmb]

In CA homebrew clubs that are non profits will be able to sell beer 2x a year as a fundraiser under the proposed law.

Because the current law that was passed late last year prevents any non profit that is established for promotion of alcohol from doing that and puts the NHC and the California Homebrew Festival at risk.

On October 1, 2013, Governor Brown signed into law a Committee Bill that is being interpreted by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to prohibit homebrew festivals like ours.The bill was originally written to allow the donation of home brewed beer and wine to be used for fundraising purposes by worthy non-profit organizations, but excludes groups that “promote home production of beer or wine, or whose membership is composed primarily of home brewers or home winemakers”.

 

[PJM]

Yeah, my club has been donating and serving beer at nonprofit fundraising events in West Virginia for the past 4 years and have just been advised by the ABCC that we are not permitted to do this. We have helped raise a LOT of money for these nonprofits and many of them really rely on us.

We are considering trying to get some new legislation passed that would allow us to continue to serve these nonprofits and, if possible, allow us to do other things. Just trying to get an idea about homebrewing laws in other states. Are there any states that are more liberal than California that we might be able to use as a model? Anyone know? Thanks.

 

[mmb]

Yeah, my club has been donating and serving beer at nonprofit fundraising events in West Virginia for the past 4 years and have just been advised by the ABCC that we are not permitted to do this. We have helped raise a LOT of money for these nonprofits and many of them really rely on us.

We are considering trying to get some new legislation passed that would allow us to continue to serve these nonprofits and, if possible, allow us to do other things. Just trying to get an idea about homebrewing laws in other states. Are there any states that are more liberal than California that we might be able to use as a model? Anyone know? Thanks.

You should contact the AHA for information, they're going to have fairly decent info on it and maybe have an idea of what has worked for other states. I've heard that, on a state by state basis, the real push needs to come from citizens contacting their congress-critters, but the AHA can get you some direction.

 

[Phunhog]

You should contact the AHA for information, they're going to have fairly decent info on it and maybe have an idea of what has worked for other states. I've heard that, on a state by state basis, the real push needs to come from citizens contacting their congress-critters, but the AHA can get you some direction.

This!!!! The CA law was changed when the charity organizations themselves went to their lawmakers and explained the situation. I believe the original charity fundraiser had raised something like 1 MILLION dollars over a period of 30 or 40 years using homebrewed beer and wine. When it was shut down it was a big financial hit so they contacted their local legislators and got the law changed relatively quickly.

 

[PJM]

Thanks guys. I have sent an email to AHA and expect to hear back from them soon. Their website actually provides a fair amount of good information and indicates that they will help with the process and, if necessary, provide a representative to speak to legislative committees.

 

[Rivenin]

Washington has something like this setup that i'm serving at next month.
It's all presales and you cannot advertise, it's all word of mouth. But it raises good cash (120-150 tickets at $15 a pop and all of it goes to charity)

 

[Phunhog]

Since we are talking about homebrew laws and how to effectively change them....I think there are a lot of us who "dream" of the day that we can LEGALLY sell "homebrew" in some way. I wonder if there is a potential conflict of interest with our largest organization. And I could be completely wrong about this.....but the AHA operates as a smaller group of the BA (Brewers Assoc.) which represents the craft beer industry as a whole. Now I wouldn't think the membership of the BA would be too keen on the idea of homebrewers selling their beer since that is more competition. Regardless of how buddy/buddy everyone is in the brewing industry bottom line is that it is a business. And why would you lobby for laws that would potentially undercut the business of your members? Again I am probably way off base but it does make me think of at what point would the AHA not lobby for homebrewer's rights?