Neighbor says my rig looks like a Meth Lab

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Lots of stainless steel and containers of white powder make people nervious. I always keep the hop bags and have a printed recipe out there while brewing, might be easier to explain to the authorities. This is one of the reasons we are looking for some land slightly out of town. A pole barn with a dedicated brew room is in my near future. I cant wait.
 
Ha nice thread. I often wonder how many looks I get. The immediate neighbors know I brew. The down side is I live in MS so it IS illegal. I never worry though now it appears a MS highway patrol officer is moving in across the corner so we shall see.
 
This sort of thing is also why I'm glad I brew on the stove. Bad enough they saw into my man cave with all my brewing stuff neatly stored in the old printer stand I re-purposed as a fermenter/storage stand. I should think the beer bottles drying on the bottle tree would've been their 1st clue...
 
I brewed in the garage yesterday because of the rain, usually I'm in the back yard.
The neighbor across the street came out and started taking pictures of me but didn't say anything and no cops showed up so I'm not really sure what that was about.
 
Last Halloween it was unusually cold, so after we handed out the treats I decided to start a fire in our fireplace and have some warm cider. Shortly after ignition there was a knock @ our door. It was my neighbors 17yr. old son (I would like to add, a great kid) informing me my chimney was on fire.

Long story short, I had the fire out by the time the township FD arrived, and they are only 400 yards away. But they were very through, I had 15+ professional FF, a pumper truck and a staffed EMS vehicle on site in 4 minutes. This makes me sleep well @ night.

As I'm standing in my back yard with the Asst. Chief watching his team on my deck checking my 35ft. chimney for hotspots, I thought it would be a good time to explain the 2 sanke kegs, 3 carboys, 4 cornys, cooler with hoses attached and the 2 very suspicious looking copper immersion chillers that were on my deck. I said " I just want you to know that the equipment on the deck is not for producing any illegal substances, I'm a homebrewer, I brew beer". Without hesitating he replied "Mr. Sherry you have 30 new friends just down the road, let us know when you need us to taste test your finished product".
 
A bit off topic but I came across this and busted a gut laughing. Thought I'd share. Cheers.

Meth Lab.jpg
 
Back when I was still in the Navy, I was stationed overseas and was coming back for a stateside tour in Georgia. We had done a little homework ahead of time and in March bought a great house in a nice quiet neighborhood, but weren't going to be moving in until July, when I finished up my overseas tour. So the house sat vacant for about four months, although I had a buddy in the neighborhood who went by once in a while and checked on it for me.

So come July, we pull up in a moving van and start unloading stuff. My family had made a road trip out to help us unload, so we had basically fifteen people suddnely staying in a more-or-less empty house which had been standing vacant for about four months, overgrown lawn and all. And of course, as soon as we get the boxes out of the truck, I decide it's time for an inaugural homebrew session. So we pull out the brew equipment and start up a couple of batches in the front driveway. Meantime, my two brothers and I decided to get out my pair of water pipes that I had bought living overseas to smoke some shisha (flavored tobacco) in the driveway while we're brewing.

Needless to say, we were something of a spectacle for this quiet family neighborhood. A couple of months after we moved in, we were over at our neighbor's house (we became fast friends) and the wife confessed that she seriously thought about calling the cops when we first showed up, fifteen people occupying a formerly vacant house, boiling large quantities of unidentifiable substances and smoking what appeared to be bongs on the front porch--she thought we were some kind of itinerant hippie-gypsies! I mean, she wasn't TOO far off the mark, but we're basically harmless...
 
stat said:
I brewed in the garage yesterday because of the rain, usually I'm in the back yard.
The neighbor across the street came out and started taking pictures of me but didn't say anything and no cops showed up so I'm not really sure what that was about.
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See, now that would tick me off. I love when the neighbors come over to look/ask questions. The more people that are interested in brewing/good beer the better. But taking pictures of me without consent and then not even coming to talk? Yeah, no. That's not ok.
 
I used to live in a somewhat unsavory neighborhood. Brewed beer out on the porch all the time. Never got questioned at all. I'm pretty sure everyone knew what a meth lab looked like / smelled like. Not to mention, there were no cops being called on anything other than a murder. LOL I'll be moving to a pretty well to do neighborhood in March and can't wait to see what happens. My fiance and I are the only one's that don't drive a lexus, BMW, Mercedes. I drive an Xterra with Off road tires and she drives a Santa Fe. We will be the talk..
 
Little I do shocks my neighbors anymore!! My neighbor's six year old son always walks over and asks when I'm going to make more beer. My other neighbor's eighth grade daughter wants me help her use fermentation as a school science experiment. (It's a Catholic school!!!).

The only funny looks come when the some guys from the club come over for a brew out.

My wife always says that someone will drive by and think I'm cooking meth. My response, "Cooking meth has got to be easier than this. They cook meth in coke bottles driving down the highway on motorcycles."
 
I wish that cooking up beer involved as much scientific glassware as cooking up meth. I like to play with that stuff.
 
i sent a pic of my setup to my dad...

his reply, "what are you, cooking meth now?"

He knows better... he's a retired cop. and a smartass.
 
Yeah, I think there are probably a lot of folks who say it to break the ice and try to be funny. If I had a rig in my back courtyard I bet my neighbor would say "hey buddy, ya makin' moonshine?"

It wouldnt be funny, but it comes from a good place.

However, I would take any and all possible legal action against whomever put a camera in my window. Even if my neighbor WAS making meth, its none of my business.
 
Every meth "lab" I've seen was just a 2L bottle in a back pack of some vagrant. To call what these people do a "lab" is like calling fermented ketchup and tang "homebrew." Nobody except the mexican cartels has any real size lab. All the laws on pseudoephedrine have pushed out the domestic meth labs to super labs south of the border. The cartels get their precursor ingredients wholesale from suppliers in the far East and just send it north for distribution.

First it was cotton, then automobiles, then televisions, then tech support and now meth. Eventually everything gets outsourced.
 
I welcome anyone walking past to inquire. It helps promote the hobby, which helps us pass laws to allow more of it.

And I would hope that anyone who sees someone actually making meth would call the police. That stuff is not only a terrible substance for users, the process creates toxic hazard, which I for one would not want in my neighborhood. Couple was cooking meth in a house practically across the street from the elementary school in our town. They got caught because there was a small explosion and they were found outside walking around half coherent with smoke coming from the house.

That is not the kind of thing we need.
 
I forgot about the chemicals and explosions to be fair. Top 3 qualities I appreciate in a neighbor in ascending order of importance: lack of odors, minds their own business, quiet.

I'm not saying if I live next to you and youre a chatterbox that I mind that, or even if you throw a shindig on a saturday, just dont meddle in my business and keep me awake on work nights. And oh, if you call the fuzz (y'know, the coppers, the people, the longarms) and have them come to my apartment for anything less than a home invasion I'ma gonna make your life miserable.

And oh yeah, neuter your cats. It makes the whole house reek when they spray.
 
What I always wondered was If were were actually making meth would we do it in the driveway for everyone to see?
 
mlyday said:
What I always wondered was If were were actually making meth would we do it in the driveway for everyone to see?
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It looks less suspicious if you are out in the open rather than hiding somewhere. Back in the day, "a friend of a friend" would smoke a left hand cigarette walking down the street rather than hiding in an alley or door way with the belief that no one in their right mind would be so bold and the onlooker would think they must be mistaken.
 
My buddy and I were brewing outside and he lives in a town home community, so everyone could see what we were doing. An older gentleman walks by (and he was extremely nice) and asks, "What are you guys doing?" To which I replied, "Oh we are just brewing some beer," he points to my mashtun (10g orange cooler) and asked, "what is that for?" I tell him it's my mashtun were I put the grain. He starts asking me about the malt I use, two row or six row and starts going on. I am confused how this guy knows so much about malt but doesn't know what beer brewing looks like. So I ask, "How do you know so much about malted barley?" He responds,"I was a Brewmaster for Anheuser Busch before they got bought out by InBev." I just laughed, but was thinking to myself that is was funny how a brewmaster from AB didn't recognize what beer making looked like.
 
RmikeVT said:
My buddy and I were brewing outside and he lives in a town home community, so everyone could see what we were doing. An older gentleman walks by (and he was extremely nice) and asks, "What are you guys doing?" To which I replied, "Oh we are just brewing some beer," he points to my mashtun (10g orange cooler) and asked, "what is that for?" I tell him it's my mashtun were I put the grain. He starts asking me about the malt I use, two row or six row and starts going on. I am confused how this guy knows so much about malt but doesn't know what beer brewing looks like. So I ask, "How do you know so much about malted barley?" He responds,"I was a Brewmaster for Anheuser Busch before they got bought out by InBev." I just laughed, but was thinking to myself that is was funny how a brewmaster from AB didn't recognize what beer making looked like.
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AB probably had a very different Mash Tun than most homebrewers have.

Or he was BSing you. I bet he was the janitor and got let go when the new owners discovered he wasn't peeing in the bright tank like a good employee.
 
Or, he was doing that insipid thing people do to try to impress you. "Where did you go to school, Spondo?" "Oh, I went to a little school just outside Boston... maybe you have heard of it.... .... .... ..... Harvard."

If so, you should have run him over with the spinning blades of a lawnmower.
 
Homercidal said:
AB probably had a very different Mash Tun than most homebrewers have.

Or he was BSing you. I bet he was the janitor and got let go when the new owners discovered he wasn't peeing in the bright tank like a good employee.
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I bet there aren't too many micro's/craft brewers that don't know what a basic homebrew set up looks like.
 
I'm waiting for my nosy neighbor to call the cops. He's already called them on two of my other neighbors for no good reason... and I have caught him peaking in neigbors windows and whatnot when they arent home..
 
no one's ever confused my brewing for a methlab.

But I'm in eastern WA. Almost everyone knows a brew rig looks like, almost everyone knows what a meth lab looks like, the those that don't are too stoned to care either way.
 
CreamyGoodness said:
However, I would take any and all possible legal action against whomever put a camera in my window.
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Which would be exactly none. You have no reasonable expectation of privacy in your garage with the door open, nor if you are inside your house with no blinds and people can see you from the street.

Now if they climbed a tree, or put up a ladder to see over your fence, or opened your window stuck in a camera, or hid a camera in your bathroom then you would have grounds.
 
Reading this reminds me of my worries when I started a few months ago. My landlord takes my deliveries and I knew he would see Midwest brewing on the label. Told him I was going to start home brewing. I feared eviction, wound up with him so excited I got a grand of kitchen renovations so I could brew easier. Now every time we chat its over a beer, brewed or bought. Had to be late last month and told him in advance.... said I was a model tenant, can take my time...by the way, is the trappist ale ready yet? Bit worries he was more concerned about the beer than the rent
 
EnjoyGoodBeer said:
Not a uncommen question. The feds and states make things that shouldt be illegal all the time, im from Illinois and we need a FOID card to buy guns and even ammo ( fire owners indentification card FOID). Took me 4 months to get my card from State LEO's. Also I think were the only state now that doesnt promite CCW (concealed carry)
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NJ is just as bad.
 
Most of my neighbors just think I am constantly frying turkeys. They see the boil pot and that's it. It's like they ignore everything else. He walked over a few months ago while I was working on my car and asked "Why do you deep fry so many turkeys? Do you eat turkey that much?"

Another one and his wife know I brew and love it. In fact his wife gets mad at me if I walk over to visit and don't bring a glass of beer with me for her.
 
stat said:
The neighbor across the street came out and started taking pictures of me but didn't say anything and no cops showed up so I'm not really sure what that was about.
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Wow that's just creepy.
 
Jukas said:
Which would be exactly none. You have no reasonable expectation of privacy in your garage with the door open, nor if you are inside your house with no blinds and people can see you from the street.

Now if they climbed a tree, or put up a ladder to see over your fence, or opened your window stuck in a camera, or hid a camera in your bathroom then you would have grounds.
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In which case a serious country-style all-you-can-eat asskicking would be in order.
 
Jukas said:
Which would be exactly none. You have no reasonable expectation of privacy in your garage with the door open, nor if you are inside your house with no blinds and people can see you from the street.
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It's still creepy to have some guy take photos of you and run away! Perhaps it's within the Dude's legal rights to take photos of the nosy photographer.
 
I am amazed at some of these stories. I live in Northern KY which is basically a suburb of Cincinnati. I know all my neighbors for 10 houses in either direction and about 40% of the ~150 houses in the subdivision. Heck, I bet I have at least six sets of house keys and at least four garage door codes of neighbors. Some are good friends and some are just good neighbors.

They put up with me because, 1) I always have beer on hand; 2) I have a pool; 3) I have a bunch of tools and know how to use them; 3) I have a 32' ladder; 4) I am not afraid of heights. I feel bad for you guys that don't have close neighbors.
 
GoodDogShelby said:
I am amazed at some of these stories. I live in Northern KY which is basically a suburb of Cincinnati. I know all my neighbors for 10 houses in either direction and about 40% of the ~150 houses in the subdivision. Heck, I bet I have at least six sets of house keys and at least four garage door codes of neighbors. Some are good friends and some are just good neighbors.

They put up with me because, 1) I always have beer on hand; 2) I have a pool; 3) I have a bunch of tools and know how to use them; 3) I have a 32' ladder; 4) I am not afraid of heights. I feel bad for you guys that don't have close neighbors.
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I feel bad for you. I've got enough crap to take care of at my own house and not enough time to do it. I couldn't imagine being the neighborhood handyman and beer supplier.
 
GoodDogShelby said:
I am amazed at some of these stories. I live in Northern KY which is basically a suburb of Cincinnati. I know all my neighbors for 10 houses in either direction and about 40% of the ~150 houses in the subdivision. Heck, I bet I have at least six sets of house keys and at least four garage door codes of neighbors. Some are good friends and some are just good neighbors.

They put up with me because, 1) I always have beer on hand; 2) I have a pool; 3) I have a bunch of tools and know how to use them; 3) I have a 32' ladder; 4) I am not afraid of heights. I feel bad for you guys that don't have close neighbors.
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You could live in my neighborhood. I'm the guy with the beer, tools and knowledge and truly enjoy sharing all of this. My neighbors never expect me to go it alone. They are always at my side for any project be it mine or theirs. All of our kids are relatively the same age, paired up ranging from 10 to 21 and have grown up together as that we all have lived here for about 25 years. Hell if it weren't for individual mortgages this could have been a commune.
 

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