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Author Topic: Home Brewing in Louisiana  (Read 2786 times)

Offline hambone

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Home Brewing in Louisiana
« on: May 19, 2010, 06:35:14 am »
To my understanding, as of now homebrewing in Louisiana is neither legal or illegal. The good people of the AHA and BA are working to fix that problem right now with House Bill No. 1484. I have been reading up on this bill and I'm a little confused about it's goal. Now I'm no lawyer (but I do play one on TV), but it seems to me that if this bill is passed it will allow for a 3 day special event permit for a retail dealer to allow homebrew on their licensed permits. So basically, a bar or restaurant can have homebrew at their establishment as long as its for a homebrew club meeting, homebrew contests, or just an exhibition as long as the homebrew is not being sold or offered to be sold. I think that this is wonderful and a great step for homebrewers, but does this bill just allow this for 3 days? Does that mean that it has to be a 3 day event or is it allowed only 3 times at each establishment? This is where I'm confused. Can anyone help explain this to me?

Offline a10t2

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Re: Home Brewing in Louisiana
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2010, 08:32:02 am »
Sent from my Microsoft Bob

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Offline Gary Glass

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Re: Home Brewing in Louisiana
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2010, 09:12:46 am »
The info below is my understanding of the situation in Louisiana, though I would not pretend to be an expert on Louisiana state law.

First, there is no law in Louisiana that specifically allows homebrewing, nor one that specifically bans homebrewing.  Homebrewers are not considered producers, and therefore don't fall under the jurisdiction of the Louisiana ATC.  Since there is no state law specifically addressing homebrewing, the state defers to federal law on homebrewing (note: this is not generally true for other states).

Businesses with licenses to sell alcoholic beverages due fall under the jurisdiction of the ATC.  There is a law on the books that states that businesses licensed to sell alcohol for on premises consumption (such as restaurants and pubs) may not serve unlicensed alcohol.  The ATC interprets this to mean that licensed establishments cannot allow homebrew to be served on their premises.

HB1484, if passed, would create an exception to this through a special permit that will allow licensed businesses to host homebrew club meetings, competitions, etc.  The permit is free, and must be granted by the ATC to any licensed business that applies for it.  Each permit lasts for three days, but the bill does not establish a limit on the number of permits a business may apply for.  It does mean that the business would have to apply for a separate permit for every individual club meeting, competition, etc.
Gary Glass
Longmont, Colorado