[spurviance]

I have an informal 3 for 1 policy.  For my frequent visitors (less since covid) who have expressed guilt at drinking my beer I've asked that for every 3 beers of mine they plan to drink, bring me a can/bottle of something interesting for my 'research'.  This has gotten my friends to explore beyond the normal beers one might find at the grocery store and helped alleviate any guilt they might feel. 

[Bob357]

This is inline with what I was thinking. Not seeking tips at all, but not sure where the lines are about accepting them. Family and friends get a free pass, but if someone who follows me on instagram wants to swing by for a beer and tries to hand me a $5, I assume it's going to be fine.

If you allow strangers from Instagram, or other social media platforms, into your home, getting caught for accepting tips related to serving home brew is the least of your worries.
[/quote]

[deckerhand]

What do you mean by fans ? Are you meeting strangers from social media and then give them a beer? If you’re doing that not only is it dangerous to meet people you don’t know but if they have an allergic reaction to your beer you are going to be held liable. Also there might be some other legal issues that I’m not aware of giving somebody a beer you don’t know.


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[deckerhand]

It's similar to people admitting that they brewed more than the 100 gallons a year (or 200 for a couple) you're allowed to brew.  Some people say that they brewed EXACTLY 200 gallons... but who is coming to your house to verify that or look for trouble?

He’s asking us in a public forum inviting people he doesn’t know to his house to sample his beer. When you don’t know who’s coming into your house open the door for somebody to say something. It’s not like he has a business where is legally allowed to sell and take tips with beer he’s putting himself on Instagram and an open form stating this the more out there you put yourself the more likely you are to get yourself in trouble


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[majorvices]

I never have seen one time where he said he was inviting "strangers" into his house. Just keep that in mind.Maybe he posts his beer on instagram and his followers are his friends ... not sure but let's keep it in perspective. I think the question has been answered and not really any more reason to follow the trajectory it is going.

[deckerhand]

I never have seen one time where he said he was inviting "strangers" into his house. Just keep that in mind.Maybe he posts his beer on instagram and his followers are his friends ... not sure but let's keep it in perspective. I think the question has been answered and not really any more reason to follow the trajectory it is going.

His original post literally said fans


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[majorvices]

Exactly ... not "strangers". Just sayin' cut the guy some slack. It's his business who he lets in his house not ours.

[kpfoleyjr]

Here’s another twist:  I went to a liquor store in town recently and chatted up the owner - told him I was a home brewer and that I liked his selection of craft beers.  After talking for a while, he said to me, “Tell you what, if you bring me a six pack of your latest brew, I’ll trade you even up for a six pack of any beer you want in the store.”  I declined but thought about it afterwards . . . thoughts?


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[narvin]

Just don't accept tips from anyone that you wouldn't be comfortable playing fantasy football or a game of poker with for a $5 buy in.

[Village Taphouse]

I have a version of this too.  My daughter's high school orchestra was having a fund-raiser.  The kids played music and during the breaks there was a split-the-pot, silent auctions, etc.  My daughter suggested I do a "homebrew basket" for the event.  Beer, glassware, some pretzels, a schmancy bottle opener, etc.  I said, "You better check with your orchestra teacher... the school is no place for beer" and she got back to me a couple days later and said the teacher was cool with it.  We agreed to take a picture of the "prize" (which was a case of beer, four sixes of different styles, two etched glasses with my logo on it, a big barrel of pretzels, an opener all in a wooden case I made) and put the pic at the auction table and keep the beer in my car.  Whoever won it would take delivery of it outside the school.  Probably not kosher but we did it anyway. 

[pete b]

“... the school is no place for beer"

That’s not my memory of school.

[Village Taphouse]

“... the school is no place for beer"

That’s not my memory of school.

LOL.  I agree but in this case I was trying to be the parent. 

[majorvices]

I have a version of this too.  My daughter's high school orchestra was having a fund-raiser.  The kids played music and during the breaks there was a split-the-pot, silent auctions, etc.  My daughter suggested I do a "homebrew basket" for the event.  Beer, glassware, some pretzels, a schmancy bottle opener, etc.  I said, "You better check with your orchestra teacher... the school is no place for beer" and she got back to me a couple days later and said the teacher was cool with it.  We agreed to take a picture of the "prize" (which was a case of beer, four sixes of different styles, two etched glasses with my logo on it, a big barrel of pretzels, an opener all in a wooden case I made) and put the pic at the auction table and keep the beer in my car.  Whoever won it would take delivery of it outside the school.  Probably not kosher but we did it anyway.

I used to donate a couple cases and swag from my brewery to my son's HS wrestling team every year for one of their benefits. Granted, it was commercial beer, not homebrew. But same lines. I always felt odd about it. But they sure as hell took it!

[BaseWerks Brewing]

The donation aspect is something that I've been wondering about recently.  My research as told me that each state can have very different rules.  Iowa is really generic in its law while some states have specific mention to donations and the legality of them.

[reverseapachemaster]

I read "fans" as just people who come over and enjoy his beer. Whether these are just friends or you're trying to convinve strangers to join you in the sewers like in IT, a tip jar is technically illegal. It's technically illegal even if you're serving commercial beer and taking money because you can't receive revenue for serving alcohol without a license. The probability you'll get in trouble for it is somewhere along the lines of brewing too much beer and worrying the TTB will show up and try to count the gallons brewed this year to take you to jail. I guess if you have bad blood with people in your neighborhood or town you might find yourself in trouble with a local authority for running a bar without a license. I've been to several $5/door keggers without the cops busting in so use your best judgment here.

Regarding donations--this is a state by state issue. California made a huge mess of the issue a few years ago but I believe that was finally sorted out. The laws are all of the map (pun intended) on what you can do with homebrew. In states like Texas, for example, giving possession to another person not within your household your homebrew to take somewhere else requires a form from the state ABC and they enforce that for homebrewing competitions so charities or schools might be a little hesitant to take donations by way of charities.