# What Happens When You Sell Home Brew



## WSC (4/6/10)

400 bottles siezed in Hervey Bay...........self funded retiree?????

http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/sto...-crime-alcohol/


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## Snow (4/6/10)

Link doesn't seem to work for me.....


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## brettprevans (4/6/10)

love the pic
looks like 4L metho botles in the background, stolen woolworths carrybasket. it would have been better to show the 400 bottle stash and their brewing rig.

them selling it to minors gives us a bad name though. watch as stupid lobby groups call to ban homebrewing.


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## Maheel (4/6/10)

and you can bet it's a really dodgy still set up, pumping out swill to kids........


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## petesbrew (4/6/10)

It's witchhunting time!


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## raven19 (4/6/10)

Throw the book at them.


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## petesbrew (4/6/10)

I wonder what his recipe's were like? Me thinks to be cost effective, it'd be homebrand lager & shoogaz.


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## cdbrown (4/6/10)

High strength cats piss


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## Pennywise (4/6/10)

I don't understand how selling HB would make you a profit. A few people have asked me to make beer for them and they'd buy it. I always say, no point mate, it'd be cheaper for you to go buy a carton from the bottlo. Taking into account everything, from the obvious ingedients, to my time, my water to wash equipment & brew it, the fact half the time they think I'd just have 24 stubbies lying around just waiting for me to fill it for them. No point in my book. I say throw the book at them too


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## Muggus (4/6/10)

Homebrewer79 said:


> I don't understand how selling HB would make you a profit. A few people have asked me to make beer for them and they'd buy it. I always say, no point mate, it'd be cheaper for you to go buy a carton from the bottlo. Taking into account everything, from the obvious ingedients, to my time, my water to wash equipment & brew it, the fact half the time they think I'd just have 24 stubbies lying around just waiting for me to fill it for them. No point in my book. I say throw the book at them too


Depends on how much your time is worth.
If you can get the bottles and packaging for next to nothing, then a case of homebrewed beer is VERY cheap in comparison, especially for the equivalent micro/craft beer.
But you'd still have to be pretty nuts to want to consider selling homebrew, especially to kids. 
I love to share my homebrew with my mates and they enjoy it too, but I don't sell it to them; I'll happily take beer/food/favours in return for beer though, but not money.


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## WSC (4/6/10)

I'm guessing they just pumped out kits and sugar, cheapest method possible. If that is the case then you are only talking about 10mins to brew and say 40 mins to bottle. My time is worth alot more than selling HB would make!


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## Bribie G (4/6/10)

The story says "the beer was clearly home brewed" so they obviously used finings.


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## the_yobbo (4/6/10)

I wonder if he got into it purely as a money making scheme or if it started just trying to help a mate get drunk cheaper.

I can see it wouldn't be hard for someone to slip down the dark side. 
Starting off with a mate who buys the ingredients himself and you make it together in your fermenter over a beer or two. Next he's telling you to buy the ingredients and make it on your own because he can't get there this week, and he'll pay you back for the ingredients. Soon other mates express their interest. You start putting a bit of cash in the price for your time. One day you find your selling to random kids knocking on your door with a crate full of empties.


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## HoppingMad (4/6/10)

> HERVEY Bay police seized more than 400 bottles of beer and spirits



Says bottles and spirits. 

Could have not just been kit+kilo beer, but the old trick of: Grab a bottle of alco essence, dissolve some dextrose and throw in some water and voila! You've got sambuca, ouzo etc that's strong enough to make someone pass out on the fumes.

A nightclub in Geelong down here in Vic got busted for making their own spirit concoctions just like this. 

Agree with comments that these guys should get the full force of trouble from the authorities for selling this to kids.

Homebrew for good not evil!  

Hopper.


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## jbirbeck (4/6/10)

BribieG said:


> The story says "the beer was clearly home brewed" so they obviously used finings.



:lol: 

its easy to brew for mates/family...selling well there is a fine line between letting them pay for the cost of ingredients/providing ingredients and selling


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## roverfj1200 (4/6/10)

BribieG said:


> The story says "the beer was clearly home brewed" so they obviously used finings.



Fell out of my chair and hit my head...... :lol: :blink:


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## Phoney (4/6/10)

Homebrewer79 said:


> I don't understand how selling HB would make you a profit. A few people have asked me to make beer for them and they'd buy it. I always say, no point mate, it'd be cheaper for you to go buy a carton from the bottlo. Taking into account everything, from the obvious ingedients, to my time, my water to wash equipment & brew it, the fact half the time they think I'd just have 24 stubbies lying around just waiting for me to fill it for them. No point in my book. I say throw the book at them too



Hmm, I "sell" it - if you put it that way. 

A mate of mine has a kegerator setup (from years ago when he used to brew AG, but he now lives in an apartment) So everyone once in a while he comes over with his empty corny's and fills up straight out of my fermenters. - he also gives me a hand brewing too. So he gives me $50 per 19L - which more than covers the cost. He's happy with the arrangement because it's cheap and delicious. Im happy with the arrangement because I love brewing, I dont mind doing a favor for a good mate who loves beer and I get 3 or 4 liters for myself 


But I do agree, the guy in the article sounds like a idiot who deserved to get caught.


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## the_yobbo (4/6/10)

Rooting Kings said:


> :lol:
> 
> its easy to brew for mates/family...selling well there is a fine line between letting them pay for the cost of ingredients/providing ingredients and selling



I can just see this guy's lawyer in defense.
Your honor, this man wasn't selling homebrew beer. He was selling his time to make other peoples homebrew beer for them.


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## amiddler (4/6/10)

This brings up a good point. Were does the line end. 
If you both buy ingredients and both put time into the brew then this would be OK (I think) but would you say, a mate giving you 6 pack in exchange for a cornie of beer, would that be selling beer and then ilegal? (just for example sake) 
I have an arangement with my Dad who takes some beer and stores it at his place for our consumption when I'm there, could this be demed ilegal if he were to pay for ingredients from time to time?

Topic has me thinking I may need to change my arrangment, just to be sure.

Drew


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## staggalee (4/6/10)

Drew said:


> This brings up a good point. Were does the line end.
> If you both buy ingredients and both put time into the brew then this would be OK (I think) but would you say, a mate giving you 6 pack in exchange for a cornie of beer, would that be selling beer and then ilegal? (just for example sake)
> I have an arangement with my Dad who takes some beer and stores it at his place for our consumption when I'm there, could this be demed ilegal if he were to pay for ingredients from time to time?
> 
> ...









Judge Dredd......" The next muthaf...... that tests my patience on this quibbling law gets 90 days on the chain gang.
And you all know what happens in those barracks when the lights go out" !!  


stagga.


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## Phoney (4/6/10)

Drew said:


> This brings up a good point. Were does the line end.
> If you both buy ingredients and both put time into the brew then this would be OK (I think) but would you say, a mate giving you 6 pack in exchange for a cornie of beer, would that be selling beer and then ilegal? (just for example sake)
> I have an arangement with my Dad who takes some beer and stores it at his place for our consumption when I'm there, could this be demed ilegal if he were to pay for ingredients from time to time?
> 
> ...



I reckon the best people to answer that question would be U Brew It, seeing as that's pretty much how they work. ie: You pay for the ingredients and just use their equipment. Im pretty sure they dont pay excise or need licenses to setup their businesses.


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## kelbygreen (4/6/10)

You would find you will have to pay GST and alcohol tax if selling. So if you add your cost time and taxes it will prob be like $120+ for 23lts alot dearer then buying in the bottlo . I have never asked for a cent for mine but if a mate wanted to brew a few brews then may ask for him to buy ingredients for 3 brews  as the time and power I use but there would be no money changing hands and not sure if this is really legal as well.


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## michael_aussie (5/6/10)

If you are brewing for self/friends/family and haven't moved over to commercial quantities, and don't have a formal "retailing" system ($xx per bottle or case) to anyone who knocks on your door, I'm sure the authorities aren't going to trouble you. 

They aren't going to care about arrangements where u swap a case to your friend for vegies, helping mow the lawn or any other non-commercial arrangement. Don't stress.

As pointed out by a few others ... . even though the direct material cost of home brew is quite cheap, your time, resources and extras, if accounted for, make home brewing no cheaper than commerical beer.

Home stills are a different matter. Be careful if you have one of those.


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## SpillsMostOfIt (5/6/10)

phoneyhuh said:


> I reckon the best people to answer that question would be U Brew It, seeing as that's pretty much how they work. ie: You pay for the ingredients and just use their equipment. Im pretty sure they dont pay excise or need licenses to setup their businesses.



Yep. They do.

http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/BU...30n72932_09.pdf

You can be pretty sure that any manufacture of alcohol in Australia is regulated. As a f'rinstance, I was enthused by a LandLine article about vinegar making, until I learned (google being my friend) that although I would not be required to pay excise on the alcohol I made/acquired to make the vinegar, pretty much every other law that applies to alcohol manufacture/sale also applies to vinegaries...


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## praxis178 (5/6/10)

michael_aussie said:


> Home stills are a different matter. Be careful if you have one of those.



Which just makes me wonder why they're legal (less than 20L boiler cap IIRC) in NZ, where the rates of methanol blindness hasn't increased, nor has their government's take from spirits excise decreased, and not here......


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## ekul (5/6/10)

Its not so much if you SELL someone alcohol but if you are SUPPLYING. So if you make alcohol for yourself and drink it then you are sweet. However if you make some beers and give them to friends and family then you technically owe the government "their" excise. THat said I really doubt that the coppers (actually the tax department, far worse!) are going to waste their time on some dude who serves homebrews at his bbq, but they could if they wanted to.

They pounce on people when they start selling because they don't want other brewers to do it. In reality the guy selling alcohol in the story is not breaking any more laws than any brewer here who gives away a beer to a friend. 

I'm pretty sure you'd turn a higher profit working at maccas then selling homebrew anyway!!


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## RobH (6/6/10)

Drew said:


> This brings up a good point. Were does the line end.
> If you both buy ingredients and both put time into the brew then this would be OK (I think) but would you say, a mate giving you 6 pack in exchange for a cornie of beer, would that be selling beer and then ilegal? (just for example sake)
> I have an arangement with my Dad who takes some beer and stores it at his place for our consumption when I'm there, could this be demed ilegal if he were to pay for ingredients from time to time?
> 
> ...




A friend of mine (a fellow home brewer) went to the "Beer Factory" in Seven Hills, Syd a couple of years ago and made up some nice brews there. According to him, they are happy to help you all the way or provide prepared ingredients until it comes to pitching the yeast ... that's where you have to do it yourself and not them, because apparently that is the point where it changes from mixing a few ingredients together, to brewing an alcoholic beverage.

So, he could pay you for the ingredients, and just as long has he put the yeast in then by the sounds of it, that would be passable.... but IANAL (I Am Not A Laywer) ... so do not take my word for it, if you where really concerned about it then it is best to do your homework.


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