Homebrew Laws

[Mantis]

f*&^ck me! My mother back in blighty would have a fit if she new I drank 40 Pints a week. Im actually taken aback as Ive never really thought about it.

What,,,, is 40 pints too many. Guess I'll have to shorten my weeks h34r:

 

[Andyd]

Homebrewing was made legal in 1973 when Gough Whitlam's government introduced legislation to allow homebrewers to brew 22 Litres per week.

Regards,

Andy

 

[spog]

Homebrewing was made legal in 1973 when Gough Whitlam's government introduced legislation to allow homebrewers to brew 22 Litres per week.

Regards,

Andy

hey gough, some of us brew more than that,come get me B) .........cheers..kevin rudd ..

 

[Tony]

"The first law of homebrew is that you do not talk about homebrew."

--Tyler Durden


(love that movie, perhaps we need a favourite movie thread here?)

+1 on the movie

Second Law of homebrew is if this is your first home brew...... you HAVE to drink!

 

[Sammus]

Homebrewing was made legal in 1973 when Gough Whitlam's government introduced legislation to allow homebrewers to brew 22 Litres per week.

Regards,

Andy

Not wanting to sound like a jerk or anything, but can you back that up? I have also read people say there is no limit in Australia, only in some European countries. Can't find any evidence to back any of it up though.

 

[Tyred]

Homebrewing was made legal in 1973 when Gough Whitlam's government introduced legislation to allow homebrewers to brew 22 Litres per week.

Regards,

Andy

Is that 22 litres per week on average or 22 litres per week as defined by a seven day period ? Probably pedantic but if not properly defined open to interpretation.

 

[whitty]

Is that 22 litres per week on average or 22 litres per week as defined by a seven day period ? Probably pedantic but if not properly defined open to interpretation.

and does it alow me to brew 22L, my wife to brew 22L and my 1yr old son to brew 22L?

 

[Interloper]

and does it alow me to brew 22L, my wife to brew 22L and my 1yr old son to brew 22L?

Yes, and your cat, dog and budgie are all allowed 22L each as well. If your neighbours do not brew then you may also brew 22L for every adult neighbour you have over the legal drinking age.

So...um...drink up! :icon_chickcheers:

 

[domonsura]

Exerpt from Willie Simpson's book - "HOME BREW"

Home brewing was legalised in Australia under Prime Minister Gough Whitlams Labor government in 1973 in fact, the home-brew law was one of the very first among a raft of new legislation introduced by the highly reformist regime. Before that, it had been legal to make beer at home but only if it was around 1 per cent alcohol (in other words, gnats bladder weak).

The exact wording of the new law introduced under Whitlam allows home brewers to make 22 litres of beer per week. Of course, thats more than enough for any individual to consume but, really, this is only a guideline and I dont know of anyone who has ever been prosecuted for making more than the allowable volume.

Can't find the legislation though (in fact I can't find anything legislative that applies to home brewing apart from a document where ATO argues amongst itself whether or not 'carbonation sticks' should be GST exempt............

 

[MartinS]

Can't find the legislation though

Yeah, I've suspected for quite some time that it's an urban legend (which even Mr Simpson is guilty of repeating). My understanding is that the Whitlam government never actually explicitly legislated to legalise homebrewing, but rather repealed the legislation that effectively made homebrewing illegal.

Edit: Ahh, found it. Excise Tariff Act 1921 says, "Items 1 to 3 of this Schedule do not include any liquor that has been produced for non-commercial purposes, using non-commercial facilities and equipment, other than a liquor that is, or that contains, any spirit obtained by distillation."

Nothing about volume limits that I can see.

 

[PostModern]

ATO mention no limit:
http://www.ato.gov.au/print.asp?doc=/Content/52130.htm

Beer that is produced for non-commercial purposes using non-commercial facilities and equipment (home brew) is not subject to excise duty.

But that is just a info page.

Not much else jumps out from several pages of google summaries, all just basically say the same thing.

 

[HoppingMad]

According to this link here (Section 4.1.2):

http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/984/H...RL=SETDP-05.htm

If you brew for non-commercial purposes, but use commercial facilities then you have to pay 7% excise. Haven't been to a brew-on-premise but didn't realise the govt was able to sting you there for brewing on some up-scale equipment.

Guess those with nice HERMS/RIMS or Conical setups at home better not start renting them out or the men in suits with calculators will be after you! :lol:

Hopper.

 

[Andyd]

anyone feel like trawling Hansard? I would if I had time...

 

[hoohaaman]

MY only home brew law is,keep the fermenters full and the fridge fuller.After all Gough made it legal

 

[rich_lamb]

Shouldn't there be a law along the lines of you must make a toast to Gough on the first beer out of every batch or something?

 

[hoohaaman]

I do

 

[Andyd]

Hmmm. Just did a quick scan of online legislation databases and nothing came up. I'll do some more digging later.

 

[MartinS]

People must have missed it from my earlier post (added it as an edit):

Excise Tariff Act 1921 says, "Items 1 to 3 of this Schedule do not include any liquor that has been produced for non-commercial purposes, using non-commercial facilities and equipment, other than a liquor that is, or that contains, any spirit obtained by distillation."

That's the bit that makes homebrew legal, and there's no mention of volume limits.

 

[domonsura]

But there is mention of a 22 litre limit somewhere in the actual legislature, I've seen it. I just can't find it now.

I'm not suggesting that it's ever been enforced or ever will be, but somewhere there is a specific figure given based on calendar month per adult per residence.

The excise tarif legislation is simply the ATO's legislation regarding who should and shouldn't get charged for making it, it has nothing to do with homebrew whatsoever ( and that is directly from the ATO's excise collection department 'mouth' (I had a visit from them the other week ) The ATO isn't concerned with who is and isn;t allowed to brew, they only care about whether or not they get money for it

 

[MartinS]

But there is mention of a 22 litre limit somewhere in the actual legislature, I've seen it. I just can't find it now.

Perhaps some states have extra legislation? Or perhaps there used to be a limit?