What Happens When You Sell Home Brew

[Phoney]

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

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.

 

[kelbygreen]

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.

 

[michael_aussie]

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.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

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...

 

[praxis178]

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......

 

[ekul]

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!!

 

[RobH]

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

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.