Legal question concerning homebrewing

I just opened a small homebrewing shop inside our garden center store. We were discussing some things that we are unsure about. If an 18 year old kid comes in and wants to buy a 6 gallon carboy to make a terrarium out of. Can I sell it to him? Or how about a 6 gallon "stew pot" that a 16 year old wants to buy? If he went to k-Mart he could get it without a problem, but is it illegal if I sell it to him? Drinking age here in Ohio is 21. Are there even laws covering age and homebrewing? I asked a local police officer and he had no idea.

Reply to
Plumbum Blimp
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IANAL but IMHO it is the same as selling hydropic equipement.. it can be used for legal or illegal means and it is not your place to discrimate on that. A carboy is just a glass container, it can have many uses and i'm sure the same can be said about a stew pot. Selling a brew kit may be different though, it is a little more purpose driven. I'm curious though, the drinking age is 21 but does that mean you can't brew beer unless you are 21? Where i live the liquor laws refer to minimum age of a customer being served or sold alcohol, and allowed in an establishment that primarily serves alcohol (it is also illegal to buy alcohol for a minor, but that is generaly the same as selling or serving a minor anyhow). A minor drinking in their own home is different, if the alcohol was purchased by a guardian or parent it is fine.

So the question is : Is providing a minor with grain, yeast and various containers etc that can be used for brewing beer the same as selling them alcohol.

To be safe you could just ask the youth to come in with their parents to make a purchase couldn't you? Most likely any legal problems you would have would be kids brewing behind their parents' backs (ie you sold to a minor and they are hiding their brew in the basement and their parents discover it).

Sorry that wasn't much help eh.

Plumbum Blimp wrote:

Reply to
steve

You might get better answers from a lawyer than homebrewers...unless there's a homebrewing lawyer around!

---------->Denny

Reply to
Denny Conn

hehehehe, I thank you all for the replies. We have a similar "semantics" problem with our "Hair Clips", you've seen them, an alligator clip with a bead and 2 strips of leather ending with another bead and a feather. Back in high school we called them "Roach Clips" everyone had one hanging from their rear-view mirror. Even the kids that didn't "smoke". We can't label them as "Roach Clips" or the police could raid us and confiscate them as drug paraphernalia. As "Hair Clips" they're ok.

I was hoping someone knew the answer so I wouldn't have to hire a lawyer to answer it for me. As long as the local cops don't know the answer, I guess I'm in good shape,,,,,LOL

Reply to
Plumbum Blimp

i'm no lawyer, so give this as much credence as you see fit.

seems to me that you should be ok to sell the carboy/pot to anyone. after all, these things have multiple uses, and in and of themselves do not represent possession of alcohol, which i believe is the basis of the law. calls to mind when i was younger and the local "tobacco shops" would sell, to anyone, these ornate "vases" made of ceramic and copper/steel tubing. darned if i could ever figure out how you actually got the flowers in those things. ;->

bob p

Reply to
jrprice

Agreed here. Selling the carboy or a stew pot means nothing, as both have legitimate non-brewing uses/purposes. The brew kit is a gray area, but I would probably err on the side of caution and not sell it to a person under the legal drinking age.

Drinking laws have nothing to do with where the drinking occurs or whether or not it was bought/sold. If the police come into your home for a valid reason, and your underage son/daughter/friends are chugging the good stuff that YOU provided them, then guess what? You are now open to a charge of contributing to the delinquincy of a minor (OK, minor in that they are under the legal drinking age for that state, even if they are over 18). It doesn't matter that they didn't buy it. They broke the law, and you provided the means for them to do it.

Reply to
NobodyMan

That's right. On another note, consider this, It's not illegal to make methamphetamines, But it is illegal to possess it. Intent to make isn't illegal, even if it is your expressed intent, I hope that answers your question. Kind of neat, huh, living in a free world Plumbum blimp?

Reply to
G_cowboy

I'm from Canada, and this province's liquor laws are a little different I suppose. Of course we are pretty slack on a few things here (marijuana anyone?).

heres the bc laws (2a is the interesting one):

(1) A person must not

(a) sell, give or otherwise supply liquor to a minor,

(b) have liquor in his or her possession for the purpose of selling, giving or otherwise supplying it to a minor, or

(c) in or at a place under his or her control, permit a minor to consume liquor.

2) Subsection (1) does not apply if liquor is

(a) given to a minor by his or her parent, spouse or guardian in a residence for consumption in the residence,

(b) administered to a minor by or under the authority of a medical practitioner or dentist for medicinal purposes, or

(c) given or otherwise supplied to a minor in accordance with the regulations.

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I suppose this is so the entire family can legally enjoy some beer while watching the hockey game? Same province that won't sell a lighter to people under the smoking age at a 7-11 because it is smoking paraphenelia, yet will sell a bbq lighter.

I'm curious though, do you think a grocery store could be sued for selling bags of frozen corn to kids if the kids make moonshine from it and go blind? If so, don't sell anything beer related to kids. Or even a carboy since they may use it to make moonshine and go blind then sue you because it was obvious they weren't making a terrarium.

If you can't find the law, then just don't sell anything grey area to youth. Better safe than a few unhappy underage customers. Can't you look up your state laws online though, or contact some kind of state liquor board?

Reply to
steve

Just take care. i read somewhere that a company selling hydroponic material had it's material consfiscated and had a big fine because they advertised in High Times and the add hinted that it could be used to grow pot. The same way if you sell carboys and in your advertising it's said to be part of brewing equipement, you can have some problems.

I would say just to use some common sense but the laws concernig alcohol in USA are so stupid that common sence has notting to do with it so better be safe than be sorry..

Reply to
Altair

I probably could have looked it up, and I still might. But isn't this much more fun that listening to a bunch of stiff necked lawyers? Thanks for your time guys. I think I like this newsgroup.

Reply to
Plumbum Blimp
[...]

Don't bet on it.

Things may go fine for years -- until someone gets a wild hair and talks to the local prosecutor. They may not have a case in the world, but you'll still have to defend yourself.

On the other hand, if you have some actual legal research done and documented, you can legitimately claim that you did your homework and sold the malt and hops in good faith.

Better yet, go talk to a few of the local prosecutors. That, at least, should be free.

On the one hand, there are legitimate uses for malt (yummy!) and hops (a good ingredient for a nice, calming tea). On the other hand, I wasn't allowed to buy airplane glue (polystyrine plastic cement) when I was a kid because some other kids chose to sniff the stuff for a cheap high.

Where do you draw the line? It's easy to see a non-beer use for hops and malt, but not for brewer's yeast (yah, you can bake with it, but baker's yeast works better for that).

Ray Drouillard

Reply to
Ray Drouillard

actually many bakers prefer brewers yeast.

Reply to
Jack Slopehead

Hehehe, I like Jack's answer. Crystal malt is awesome on ice cream. I think I might go down and talk to the prosecutor. Everyone else I call always gives me the same answer, "I dunno". Thanks guys,

Reply to
Plumbum Blimp

Reply to
Greyhound

Brewer's yeast is high in the B-complex vitamins (See? Beer's good for you!). Years ago, before I started brewing, I bought some at a health food store as a food or vita-drink additive. I would imagine that it's still available in many health food/nutrition shops. I don't believe that they need to see see ID to sell it. Call your local shop and see if the carry it.

Mysterioso

Reply to
Mysterioso

That's used, dry, dead brewer's yeast..you couldn't use it to brew beer.

---------->Denny

Reply to
Denny Conn

We're in East Rochester, a short distance from Minerva. If you stand at the blinky light we are a stones throw to the north. It's north-east on the map, not real far from Canton. The store is called "Cindy's Plants -N- Stuff", we're listed at L.D. Carlson's website. I called the Columbiana County prosecutor and asked them,,,,,, Reply was, "I dunno",,,, LOL

Reply to
Plumbum Blimp

In data Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:06:14 GMT, Plumbum Blimp ha scritto:

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Reply to
spiklo

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