I have a saison recipe that a lot of people love and have asked me for the recipe. Does anyone know a way to copyright it? Thank you for your input.
You are better keeping it a trade secret.
Copyright essentially provides no protection for recipes beyond the written form of the recipe. Copyright would make it illegal for someone to reproduce the exact form of the recipe but does not make it illegal for someone to make beer from your recipe. If you want, you can still put a copyright sign on your recipe and put your name next to it.
Sincerely, your friendly intellectual property attorney.
Beer recipes are a dime a dozen. Recipes in general can’t be copyrighted, the legal folks can correct if wrong (looks like they already have weighed in). As said keep it secret, like the Coke Cola recipe if you think it is supper special.
There are recipes for Pliny the Elder on the web, supplied by Vinnie Cilurzo. Now why would he do that? He says the equipment and procedures are hard to duplicate, so you get a similar beer, but not exactly the same. Sort of like Grandma’s apple pie recipe.
MY homebrew club did an activity that weighed out the same ingredients in kits - malt, hops and yeast - for club members to brew a home, so water and process were not controlled. When judged there was a 20 point spread. So much for a recipe being special.
Are you the owner of the brewery that sells this beer? Or just a home brewer serving friends? Either way I would be honored they asked and just give it out. Most probably won’t brew it. And few if any will brew it “just like you”. But, thinking as I type here (dangerous), what could you copyright? The grain bill? The hops used? You mashed at 156.0859 degrees? I’m curious as to what the legal folks have to say…
+1. I’ve tried several other brewers versions of the Pliny recipe aside from mine - most were good, but WIDE variance there. Heck, water chemistry differences alone (as mentioned) makes a huge difference, aside from inherent differences in systems and methods. I think Denny posted regarding his awesome BVIP recipe that he had tasted many versions of it brewed by other homebrewers, that most were very good, but none were a whole lot like his. I say do the opposite - give them the recipe and see just how different their versions are. A yeast driven beer like a saison will change dramatically depending on fermentation temp, ramp up schedule, etc. Our breweries (and exact methods start to finish) really are unique.
I am just a home brewer.
Thank you all very much. Your posts were very helpful.
I have always benefited from the advice and free sharing of recipes that others have given me. I give my recipes out.
Though I have just remembered that I owe a couple of guys a recipe.
The only way to totally duplicate it is
Same grain bill
Same hops
Same water
Same yeast
Same equipment
Same brewer
I think all of these play into the finished product.
I have decided to give them the recipe. I was curious about copyright. “freely ye have received, freely give.” Thanks to all of you. Your advise and counsel was very helpful.
“Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellers there is safety.”
Proverbs 11:14
+1 Here here…
Very nice!
Brew on fellow homebrewer, brew on…
I have a very good scrambled egg technique. It has been copyrighted. Ya’ll are warned! 
Darn it… I just bought 18 eggs to scramble. Now what do I do. NOT QUICHE.
NOOOOOOOOOOO…
I bet you whisk them counter-clockwise, huh?
I heard years ago, probably in a similar discussion, that you cannot copyright a single recipe, only a collection of recipes (like a cookbook). Is that true?
Edit: I suppose since a single recipe is a process to make a product, it would fit more with patents than copyright (if the recipe was truely innovative).
I have heard that it is only legal to do that in Australia, New Zealand, etc.
You can register a copyright for a recipe and for a cookbook but the protection is very slim. Copyright on a recipe makes it illegal to photocopy the recipe, but probably doesn’t prevent someone from copying the recipe but expressing it in their own words. The copyright for a cookbook can also protect the selection and order of recipes. A copyright does not prevent anyone from following the recipe.
You cannot copyright a recipe from the standpoint of merely copyrighting a set of ingredients and instructions. You can copyright the text of a recipe if the text provides some creative work beyond just the list of ingredients and instructions. The copyright applies to your text and does not prevent people from using the recipe or extracting the ingredients and instructions and replicating them.
To combat the frequent statement, even by other lawyers, that one cannot copyright a recipe, an IP attorney registered a copyright for a scrambled egg recipe. I couldn’t find his actual recipe but here is a link to his blog where he gives the registration number: http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2011/05/29/copyrighted-recipe-for-scrambled-eggs/