I’ve heard of this happening, but didn’t believe it happened. We moved into an apartment in the new city we’re in until we find a permanent place, on with an open basement for a brewery/bar of course. While brewing my Irish Red I had a knock at the door…the cops had been called because a neighbor “smelled a funny odor”…this just happened to be after my first hop addition. After 30 minutes of showing them the boil, the cleaned out mash tun, the hops and swearing upon a stack of brewing books I wasn’t smoking pot they left…I’m making an IPA next weekend just to see if they’ll call the cops again! Had I been arrested this would have been not so funny…but since I’m off the hook and have my beer almost finished this is awesome!!!
Thats pretty funny…now your free to chief at your own leisure and they’ll think your brewing!
Nosy bastards. 
You should invite the neighbors to taste your beers. All except those bastards. Go like “Ha ha ha! You don’t get any because you’re stupid!”
Call the police and find you who made the complaint. Don’t get mad, get even. I really hate people that do that and it’s happened plenty of times to me, but not for brewing, so far.
The complainant is confidential…for that very reason.
they probably didn’t know better and didn’t want a pot head loose. make a double batch and have an open house to share. maybe attract some more interest in the hobby. maybe an apology. at least that way the next brewer who moves in will be better off. (so will a pot head 8)
Dude…RDWHAHB
That must depend on the local department, because I was always able to find out who complained.
I’m just saying that people need to grow some and go meet people and ask what they are doing before randomly calling the police. First off, the police are busy will real problems and secondly, it’s a coward’s way to do things. If you were really doing something illegal, would you be doing it outside? People need to show some common sense.
man, that’s crazy.
everytime i brew, part of me wishes the cops would come and arrest me since homebrewing is illegal. i feel like that would cast enough absurdity on an asinine archaic prohibition whose time has long gone.
most of the time 8)
I’m curious about the 30 minutes.
Did it take that long because you were showing them the ropes, or were you actually under some sort of suspicion until you FINALLY managed to convince them after half an hour?
again just curious as I wasn’t clear from the OP how friendly they were.
cheers–
–Michael
You don’t know what they were thinking - if you though your neighbor was cooking meth would you go knock on their door and tell them to stop? Or call the cops?
Yeah, it’s silly, but their ignorance was just an inconvenience, no harm done.
“f*ck it dude, let’s go bowling.”
If I came upon a funny looking device in the middle of the woods, then yes, I get the hell out of there, but in an apartment complex would be something different. Even if I didn’t go talk to them, I’d still be reluctant to call the police. For one thing, just about everything is public record and I wouldn’t want a “drug dealer” pissed at me anyway.
I guess I’ve just had the cops called on me too many times for BS stuff like tuning a dirt bike for a few minutes in the middle of the afternoon or playing in a garage band at around the same time. Some people really need to get a life.
In Des Moines last year an apartment complex burned down because someone was running a meth lab in a ground floor apartment.
When asking the question “If you were doing something stupid, would you do it here?” you cannot assume the idiot who would actually do said stupid activity is, in fact, only as stupid as you. For that reason it isn’t really unreasonable to err on the side of caution and let the authorities deal with it.
I’ve had a couple of very nice discussions with the police here in Urbandale. Now they know me, they know what I do. It actually is kind of nice to know the local cops by name. I try to meet any new folks in the neighborhood and get to know them a bit. I make sure to include brewing in my bio when introducing myself. In 18 years I’ve only had one person shun me because they opposed alcohol use and therefore brewing. Get to know your neighbors becuase it’s important for more reasons than brewing.
Paul
I think the police were a little bored, and the police officer kid was about 12 and new, because we went thru the whole list of possible things I could have done wrong. First it was I was smoking pot, then it was homebrewing is illegal (I live in Colorado we’re perfectly legal), then it was an open flame on the deck (again legal), and then we came back full circle with somebody is illegally smoking pot in the area…which I find hard to believe they know since medicinal pot is allowed in Colorado…I also live below a woman who calls the cops 2 a week (it’s an average so that number can go up) for anything and everything.
In the end the beer was brewed, I “got a warning to not do anything illegal” HA!, and the lady upstairs is getting the hoppiest IPA I can brew next week.
Take the high road and just offer all your neighbors a beer that you brewed. No need to assume they’re being spiteful in calling the cops, more likely just ignorant. Teach them the joy of the hobby/obsession.
And there you have it. Someone that needs a life and no matter what you do, she’ll continue to call the cops for any reason she can dream up. Take the high road, low road or any road in between and you’ll get the same results. I’ve dealt with people just like that and they never change. You offer her a beer and she tell the cops your selling alcohol in the complex or some other stupid ass thing.
I brewed beer at our state fair last year as a demonstration. Most people who stopped by were interested, but one lady thought I was joking - and when I finally convinced her that we really were brewing beer she looked at me like I was demonstrating how to manufacture heroin.