Shipping Homebrew

Hi all,

does anyone have suggestions about how to efficiently (time and cost) ship homebrew to other states?  I have some family members who would like to try my beers, but live far away.  Also I am hoping to ship more than a few bottles, more like a case or 2… any thoughts or tips?

first off, don’t use the USPS. They are wonderful and I use them whenever possible but it is illegal to ship alcohol via the post office.

UPS and FedEx have rules against shipping alcohol but it is not illegal so what they don’t know won’t hurt them. They do not have rules against shipping ‘yeast samples’.

wrap each bottle well in multiple layers of bubble wrap and heavy plastic, think about what you can do to protect those bottles. shipping a whole case is going to be expensive if you expect them all to arrive safely.

Just ship a sixer, if they like it well enough, they’ll pay to come see you.  1-2 cases will be rediculously spendy and risky as MX mentioned previously.

I shipped a case for my niece’s after wedding party. I used those wine shipper boxes from UHaul.  Crazy expensive, but it was worth it in the end.  It’ll be easier when my daughter gets married in July, because it’s here!

Check out this link:

Here is another site with pictures and guidelines for shipping beer.  Just scroll past the trading stuff, the pictures are about half way down, with great explanations.

http://alewatcher.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-trader-tips.html

i ship a lot of beer, and my advice is to make your packages bomb-proof.  You need a lot of bubble wrap, or you can put each bottle into a fedex padded pack (they work great).  I also put each padded bottle into a grocery bag or two for extra insurance if there’s a break.  Then put all of it into a large trash bag too.  Use lots of bubble wrap padding the bottles!  You need to be able to drop your box from a height of six feet and know that it will be just fine, otherwise it’s not packed well enough.  Putting “fragile” on your box will not save you from fedex workers tossing them around in the processing centers.

If you have a fedex account you can print your own label and just drop it off, they generally don’t ask any questions that way.

Here’s an even more radical idea, although it works better for growlers and bomber bottles.

  1. Wrap your beer (bottle/six pack/whatever) in a sealed plastic bag.

  2. Line your shipping box with trash bag, so that the trash bag completely lines the inside of the box and is open at the top.

  3. Spray in a layer of expanding spray foam insulation into the bottom of the box and let it dry.

  4. Put the sealed beer container on top of the dried spray foam.

  5. Spray the rest of the foam over and around the sealed beer container.

  6. Close up the trash bag and then close the box. Let the foam dry.

  7. Take the trash bag/foam/beer out of the box.

  8. Use a knife to cut through the foam, slicing it in half so that you can get at the beer.

  9. Replace the plastic bag around the beer container and the trash bag inside the container (just in case, to prevent leaks should UPS or FedEx drop an anvil on your box. . . ). Put everything back together in your own custom-made spray foam packaging.

  10. Seal the package and ship.

I would be worried about the impact resistance of that sprayfoam. Styrofoam is great because it absorbs the impact and much less energy is transferred to the bottle. Sprayfoam, especially if it gets molded around the bottles or bottle necks, might transfer that impact energy much more efficiently. Think about the shearing potential, if you have the bottom of the box go one way and the top go another.

Remember, two things are likely to cause a bottle to break - impact with the side of the box and impact with another bottle. Most breakage I’ve seen is caused by not having enough packing material, allowing the bottles to move relative to each other and the box.  I would wrap each bottle, then get some plastic stretch wrap from a shipping store and wrap all of the bottles together so all the bottles move as one unit. Then put those in a box with plenty more padding. A liner bag is a good idea too, to contain leaks if there is a break.

I always wrap each bottle individually with bubble-wrap and then put it in it’s own gallon-size ziplock baggie.  Line the box with more bubble-wrap, add the “bottle bundles”, and then more bubble-wrap around and between all the bottles.  So far, so good.

This is pretty much the way I also ship my bottles. I also line the entire box with a plastic bag just in case of a casualty. Bubble wrap is a competition brewer’s friend.  :slight_smile:

As was said, wrap with bubble wrap. I also put each bottle in a gallon ziplock and put a garbage bag in the box before I start packing. You want it to be as tight as possible. If you don’t feel comfortable holding the package over your head and dropping onto concrete, you have not packed it well enough!

+1

Just look at how the UPS drivers handle packages on their trucks or a loading dock.

Or this FedEX delivery…