Heads up to folks in Illinois: The Illinois Liquor Control Commission recently cracked down on a festival that served homebrew and commercial brew. http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/x643675111/Illinois-Liquor-Control-Commission-enforces-law-no-home-brews-at-festival
I’m told that the AHA is going to seek clarification from the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.
More and more this looks like the next battleground legal issue for the AHA is going to be getting recognition of homebrew legality outside of the house.
Not that I’m surprised that the state cracked down on homebrew at a commercial beer fest, that’s always going to be dicey.
almost everything is rotten in the state of Illinois.
they probably care very little about safety, their real concern is tax revenue. not sure how much longer i will live here
It would be nice if there was a way to pay taxes on small volumes of homebrew to serve at charity events if that was the problem. In Illinois, charities could hold occasional casino events back when gambling was otherwise illegal.
I think “slippery slope” arguments are usually pretty dumb, but it might be relevant here. How many pro brewers started homebrewing? How many got their name out there with homebrew before they went into business? How many homebrewers want to be pro brewers?
I think the system is abused by some people exploiting “homebrew” laws to market an intended product without paying their due tax and complying with health laws. If you let “homebrewers” serve their beer at commercial beer festivals, how is that still “homebrew?” If you charge admission to the event, you’re profiting from unlicensed liquor. How is that different from a bar making their own booze to sell?
In my state, you can make jams and jellies to sell at farmers’ markets without a state license or certified kitchen. Since Americans have such a messed up relationships with alcohol, I don’t see anything similar happening with beer/wine.
In my proposal, the real beneficiary would be the charity. The homebrewer wouldn’t receive any money although the homebrewer could receive incidentals.
I hear that. My sister lives in West Chicago and works at Fermilab. Trying to convince her to move here. She likes the snow. I took her up to the snow on Mauna Kea this year. She liked it.
BTW there is plenty of room for more doctors here too.
I would bet that it’s more related to the distributors complaining than it is tax revenue.
The distributors have everything locked up tight and they can’t control homebrew so they don’t want it there. Plus, if people are drinking the homebrew they aren’t buying $6 Budweisers.
will think about hawaii. i did enjoy living in mililani, but that was a long time ago… still thinking back to oregon (wife is from there) washington (where we met) ohio (my hometown) or montana (sister in law)…
possibly the distributors are the trigger but just the text of the argument is that they are saying
Hofer said the state has concerns about safety, as there is no way to know how the product is produced and under what circumstances. Plus, home brewers aren’t paying taxes on the product. and it is not just in reference to this they are talking about beer taken out of the home in general
And they also say:
“We are very sensitive to concerns about (charitable and individual) competition with for-profit businesses,” she said.
In my experience, this is very likely due to the distributor complaining about competition.
The taxes that would be collected on the amount of beer we’re talking about must be minimal. It’s the lost revenue to LaGrou or Wirtz and the small nick in their monopoly. It’s that slippery slope again - first it’s homebrewers, then it’s the wine makers, pretty soon no one needs a distributor!!! These people have the market locked up and competition is not welcome.
Sounds like the homebrew component of the festival just got a little too big and was advertized a little too much, given the current laws in IL. Sorry to hear this, I would guess it will negatively affect the success of the festival.
Certainly the position that the liquor control commission is taking is within the letter of the law, but I have to agree with Joe Sr. that the interests being served seem much more in line with the distributors rather than any public health concerns.
i will admit that you have swayed me some. i do believe that the “tattletales” in this case were the distributors etc. however it is the attitude embodied in their argument that pisses me. it comes off as “and those guys don’t even pay taxes on …”
I love taxes. I love roads, and bridges, and police, and fire depts, and state parks, and all the thousands of other things that taxes pay for. I don’t really feel like charities should be tax free. I don’t think charging admission to drink homebrew at a public event should be legal, regardless of who profits from it.
I don’t think it’s fair to demonize the distributors. I’m not convinced it’s actually any specific distributor that complained about this. Even if it was, distributors pay taxes, and have families to feed, and so on. I don’t begrudge them for wanting to stay in business. Most brewers don’t have time to drive around to deliver the beer they make, so either they can hire an employee to do that (expensive) or hire a distributor (slightly less expensive).
Until American decides alcohol shouldn’t be a controlled substance, I don’t see a way to get around these regulations in any fair and cogent way.
I hate taxes, especially the alcohol related ones.
I thought I posted, but it didn’t post… So here goes again.
Here in Illinois, distributors basically have a geographic monopoly. You have no choices and must play by their rules and pay whatever they extract. I think there are 3 major distributors.
Bell’s chose to stay out of the state for years due to this fact. So the atmosphere is clearly limiting consumer choices.
Distributors also have a powerful lobby in Springfield protecting their interests.
I like bridges and roads, too, but I don’t like my taxes subsidizing businesses that are extracting high profits and controlling market prices.
For perspective, our income tax rate here in Illinois was increase 66%, so we’re sensitive to taxes.
Oh, and charities are losing their non-profit benefits here as well. But the tax preferred status of non-profits is a whole different topic.
Here’s some good perspective on the situation:
While the Illinois Liquor Control Commission cites safety as one of their reasons for not allowing homebrew at the festival, we all know it’s really about the money. I’m not surprised that they don’t want to allow it at a paid-admission beer festival. The scary part is the comments they are making about where homebrew can be served, only at someone’s home. I think they may be over-reaching on their interpretation of the law in that respect.
this is what angered me about the article. not just for this festival. to me it implies that if you don’t drink it at your own home it should be taxed. I am not saying they are going after everyone who takes beer to the beer club, it is just this attitude in this state that all of our money belongs to them and by their good grace i am allowed to feed my damn kids.
Give me liberty or give me death. Home brew is regulated sufficiently by the 200 gallon per year limit. You are a homebrewer if you do not exceed this limit. You must be 21 to drink or possess alcohol. No other rules should apply to giving beer away by homebrewers. Paid admission to an event is not the sale of beer. The State of Illinois is so backwards as to be a joke. Our governors rarely exhibit leadership - they usually are led by special interests.