His original post literally said fans
Exactly … not “strangers”. Just sayin’ cut the guy some slack. It’s his business who he lets in his house not ours.
Here’s another twist: I went to a liquor store in town recently and chatted up the owner - told him I was a home brewer and that I liked his selection of craft beers. After talking for a while, he said to me, “Tell you what, if you bring me a six pack of your latest brew, I’ll trade you even up for a six pack of any beer you want in the store.” I declined but thought about it afterwards . . . thoughts?
Just don’t accept tips from anyone that you wouldn’t be comfortable playing fantasy football or a game of poker with for a $5 buy in.
I have a version of this too. My daughter’s high school orchestra was having a fund-raiser. The kids played music and during the breaks there was a split-the-pot, silent auctions, etc. My daughter suggested I do a “homebrew basket” for the event. Beer, glassware, some pretzels, a schmancy bottle opener, etc. I said, “You better check with your orchestra teacher… the school is no place for beer” and she got back to me a couple days later and said the teacher was cool with it. We agreed to take a picture of the “prize” (which was a case of beer, four sixes of different styles, two etched glasses with my logo on it, a big barrel of pretzels, an opener all in a wooden case I made) and put the pic at the auction table and keep the beer in my car. Whoever won it would take delivery of it outside the school. Probably not kosher but we did it anyway.
That’s not my memory of school.
LOL. I agree but in this case I was trying to be the parent. 
I used to donate a couple cases and swag from my brewery to my son’s HS wrestling team every year for one of their benefits. Granted, it was commercial beer, not homebrew. But same lines. I always felt odd about it. But they sure as hell took it!
The donation aspect is something that I’ve been wondering about recently. My research as told me that each state can have very different rules. Iowa is really generic in its law while some states have specific mention to donations and the legality of them.
I read “fans” as just people who come over and enjoy his beer. Whether these are just friends or you’re trying to convinve strangers to join you in the sewers like in IT, a tip jar is technically illegal. It’s technically illegal even if you’re serving commercial beer and taking money because you can’t receive revenue for serving alcohol without a license. The probability you’ll get in trouble for it is somewhere along the lines of brewing too much beer and worrying the TTB will show up and try to count the gallons brewed this year to take you to jail. I guess if you have bad blood with people in your neighborhood or town you might find yourself in trouble with a local authority for running a bar without a license. I’ve been to several $5/door keggers without the cops busting in so use your best judgment here.
Regarding donations–this is a state by state issue. California made a huge mess of the issue a few years ago but I believe that was finally sorted out. The laws are all of the map (pun intended) on what you can do with homebrew. In states like Texas, for example, giving possession to another person not within your household your homebrew to take somewhere else requires a form from the state ABC and they enforce that for homebrewing competitions so charities or schools might be a little hesitant to take donations by way of charities.
I would never ask my guests to pay, tip or donate anything for the beer I have made. Yes, ingredients are costly and my time is valuable but I don’t make it to recoup my costs. I make beer because I enjoy the process. I enjoy the results. And I enjoy sharing those results with my friends and family.
I have a friend who gives me money for raw material for a specific beer he likes. I make him beer. I don’t take a penny more that what it costs to brew the beer. He even has his own corny kegs because I wasn’t giving mine up temporarily while he drinks 15 gallons. I don’t know if that’s illegal or not and TBH I don’t care. I would never take an offering of money for beer or ask for money in return. I like to share. The only thing I really want from friends and neighbors is that they give me honest feedback. I also make charcuterie for people. They pay me for the raw material. I don’t take a penny for extra. Is that too illegal? The short answer is no. The long answer is I don’t care!
In what alternative universe must someone live, where 1) he would even think of accepting money from a friend or family member for a glass of homebrew, or 2) he would accept money from strangers (“fans”) whom he let into his house for a sample of homebrew?
Maybe I’ve had a few already today, but it’s a ridiculous question, maybe from a troll?
No one has mentioned trading, or bartering instead of accepting cash. What about, “If you give me a six pack of your home brew, I’ll give you two loaves of my fresh homemade bread”?
Like all things alcoholic, beer is a tax revenue source. There is a per barrel excise tax on beer and in many states the sales tax on liquor is higher than the sales tax on other taxable items. For example, the sales tax on beer is 9% here in Maryland whereas the standard sales tax is 6%. That is why it is illegal to charge for homemade beer.