House Bill 500 – About Time!

I have no idea if House Bill 500 which was introduced on March 28 will pass it the current form, but if it does we will all be better off. This revised ABC legislation does a host of things. I stole this synopsis from Facebook, but it sums it up well.

1) Makes crowlers legal for sale at retail
2) Allows breweries to sell wine and cider without food
3) Allows breweries to have off-site storage for beer
4) Allows QC sampling and other on-site sampling to be legal
5) Makes homebrew meetings & competitions legal
6) Authorizes farm breweries
7) Raises the self-distribution cap to 250,000 bbls wholesale (not produced)
8) Changes the wording of the franchise law to allow small breweries to more easily manage distribution agreements and partners
9) Clarifies and modernizes other parts of the law (mainly just makes things more straightforward and easy to understand without changing function)

Get behind this bill and contact your representative to support it so it doesn’t die.

Celebrating Five Years

Today is the fifth anniversary for the blog. When it started 1,827 posts ago the direction was unclear and with this post once again the direction is a bit of a mystery. Trying to post daily has proven difficult when a fresh topic idea isn’t forthcoming, for that reason the plan is to only post when there is something relevant or fun to say. That might be a reminder of a particular day to celebrate a drink or beverage of a discourse on how ignorant a politician is on the topic of alcohol or firearms. The goal will be for topics to concentrate on firearms and fermentation only occasionally coloring outside the lines. Thank you to everyone who receive the blog via email and to those who visit regularly to read what we have to say.

Cheers to you all!

Upcoming Fifth Anniversary

On February 12 the blog will turn five. We generate about 1,000 new views per month and 135 people following our mindless banter. Every comment is considered and we appreciate you taking the time to read about whatever happens to come to mind that day. We may decide to post less frequent and with more focus after the 12th because some days it is difficult to find an interesting topic while other days it is difficult to stop typing. So if you start to see less posts do not become alarmed, we’ll post when we have something to say as opposed to saying something daily.

Cry Baby, Cry Baby, Cry Baby, Cry!

I want someone to explain to me why so many homebrewers find the need to complain about competitions and always try to figure out how the entry which bested them skirted the rules to do so. It’s ridiculous to waste time crying about a loss when the answer is so simple, brew better beer! Recently someone was complained a biochemist had added particular flavors to their beer to create a BJCP flavor profile. Sounds like BS to me, but even if they did I don’t see a problem. They brewed the beer, they had a palate which could pick up flavors and aromas in minute detail to match the guidelines, and they bested the competition with the practice. To be able to put all that in one package and wrap a ribbon around it would be a miraculous achievement. So if you are beaten in a competition suck it up buttercup and brew better beer which emulates the guidelines so you can win next time!

Alpha King Challenge

Today is the Alpha King Challenge at Rock Bottom in Denver and I hope to help judge in the event. This should be a blast!

Should I Become A BJCP Judge?

The answer truly is it depends. If you are a beer hipster and just want to add a notch in your beer utility belt then no, don’t waste your time and the time of those grading your exam. You can be as big a fish and beer ticker was you want on the beer rating sites and apps and that says nothing about your ability to judge in a competition setting. If you only like IPAs or wheat beers then no, you should not judge either. If you cannot take a set of guidelines for any style, read them, and then evaluate the sample in front of you according to those guidelines then you should not judge. Someone else who should think about skipping judging would be the person who feels all IPAs should be West coast or even worse the people who believe that cloudy New England abomination should be the pinnacle of achievement. While appearance only comprises 3 points, never allow appearance to dominate your judging. Use it as a tool to see if other areas are in need of a tweak or fix to better emulate the style being judged. The person who should judge is the homebrewer who is passionate about beer and homebrew and has a desire to learn about styles and how to make the best beer possible. The exam today doesn’t quite ready one for the latter without some self-study unless you are gunning for a higher ranking. The written exam encompasses troubleshooting and recipe formulation which does assist the examinee in their judging skills and suggestions for improvement. So to recap, if you are a homebrewer who is passionate about styles and has a desire to learn study for and take the various BJCP exams. If you are a beer rating ticker than take a pass on it. Once you are a BJCP judge then flex your judging muscle as often as possible by judging. The more you judge the better you will become at conveying what you sense to the entrant. If you achieve a higher ranking then become involved by grading exams or volunteering for other duties such as articles for the newsletter. There is nothing worse than the judge who rarely judges and never does anything but complain. Don’t be that person, be the person people admire for their judging abilities.

Homebrew Competitions Can Be Held In NC – Legally

Apparently the NCABC saw the error in allowing the State Fair to hold a homebrew competition, but to not allow homebrew clubs to have them. The response I saw from Bob Hamilton (edited below) was:

The NC ABC Commission will not prosecute administrative violations as they relate to Homebrew Competitions (such as the one held by the NC State Fair) under the following conditions:

1. The only attendees are the judges, stewards, event organizers and media
2. The general public is not allowed
3. Tickets cannot be sold nor can anyone be charged for beer
4. Judges and stewards are the only people allowed to consume the product
5. If the competition is held in a brewery’s retail area the area must be closed for alcohol sales
6. Any homebrew held at the brewery or retailer’s site must be sealed, separated from stock and clearly marked as competition entries
7. Once the competition is complete any open containers must be destroyed or removed before the brewery’s retails sales can resume

The NC ALE Director has been notified of this policy.

Please understand that this policy can and will change if there are future health, safety or welfare issues that we are made aware of.

There are some items in there which I find slightly disturbing such as “will not prosecute” and “this policy can and will change.” Please throw all your support behind Operation Liberate Homebrew once the legislation is introduced in the next session. We should not have to change because the wind blows in a different direction at NCABC and the only way to secure a future for homebrew competitions is to change the statutes.

Someone At Either NCABC Or ALE Needs To Find Something To Keep Them Busy

Recently a long running homebrew competition in NC pulled the plug over some NCABC/ALE interpretation of the law. All of a sudden a homebrewing competition with a 17 year history is doing something wrong because some agent or staff member interpreted something to mean a homebrew competition is verboten. This does not compute on so many levels especially when you consider the State of NC through the North Carolina State Fair has a homebrew competition as part of the fair activities. We’ve seen some asinine behavior from agents at events in the past, but this one takes the cake. There is a grassroots effort to work on the statutes surrounding homebrew, but basically to allow it to be served at festivals. I really could care less if homebrew can be served at festivals, but when they start to impact competitions that is my call to action. Stay tuned as I get more information I will post it and your support will be needed to quash this anti-homebrew agenda!

Another Like Us On Facebook Request

We have 131 people following the blog via email, but only a handful of folks who receive it in their Facebook feed. If you are on Facebook, please take a minute to LIKE the page, not a single blog post, but the Facebook page. Thank you for your support, it is appreciated!

Shipping Beer, Homebrew, And Spirits

As a homebrewer and past beer trader I was often faced with shipping the bottles to their destination for judging or trading. First and foremost DO NOT try to ship these with USPS, that will not fly. The AHA at one time was trying to get an exemption for homebrew competitions, but to my knowledge that has not happened so it is verboten to ship alcohol via USPS. So your choices are UPS and FedEx and I believe both have internal policies against shipping alcohol with a few exceptions. Since you are not trying to sell the hooch, just get it evaluated by judges or traded to another person I’d suggest you adopt a don’t ask don’t tell policy. If you go to a shipment site and they ask what is in the package it will most likely be rejected if you are truthful, and you should be truthful. The better option is to package yourself and then purchase the shipping online and simply drop off with no questions asked. Now keep in mind if a bottle breaks and the package leaks it will most likely be discarded and you will lose all the contents so package well.

Let’s take a minute and discuss how to package. I find it best to avoid leaks so first carefully line the box with a large garbage bag, this will be your last line of defense against leaks. Be sure when packing the box to not tear the bag. Now take each bottle and secure it in a ziplock. Often this will require putting the bottle in at an angle. Next wrap it in large bubble wrap. I find the large bubble does much better than the small. Whenever I receive a package with bubble wrap I save it for shipping. Tape up each bottle so no glass can contact other glass. Before placing the bottles into the box think about how glass can break. It could break by the glass being near the edge of the box and taking a direct hit or by two bottles slamming together. To avoid this cover the inside of the garbage bag with a layer of bubble wrap on the bottom and sides. Now start putting in your bottles and separate with more bubble wrap or wadded newspaper. Often Amazon packing materials can be reused for filling space. Once everything is in the box cram as much lightweight material in the box so it will barely allow you to close the bag and box. Now shake the box and if you hear movement fill in any gaps. If you do not feel comfortable slamming the box to concrete from a height of six feet you have not packaged well enough. Once you feel comfortable doing that you have packaged the box correctly.

You can save some of that effort by obtaining shipping boxes made for wine or beer. They are expensive to purchase and typically do not hold very many bottles. Smaller bottles will still take additional packaging materials to fill any gaps. If you are shipping liquor the bottles, when glass, are typically thicker than beer bottles and can withstand more force. I received a gift from a friend which was somewhat poorly packaged, but made it just fine. It was a bit of a miracle, but the bottles made it despite their packaging methods. So the moral of the story is purchase shipping online and drop off a well packaged box and all should work out well most of the time.