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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Homebrew Auctioning ("Chad Stevens")
  Re:  Tap lines ("Michael O'Donnell")
  Gone Troppo ("Phil Yates")
  Re: AHA Secretarial Resignation (Mark Tumarkin)
  re: Yeast Rancing under water ("Reif and Angie Hammond")
  Re: Is it legal? (Jeff Renner)


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Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 20:54:03 -0800
From: "Chad Stevens" <zuvaruvi at cox.net>
Subject: Homebrew Auctioning

With regard to auctioning your homebrew, I certainly can't make the judgment 
call for you, but I'll try to provide some insight.  The statute which 
defines homebrew is found in IRS code (26 USC):

26 USC 5053:

(e) Beer for personal or family use
Subject to regulation prescribed by the Secretary, any adult may, without 
payment of tax, produce beer for personal or family use and not for sale. 
The aggregate amount of beer exempt from tax under this subsection with 
respect to any household shall not exceed-
 (1) 200 gallons per calendar year if there are 2 or more adults in such 
household, or
 (2) 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only 1 adult in such 
household.
 For purposes of this subsection, the term "adult" means an individual who 
has attained 18 years of age, or the minimum age (if any) established by law 
applicable in the locality in which the household is situated at which beer 
may be sold to individuals, whichever is greater.

Basically, what this code is telling the IRS is, folks can brew beer for 
personal consumption, and the government ought to leave them alone and let 
them do it without taxing them.  So, as far as the federal government is 
concerned, the only difference between commercial beer and homebrewed beer 
is revenue.  "If you're makin' money, we're gonna tax you."

So it would seem, selling, raffling, auctioning, or otherwise creating any 
revenue as a result of brewing beer at home, is in conflict with the intent 
of 26 USC 5053.  You may be treading on thin ice.  One way around this is to 
charge for entry to an event where tastes of homebrew are given away.  I'm 
sure there are others, but none come to mind at the moment.

Good luck,

Chad Stevens
QUAFF
San Diego 



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Date: Tue, 02 Nov 2004 23:40:35 -0800
From: "Michael O'Donnell" <mooseo at stanford.edu>
Subject: Re:  Tap lines


>Jay wants a way to seal tap lines through a fridge.

Silicone sounds like a good bet; it isn't a great adhesive, so it is easy 
to peel off when you need to replace them.  Don't worry about the stink... 
I think silicone uses acetic acid for cure, which isn't too bad... besides, 
if it could affect your beer, O2 would be able to get to it too, and that 
is probably worse.  Basically, if the beer is in a keg, the fumes from the 
sealant can't get in, and acetic acid isn't (as far as I know, but I'm no 
chemist) able to pass through the walls of the lines.  There are different 
grades of hardware-store silicone... the tub stuff has an anti-mildew 
compound in it (as opposed to food grade, or aquarium sealant)... 
personally, I'd use that.

cheers,
mike
Monterey, CA





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Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 21:45:43 +1100
From: "Phil Yates" <phil.yates at bigpond.com>
Subject: Gone Troppo

I liked Graham's description of how the far northern inhabitants survive the
wet season and actually get some sleep. Graham comments that he went through
9 litres of beer in three days during one humid patch.

So what? Is this supposed to be an example of constraint? Surely you meant
90 litres of beer in three days, Graham?

If the best you can manage is 9 litres in three days in the stinking
tropics, I'd say you are badly out of practise!

Not that appreciating fine beer has anything to do with high consumption of
such. Far from it. But really Graham, 9 litres in three days? I'd be keeping
quiet about that pathetic effort.

"Going troppo" is a well know phenomenon associated with living in the
tropics. Personally, anyone who chooses to live in places like Townsville
has in my view gone troppo before they even got there!

It's nearly as ridiculous as idiots like me who put up with a Southern
Highlands winter every year.

Graham says I've learnt a lot from him, well I have. I don't live in
Townsville and I don't ride push bikes in front of buses. I also can drink 9
litres of beer in any given three days, even in the middle of a Southern
Highlands winter.

Phil



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Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 19:31:35 -0500
From: Mark Tumarkin <tumarkin at hogtownbrewers.org>
Subject: Re: AHA Secretarial Resignation

A couple of days ago, Rob Moline sent the following Resgination notice 
out to the HBD & TechTalk -
    
AHA Secretarial Resignation, v2.0

    Effective 11.1.2004, my resignation as Secretary of the AHABOA has been
offered and accepted by the Board.
    Susan Ruud has been appointed by the Chair, Mark Tumarkin, to serve the
remainder of my term, and will hopefully be voted in by the Board to serve
as Secretary for a further full term of two years  at  the next NHC. I 
know I
intend to vote for her, should I be re-elected as a Board member. She will
serve our community honourably.
    All nominations submitted to me have been forwarded to the Board for
their consideration, and Susan shall handle the rest of the election
process.
Cheers!
Rob Moline


The above announcement has caused some concerned inquiries. Let me say 
that Rob
 was NOT asked to resign.Rob's service to the AHA Board of Advisors
(and the larger brewing community)is greatly appreciated. He resigned 
for two reasons.

Firstly, because his term on the Board has expired and he is up for 
re-election.
As Secretary, it is one of his duties to oversee the election. He 
doesn't want there to be
any possible perception of impropriety.

Secondly, he chose not to take advantage of the current term extension 
that is available
 to sitting Board members under the BoA bylaws (since he is actively 
seeking to change
the bylaws with regard to this term extension, as well as several other 
issues).
This course of action was Rob's choice, dictated by his belief that the 
direction towards a
more grass-roots driven AHA should mean that BoA officers should be able 
to garner
enough support from the membership to be re-elected rather than have 
their terms
automatically extended. As such, he has chosen to run for re-election 
this year.

Hopefully, this will answer any questions you may have about Rob's 
resignation,
Mark Tumarkin
Chairman of the AHA Board of Advisors



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Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 19:36:59 -0500
From: "Reif and Angie Hammond" <arhammond at comcast.net>
Subject: re: Yeast Rancing under water

Dave,

There is a yeast storage article in the Brewery Library that refers to
storage of yeast under distilled water:

http://brewery.org/brewery/library/SterileDW1096.html

Do you use distilled or RO water, or generic grocery store water?

Thanks,
Reif
Durham, NH




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Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 19:49:05 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <jeffrenner at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Is it legal?

"Stephen Rockey" <slrjk at egyptian.net> writes:

>I have been asked to make a beer for the highest bidder in a silent auction
>for our church's "Wurstmart."  (Its OK, we're Lutheran!)
>
>Is it legal?  I'm not selling the beer, I'm offering my service...or at
>least the product of my service.

It depends on the laws in the state in which you live.  (I assume 
that, despite your domain name, you don't live in Egypt).  Here in 
Michigan, our law legalizing homebrewing was finally passed about 
five years ago.  Before that it was theoretically illegal because, 
while wine and cider were mentioned in the law legalizing home 
alcohol production, beer was not.  This was due to copying the 
original 1933 federal law, which also omitted beer, apparently thru 
an oversight.  This was finally corrected in 1979 thanks to 
California Sen. Cranston.

Anyhow, the Michigan law was drafted by a legislator who was also a 
homebrewer, and it benefited by both his insight and by looking at 
other state laws.  We are explicitly permitted to remove beer from 
our premises, and to give up to 20 gallons per year as gifts.

Still, I suspect that even in Michigan this might be an iffy 
proposition, at least theoretically.  However, I brewed before 1979 
and never worried about being busted, and I doubt that you'd have a 
problem.  But you could be entirely legal by brewing at the winner's 
home and having him pitch the yeast.  And since Brew On Premises are 
able to have people legally brew away from their own home if they 
pitch the yeast, you could probably brew it at your house.

In the end, except for the church not wanting to be publicly involved 
in anything that is even theoretically illegal, you may want to do 
this.  Besides, if you invite the winner over to participate, you 
might make a convert to homebrewing.  And you could advertise the 
auction as being not just for beer but a chance to participate in 
brewing customized beer of the winner's choice.

Hope they don't want Bud Lite.

Jeff

PS - This illustrates why I suggest that people tell us where they 
are.  It helps answer questions sometimes, and you may even find out 
that there is a brewer you didn't know about right down the road. 
And include your name, as Stephen did.
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at comcast.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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