Going Pro

FREE BEER!

A brewer friend of mine has recently gone ‘pro’ — in the gypsy sense for him. But it is a common story: a homebrewer becomes more successful and eventually the weight of popular opinion is such that they decide to go professional. When I came to California I had thoughts along those lines — that I could potentially open a pico brewery with the dazzling earnings I make in Silicon Valley.

But the cost of running a pico brewery would be too much and, in reality, I don’t want to run a brewery — I just want to make beer. And, in honesty, I’ve probably made about 2 beers which I would feel comfortable selling to the general public.

So what’s the alternative?

In California (and the US in general) alcohol rules are weird and vary state by state. Only in the last few months has it become legal to homebrew in all states (In the south there are still ‘dry’ counties). In California the rules are pretty clear: I can make homebrew (up to 200 gallons worth a year thanks to Amy) and I can enter said homebrew in competitions.

As the law states, I cannot sell my beer, nor can they leave my house; unless for tastings or judgings. The last part of that seems too vague: what would constitute a tasting or a judging? In a tight sense this seems to be an organised competition, but in a looser sense this could mean a score on untappd. So, could I give away beer, as long as the receiver posts a rating and be in line with the letter of the law?

Maybe. So this is my plan: I will announce a beer give away on the first tasting of a good beer that I have made, if anyone wants a bottle gratis then they can contact me and we’ll organise the exchange. The only rule is you *must* give an untappd score and review — number and text. I’m still working on my 9L/4L setup so the amount available will be fairly low and the QC will be pretty high. So with those two constraints, there may never be any beer leaving the apartment. But I think that this approach will let me do all the fun stuff without breaking the law and having to spend a fortune. We’ll see how this goes…