TOPIC:

Anyone have any opinion on the legalities of selling wort and sachets of yeast?

Wort contains no alcohol and wouldn't require a license to produce alcohol, right?

If someone bought wort and a sachet of yeast from you and took it home and made the two ingredients into beer, they would be also exempt from paying alcohol excise as they would be home brewing, correct?



I do not have any logistical or technical brewing questions about selling wort; that I've got covered; it's the legality that I'm interested in.


Or let's say if David Llewland had instead sold 4 liter containers of Apple Juice, an airlock that would go in the bottle, and a sachet of yeast at the Temple Bar (and Dun Laoghaire) Markets, would he currently be in the predicament that he finds himself in?


We've all seen the numbers, alcohol consumption, especially in the pubs has gone down; I THINK off-license purchases have gone up a bit, but over-all all alcohol consumption is down since 2001 in Ireland from what I've seen. The good craft beers also cost more than the crappy flavorless lagers; if we could sell wort and yeast we could provide people with a far superior product than they've been drinking and avoid the RIDICULIOUS alcohol tax here.

Save money AND get better and more varied beer? -I think it's ABSOLUTELY possible if done right and selling craft-made wort+yeast kits is an utterly fantastic way to do it.
-This would be even more simple than doing kit brewing or even making cider; literally:
1. Take home wort, airlock, & yeast sachet
2. pour yeast sachet into container
3. Tighten lid back on and shake vigorously for 1 minute
4. Fill bottom 4 bubbles of airlock with boiled and cooled water, place in rubber bung and place in neck of container
5. Cover container with towl and leave at room temperature for 1 week
6. Add included "priming sugar" and leave at room temperature for 1 more week
7. Place in refridgerator to cool
8. Enjoy!


I'm really excited about this idea I'm just afraid of running into some invisible tax law...



Adam

the general public wouldn't be arsed with all that I reckon

"delzep":18kg83uo wrote: the general public wouldn't be arsed with all that I reckon[/quote:18kg83uo]

Whether they would or wouldn't aside, would it be legal if you did it anyway?
(I think the statistics show pretty definitively that the general public hasn't even been "arsed" to drink commercially made craft beer; yet here we are trying to convince them anyway.)



Adam

You're correct in saying that wort would not attract a tax. Hoever your model would be pretty tricky to implement (sanitation being your biggest problem Id guess).
A different model which is quite successful in Oz is the idea of brewing your own beer in a brewery[/url:1k2wq0xs]. As I understand it you buy the ingredients, the brewery provides the know-how and facilities to make beer. Then you bottle it and bring it home. Im not sure, but this may be a way of selling beer which avoids the tax implications.
As you can see this is marketed as being a fun day out - not just for those who are serious about making finest craft beer, but it seems like a really good idea for getting people educated on the idea, while hopefully making tasty homebrew.
Ive wondered about how commercially viable such a thing would be over here what which us all being poor and the booze taxes being so high!

It's essentially already available....
Just add water![/url:2mvx3epo]

It's funny that you mentioned Australlia because their popular "no chill" method answers the practical technical questions pertaining to sanitization, lack of cold break, etc...



Adam