RE: Beer is Great

Beer is Great, but Jail is bad! What are we thinking now? -----Original Message----- From: mba-bounce(a)thebarn.com [mailto:mba-bounce@thebarn.com] On Behalf Of Rick Oftel Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 12:58 PM To: Mba(a)thebarn.com Subject: Re: Beer is Great Club members and friends. I was a little concerned with the request from the Beer is Great festival organizers and the enthusiastic agreement to participate from a few club members. Although the laws may have changed or been re-worded, I wanted to check with a professional and felt his opinions are worth sharing. As they say, a word to the wise is sufficient. No mentions about the non-wise. Read on and make your own decide. Rick O MHBA Here is my original question to Dave: Our clubs (St. Paul and MHBA) were asked to participate at a beer tasting event that will occur at the Saints stadium. I was very concerned when I heard they were asking us to pour homebrew at their "Beer is Good" event. Could you please provide a few words of wisdom that I could share with the homebrew clubs regarding serving homebrew amongst commercial breweries. Dave's response (with permission to reprint). I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on tv. Just off the top of my head: 1) Your brand is not registered in the state of Minnesota, nor could it be as you don't hold a Brewer's Notice. 2) The beer was produced in a location that is not subject to Health Code inspections. 3) My understanding of homebrewing laws are a certain quantity of beer can be produced for consumption at home. In the strictest sense, this prohibits you from even taking beer to a club meeting. 4) You have no liquor liability insurance. You could be sued by someone that was intoxicated at the event, and without insurance that could spell disaster. I'm shocked and a bit concerned that they requested this of your clubs. This event was thrown together in a month, and everytime I hear something new about it, I just shake my head. David Berg Head Brewer, Bandana Brewery President, Minnesota Craft Brewer's Guild