State laws crimp booming growth in home beer brewing

About the only thing Kevin Flynn enjoys more than drinking his home-brewed beer is sharing it with fellow beer club members at festivals and tasting competitions. So Flynn and his buddies were shocked to discover that Wisconsin law prohibits sharing homemade suds anywhere outside the brewer's home.

he law could "pretty much be the end of competitions in Wisconsin," he lamented. "At least legal ones."

An explosion of interest in home brewing is forcing lawmakers across the country to review long-forgotten alcohol laws, some of which date back to Prohibition (1920-1933). Although the old rules have rarely been enforced, beer enthusiasts fear they could criminalize a rapidly growing hobby and kill scores of annual tasting events that bring tourists to small towns and cities.

********************************

At least 17 states have ambiguous laws on whether home brewers can transport beer or wine outside the home, according to the American Homebrewers Association in Boulder, Colo.

The patchwork of rules can be frustrating for hobbyists who would prefer to spend their time exchanging recipes for pale ale or rhapsodizing about varieties of hops, barley and yeast.

Some states — including Georgia and South Carolina— have restrictions similar to Wisconsin's. In Kansas and Minnesota, home brewers can only make beverages for themselves or family members. Other states permit homemade beer and wine to be consumed by guests,