flying with homebrew? Help Me!

[benevolent brew]

Since the holidays are around the corner, and I have an apartment full of beer, I was wondering how to safely get my beer from the northeast to my family and old friends in the midwest. Can you put bottles of homebrew in your carry-on luggage without airport security giving you a whole bunch of trouble? Can you check it, or will it explode due to the changes in air pressure in the cargo bay?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

[kevin]

when I came home from Boston ths summer I had picked up two 6'ers of brews you can't find around here. When I got to the security I put my carryon on the table and they asked what's in there I said BEER open it up so they could see it. They then scanned it and I was on my way.

[mmmBeer...]

I certainly wouldn’t check it…I don’t trust the luggage monkeys that much.

As for carry on, it depends how much the screeners want to hassle you. My father has taken many bottles of my homebrew home with him, and I have taken them without a problem. I would just put them in your carry on bag and if they don’t ask about it then don’t tell. They’ll see them in the x-ray and decide whether to check them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they swab them for explosives.

[Payson]

I carried about 20 bottles on a carry on recently. I was pulled out of the line, questioned (courteously I might add) then sent on my merry way as the screeners shook their heads in wonder.

[b3s]

not an issue, took well over a case of beer carry-on on a vacation in 2003, no problems other than the stewardess at the end of the flight saying "you had beer on the plane? why didn't we get some?" typically when i travel someplace where i can get beers i don't normally get, i take some home on the plane.

now, nail clippers or pen knives? nope :rolleyes:

to the moderators: this topic comes up about once every three of four months. perhaps we need a sticky FAQ or something?

[benevolent brew]

Thanks all...I feel more confident that my beautiful beer will make it back to St. Louis safe and sound.

[crashbobo]

St. Louis huh? I thought that your icon looked like the Schlafly Pale ale label. My family is from North of St. Louis. My wife and I live in Columbia now until I'm done with school.

[wortchillergoal]

Originally posted by b3s
to the moderators: this topic comes up about once every three of four months. perhaps we need a sticky FAQ or something?

Now that is a good idea. Moderators, please moderate.

Don't put it in checked baggage. The compartment is not pressurized and you might ;ose some beer through the cap. Usally not on domestic flights as they seem not to fly as high as transocean flights.

[benevolent brew]

I thought that your icon looked like the Schlafly Pale ale label

Sure is...I've missed it greatly since moving out of the STL area, and am in the process of trying to get a great beer bar here in Albany (Mahar's) to stock it for me.

[Maritime Storm]

Check with your local airport first to on the safe side, the regulations are changing every day, most especially down there in the US. I'll let in on my family's experience, last July at my wedding, I gave every guest a bottle of homemade wine as a gift, every last person who tried to fly home with it had it confiscated at the checkin' counter. Under the regualtions any non-commercial bottled product is not legally allowed on to a passenger airplane. Canada Customs got one one hell of an earful from me when I went down to the airport to get my wine back, I didn't spend a year growing it to have some guard pour it down the drain. I mean seriously my 80 year Grandmother can be pretty cantankerous when she feels like it but a terrorist come on.

[mmmBeer...]

Dropped SWMBO off at the airport in Ottawa last night...the prohibited list showed "unidentified liquids" as being on the no-no list. But as I mentioned I have yet to see this enforced. Maritime is the first person I have heard have this experience!

Martime, how did Canada Customs get your wine? They don't handle airport screening...

[Brownbeard]

I think international flights will be different. I travel with beer all the time. When I fly somewhere I always buy beers I can't get at home. Carryon always works. One night, I used a 6 pack of Magic Hat #9 and a 4 pack of Dogfishhead 90 min for a pillow at O'Hare

[Maritime Storm]

The security office at the Moncton international Airport is a shared office. It was a Canada Customs officer that handed it back to me, whether it Canada Customs or the airport security the seized it initially I don't know. I agree for the most part they don't bother enforcing it. But take a minute to check, it may saves you having to get hot under the collar in order to get your brew back.

Brown Beard you used the optimal word, buy, we're talking homebrew, the regulations for non-commercial packaged products are different.

[benevolent brew]

I tried calling for the truth on this subject, but after 45min I had not talked to a real person so I gave up on the US government...again. I think I'm going to risk it. I put 12 bottles in an old Magic Hat #9 box and glued it shut. Something tells me that all their fancy x-ray equiptment will not be able to tell homebrew from store bought. If I get questioned, I'll keep it vague and tell them the truth (e.g. it's beer you can't find in the midwest). If I get arrested for being a beer terrorist you'll probably hear about me on the news, and I'll see you in 5-10.

[sallad]

you could always just eat... err, drink the evidence, if you really had too. would make for a heck of a flight, too!!

[curious1]

Originally posted by Maritime Storm
The security office at the Moncton international Airport is a shared office. It was a Canada Customs officer that handed it back to me, whether it Canada Customs or the airport security the seized it initially I don't know.

I've been through the Moncton airport...I think Customs and Security are the same guy!

[newportstorm]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
Don't put it in checked baggage. The compartment is not pressurized and you might ;ose some beer through the cap. Usally not on domestic flights as they seem not to fly as high as transocean flights.

Cargo holds of commercial airliners are pressurized. Heated? Maybe not optimally for comfort (pets, stowaways). Ventilated? Yes, though even "live beer" shouldn't be concerned with this. But definitely pressurized. If not, can you say exploding shampoo, hairspray, shaving cream, poodle heads?

Pack the beer up, look so damn shifty and you should be fine. Enjoy the brews!

Cheers!

[guildofevil]

Originally posted by Maritime Storm
Under the regualtions any non-commercial bottled product is not legally allowed on to a passenger airplane.

I suppose they are afraid of people using acid or some other chemical as a weapon.

Mind you, if I wanted to smuggle something nasty on board a plane, in a beer bottle, I would simply put it in a Bud bottle and close it up again with a crown capper. (as long as I don't have to drink the Bud). That way it appears to be a commercial beer.

These new regulations are really ham fisted. I was on a short hop from Dublin to Brussels recently and they found a butter knife in my carry on luggage. It had been there since I used the bag to take stuff on a picnic and I had forgotten to take it out. They took it off me, I was embarrassed and that was that.

When we got on the plane, Betty started reading the in flight magazine and pointed out that, among the perfume booze and other bits and pieces, they were also selling a deluxe nail care set on the plane. This set included a long, metal nail file, with a nasty looking pointy end. It would make a much better weapon than the blunt little butter knife they had confiscated.

Séan

[Caffinehog]

Well, I can't see their concern with beer bottles full of unknown liquid on an airplane. After all, they wouldn't let me on the plane without confiscating the BOTTLE OPENER on my keychain the last time I flew. As I said to the screener, "What am I going to do? Pry the pilot's teeth out?" Apparently, he thought I might.

[benevolent brew]

So...I package my homembrew in a 12 pack box of magic hat #9, and had no trouble getting it through security. Before I put it through the x-ray machine I gave the TSA officer warning that I had a 12 pak of beer in my carry on and asked if that would be a problem. He laughed and said "only if you don't share" and waved me through...no questions, no problems.

I don't understand the problem with the opener either...I have one on my key chain as well and had no problems with it...maybe the security guy just liked it and wanted it for his own. They did however have a problem with a jar of jam made by some monks in Mass....go figure. It seems that the new regulations are more of a pain in the ass then anything else...if I really wanted to blow up a plane I could have easily filled those bottles with gasoline and made a few "cocktails" durring the flight. It seems that there is really no good way to stop someone who is determined to do something like that.

[wortchillergoal]

Originally posted by newportstorm
Cargo holds of commercial airliners are pressurized. Heated? Maybe not optimally for comfort (pets, stowaways). Ventilated? Yes, though even "live beer" shouldn't be concerned with this. But definitely pressurized. If not, can you say exploding shampoo, hairspray, shaving cream, poodle heads?

Pack the beer up, look so damn shifty and you should be fine. Enjoy the brews!

Cheers!

I based this on beer my mother brought back from Germany for me. Two of the three bottles had leaked through their caps. I still needed an opener to get the caps off and thought the pressure of beer coupled with a lower pressure in the hold was the cause. Could be I am wrong.

[Jake]

USPS has a long list of what you can and cannot mail. A lot, if not all is dictated by the FAA. I just learn you can mail beer by Parcel Post (which is transported all by truck). You cannot ship your beer by Priority Mail because that is transported by air (commercial airlines). Some of these regulations came about do to the Value Jet crash. If you remember they determine that crash was caused by some explosion in their cargo department. Some of the regulation came about do to 9/11. I guess the point i'm making is they don't want certain stuff on their planes while in the mail why would they allow it to fly in your suitcase? Carry on luggage might be different story.