I work for the Postal Service and had always thought shipping wine or beer through USPS was illegal. I asked my Postmaster today if I could ship some beer to my brother in WV. His initial answer was no, but later he looked it up and this is what he found: You can ship beer or wine by ground but not by air. What this means is you can ship beer or wine via Parcel Post (ground) but not via Priority Mail (air). The USPS uses commercial airlines to fly their Priority Mail and the FAA don't want certain things to be on flights in the cargo departments along with passengers.
This information was from a shipping guidance chart. The words beer or wine was not used specifically, but the word alcohol was used. Along the left side of the chart was a picture resembling a wine bottle.
Jake- I also work for the USPS and was under the impression that shipping depended on the state you live in. I could be wrong but will look into it. Maybe you know?
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too much of everything is just enough
The shipping guidance manual/chart said for domestic shipping. Mention nothing of state-to-state restrictions. I think that law has to do with selling and purchasing beer or wine across state boundaries. I don't think that restriction apply to sending a family member a beer gift or swapping beers with friends from another state. I had several beer clubs that I could not join because they could not ship to me in Michigan. But the beer club 'Beer Across America' could which is out of IL. I'm only going by what this USPS shipping guidance manual/chart said.
semi-related to this, Michigan (and NY) are in the middle of a Supreme Court case regarding interstate alcohol sales. if there's any USPS regulations that vary from state to state, I'm betting they're regarding commercial shipments, not private ones...
i recently signed up for a wine club from wine.com... living in NJ, its legal here. the package was shipped via fedex and is very clearly labled that there is alcohol inside. as was stated by the printing on the box several times (and also by some stickers), it must be signed for by someone 21+. in fact, wine.com suggests shipping it to a work address so you can be sure to sign for it. you kids can't sign for it, and they won't leave it at your doorstep.
I checked the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) at work today and it says: C027.7.0 Intoxicating Liquor
A potable beverage in nonmailable if it is of 0.5% or more alcoholic content by weight, which is taxable under Chapter 51, IRS Code. The product may be mailed if it conforms to appliciable requirements of the Internal Revenue Service and FDA and is not an alcoholic beverage, poisonous or flammable.
So take it for what it is worth. I happen to know that the "no ask no tell" thing works but am not here to encourage anyone and would suggest mailing it parcel post or "surface" if doing so.
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too much of everything is just enough
That was an updated DMM? I will take a closer look at what my Postmaster and I looked at. What we looked at said Domestic shipping .....alcohol (ground) Yes (air) No.
International shipping...alcohol (ground) Yes (air) No
Don't remember seeing anything about 4% or FDA regs
This was a chart not a booklet we were looking at.
I apologize to Realbeer and its members in giving erroneous information. Tarapin is correct. I stopped in to my local Post Office today and asked to see the Domestic Mail Manual. The clerk pulled out a fold over laminated chart. Under the category of intoxicating liquor which specifically mentions beer and wine it is 'N'=no across the board for surface or air, domestic or international. The only explanation I have to what I was looking at is it was an old outdated DMM. Again I'm really sorry.
Today I shipped out a beer trade by UPS. The place I shipped from is neither a UPS shipping center or UPS Store. Its basically a furniture store which is also a UPS package acceptance place. No questions asked, my package is on its way.
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