To Buy Or Not To Buy?!

[Winchester]

Ok, so I just had a trip round Googletown and found that you're 'not allowed' to sell homebrew wine (tax implications etc etc etc).

Granted, but wouldn't it be great if we could? Wouldn't it just be an ideal world if members could PM others with details of their current stash and offer it for sale so they could taste it before trying to make it themselves?

I'd like that y'know. I'd like little notes in my Inbox saying things like "Hey, I've got a cute little Cab Sav et al that tastes amazing and you can try it for £x a bottle. After all I'd hate for you to buy the same kit only to find that it's not your style".

Of course, I'm not suggesting that the brewer makes any form of profit. Perish the thought!

Oh how good that would be....

 

[Moley]

If you were in my area I would be interested to meet up and would happily give you a couple of bottles, but otherwise, this stash is mine, make your own!

We will try to help you to make good stuff, but I put a lot of time and trouble into mine and it is not for sale.

 

[the golden heap]

Sounds like a plan to me!

 

[supersteve]

Chances are you can't legally sell them, but i'm pretty sure you can accept donations.. you just can't ask for the donations. But you can suggest a donation.

 

[oldbloke]

This has been discussed many times. You brew for domestic use. Technically you can't even give it away.

 

[graysalchemy]

You obviously don't appreciate the ethos of this forum.

Bottle swaps is what we do on here. :evil: :evil:

 

[tonyhibbett]

The average total tax on a bottle of commercial wine is currently £2.59. The average cost for me per bottle is £1. The amount I have left over to give away or sell is very small.

 

[DrD]

I want to sell wine.

Think how much cost/time/effort you put into making your wine, then compare that to spending £3 in asda for a surprisingly good bottle of Castillo San Simon red (quite remarkable considering £2.50 of that is duty and VAT (i.e. 50p to grow grapes, make juice, brew juice, bottle, market, ship to UK and make a profit - crazy that it doesn't taste of paint thinner))

It is really not worth the effort making it to sell, even if you could find someone willing to pay for it. Cheap kits taste pants, WOW types are nice but my preferred varieties still cost me just shy of a quid a bottle. For the sake of £2 profit, I'd rather drink it and not lose the bottle.

 

[Winchester]

You obviously don't appreciate the ethos of this forum.

Bottle swaps is what we do on here. :evil: :evil:

I believe I do - my OP was meant in a very lighthearted way and is coming from a total novice that has just completed his very first brew.

 

[Winchester]

I want to sell wine.

I am on the last bottle of my first ever attempt at homebrew, so I'm afraid your amendment to my OP (whilst side-splittingly hilarious) couldn't be more wrong

I posted what was intended to be a lighthearted comment with an inference that I would be willing to donate in return for others produce.

Apologies to those that took offence.

Thanks to those that took it in the spirit that it was meant.

 

[oldbloke]

Bottle swaps are fairly common.

I'm not confident enough of the quality of my stuff to offer it round - but I don't do kit wines.

I can do the same recipe 3 times and get 3 different results, so your "do I want to try this kit?" idea might not work anyway. Although kits may be more consistent than all that stuff I forage from hedgerows. You'd hope so, actually, I suppose!

 

[Tom]

Technically you can't even give it away.

Not a great advert for homebrew, out of context!

"Sure, that stuff's so bad you couldn't give it away".

 

[DrD]

Didn't take offence, didn't mean to offend either. Was just pointing out nobody wants to buy our produce and there wouldn't be any money in it anyway. Just brew loads and enjoy if for yourself. :drunk:

 

[Moley]

Technically you can't even give it away.

Not a great advert for homebrew, out of context!

"Sure, that stuff's so bad you couldn't give it away".

As you said "out of context" I think you know what oldbloke really meant. For those that don't, in the UK we are allowed to make as much beer, wine and cider as we want for our own consumption, and no-one's going to care if we take a few bottles round to a friend's house, but we aren't allowed to sell it, or even give it away for raffle prizes.

Whether people might want it is a different matter. Home brewing can carry some very negative preconceptions. Much of this is fully deserved from the kit beers of the 70s and some of the wines that elderly aunts used to make. However, kits have improved and even without much prior knowledge and experience it is possible for the average home brewer to make something which can rival commercial brews.

Take this to the next level and it's possible for the home brewer to make something even better than those commercial offerings. I have given occasional bottles of my 'home brew' to workmates who have sampled them with trepidation, then found that their preconceptions were completely wrong, then told me it's the best beer they have ever tasted and asked if they could have some more, or if I would sell them some.

The answer to that is a resounding NO!

They might want to buy our produce after they have tasted it, but as DrD says, there certainly wouldn't be any money in it. An all grain brew is going to take me 5-6 hours, then a couple of weeks to ferment, a week to condition then a couple of months before I consider it's ready. That is a lot of time and effort for something like 40 bottles of beer, so I'm glad you enjoyed the bottle I gave you but the rest is mine!

Every year I make a mixed red fruits wine. The fruit might be free but it takes me several hours to pick, wash and prepare that fruit, a couple of months to ferment, and then a couple of years before I consider it's ready, and that is a lot of time and effort for something like 30 bottles of wine. That's not even a bottle a week for ourselves, so don't even ask.

 

[BIGJIM72]

Technically you can't even give it away.

Not a great advert for homebrew, out of context!

"Sure, that stuff's so bad you couldn't give it away".

As you said "out of context" I think you know what oldbloke really meant. For those that don't, in the UK we are allowed to make as much beer, wine and cider as we want for our own consumption, and no-one's going to care if we take a few bottles round to a friend's house, but we aren't allowed to sell it, or even give it away for raffle prizes.

Whether people might want it is a different matter. Home brewing can carry some very negative preconceptions. Much of this is fully deserved from the kit beers of the 70s and some of the wines that elderly aunts used to make. However, kits have improved and even without much prior knowledge and experience it is possible for the average home brewer to make something which can rival commercial brews.

Take this to the next level and it's possible for the home brewer to make something even better than those commercial offerings. I have given occasional bottles of my 'home brew' to workmates who have sampled them with trepidation, then found that their preconceptions were completely wrong, then told me it's the best beer they have ever tasted and asked if they could have some more, or if I would sell them some.

The answer to that is a resounding NO!

They might want to buy our produce after they have tasted it, but as DrD says, there certainly wouldn't be any money in it. An all grain brew is going to take me 5-6 hours, then a couple of weeks to ferment, a week to condition then a couple of months before I consider it's ready. That is a lot of time and effort for something like 40 bottles of beer, so I'm glad you enjoyed the bottle I gave you but the rest is mine!

Every year I make a mixed red fruits wine. The fruit might be free but it takes me several hours to pick, wash and prepare that fruit, a couple of months to ferment, and then a couple of years before I consider it's ready, and that is a lot of time and effort for something like 30 bottles of wine. That's not even a bottle a week for ourselves, so don't even ask.

Hear Hear

 

[evanvine]

That's not even a bottle a week for ourselves, so don't even ask.

Ooh! How unphilanthropic. :nono: :whistle:

 

[BIGJIM72]

We are zymologists here, not philanthropists!

 

[evanvine]

A big word for brewing, vinting and making! Well done!

 

[oldbloke]

If I factored in my time at the rate the university used to pay me, I couldn't afford to drink my own stuff!

 

[evanvine]

Sounds like you were overpaid!!!