An occasional brewery (a question about licensing)

[tim_n]

I've been looking into commercial brewing. Not for the profit - my pico brewing isn't going to work financially, but to see your beer in a pub would be nice.

Also, in 2016 heralds a 1,000 year anniversary in my local area and I'm wondering whether I can do a one off set of brewing.

Having read all the gumph on setting yourself up as a brewery, I still want to homebrew under the same roof and I may be confused, but if I'm brewing on one side of the garage which is marked up as 'commercial' I can't then brew on the other side of the garage (or outside it) and just call that homebrewing I assume? Hence why I could set myself up as an occasional brewery by starting and finishing brewing for only a couple of months in the year?

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Its a minefield...by the letter of the law...Homebrew is for personal consumption only, you cant even give it away. If you want to put it into a pub, then you have to be checked out by so many different Ggovernment Agencies, its unbelievable. HMCE, EHO, HSE, local planning etc

 

[GavH]

There's a place in Reading called the Anchor something or other. Pretty much a pub in every sense except one: you can't buy any beer, because it isn't licenced. You can buy beer matts though and with each one you get a beer free of charge.

 

[MikeK117]

Its a minefield...by the letter of the law...Homebrew is for personal consumption only, you cant even give it away. If you want to put it into a pub, then you have to be checked out by so many different Ggovernment Agencies, its unbelievable. HMCE, EHO, HSE, local planning etc

Agreed, but I think it could depend on the local authority. If tim_n wants to make a few hundred bottles for the sake of the town carnival it may be different to setting up a commercial enterprise. It's all box ticking, but the amount of boxes may differ depending on the project.

 

[rpt]

I think for a small quantity the only thing you would have to worry about is registering with HMRC for paying duty. Once you've done that you would need to pay duty on your homebrew too. You might also have to check if your household insurance was affected.

 

[zombrewer]

There's a place in Reading called the Anchor something or other. Pretty much a pub in every sense except one: you can't buy any beer, because it isn't licenced. You can buy beer matts though and with each one you get a beer free of charge.

I work in Reading, but never heard of this place... have you got anything else to go on? definitely sounds like I need to check it out :

 

[thedrayman]

I have contacted our local council asking if I can run a small-scale (18 gal) brewery from my terraced house and, basically, they said it was fine as long as I don't expand or cause noise-and-nuisance. I had a chat on the 'phone with a chap at Gosport Borough Council and he said that as long as there wasn't dray trucks picking-up casks from me then it would be okay. I told him the ingredients would be delivered to me in a transit-style van and, as I don't drive, the finished product would be walked to the customer, in this case my 'local' which is less than a minutes walk away. I also suggested that I would purchase the 'plastic' firkins as a. they are lighter and easier to handle, and b. they won't be as noisy for the neighbours when I'm casking-up. He was happy with that.

I hope to be registering with HMRC in the next month or so and, as far as I am aware, it is the premises that are registered and any beer that is brewed on them is liable to be taxed (including homebrew). Now I have up-sized my equipment (see below) I am actually having to sell-off my (plastic) small-scale homebrew equipment as I don't relish having to pay duty on it for consumption at home. Luckily with my local being so close SWMBO and I can pop across there to taste my brews. I'll keep you updated when I hear more from HMRC.

 

[GavH]

There's a place in Reading called the Anchor something or other. Pretty much a pub in every sense except one: you can't buy any beer, because it isn't licenced. You can buy beer matts though and with each one you get a beer free of charge.

I work in Reading, but never heard of this place... have you got anything else to go on? definitely sounds like I need to check it out :

My bad, it's Worthing, not Reading. Anchored in Worthing. They have a twitter feed - @MicroWorthing.

 

[graysalchemy]

Not only will you need to pay duty but you will need to be insured as a commercial venture ie 3rd party liability just in case you give everyone food poisoning. The premises will have to be given the once over by environmental health. And finally your home insurance and Mortgage lender might not like the idea of you running a commercial brewery from your house.

You need to get the Ok from more people than you think. :thumb:

 

[thedrayman]

Grays,

I contacted Gosport Environmental Health first and submitted a form for registering with them as a place for producing beer as I thought that would be the best thing to do. I was telephoned by a very helpful lady who was in-charge of the department and she said that as I was making beer (rather than handling foodstuffs), there was no requirement for me with my proposed brewery size (18gal brewlength) to register with Environmental Health. She said that as I would be the 'sole' employee (ie: I would not be having assistance from another) no further action was needed by EH. She did say, however, that as one of her close friends is the landlady of a local real-ale pub she would like to come and see my set-up as she also likes real-beer. She also said that, even though quote 'breweries don't require an EH certificate for food handling', she would, if my brewery had everything I listed in my proposal (ie: double-sink, available eye-protection and gloves for handling cleaning chemicals, etc.) actually issue me with a certificate which I could, quote 'use in any advertising I do for the brewery'. I will soon be in a position to give her a call to view the finished brewery and will let you know what happens.

 

[graysalchemy]

Thats good news :thumb:

 

[zombrewer]

There's a place in Reading called the Anchor something or other. Pretty much a pub in every sense except one: you can't buy any beer, because it isn't licenced. You can buy beer matts though and with each one you get a beer free of charge.

I work in Reading, but never heard of this place... have you got anything else to go on? definitely sounds like I need to check it out :

My bad, it's Worthing, not Reading. Anchored in Worthing. They have a twitter feed - @MicroWorthing.

Ah no worries Gav, cheers for the info! Still looks well worth checking out if I'm ever down that way :