New restrictions given for handmade beer and wine.
BEND — The Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s new interpretation of an old law has put homemade beer and wine in the spotlight, effectively banning judged competitions, home-brewing club tasting nights, and even the taking of a six-pack of home-brewed beer to a neighbor’s barbecue. 
At issue is ORS 471.403, a statute that forbids the production of alcoholic beverages by anyone not licensed by the OLCC. But it “does not apply to the making or keeping of naturally fermented wines and fruit juices or beer in the home, for home consumption and not for sale.”
Citing the new interpretation of the phrase “home consumption,” the Oregon State Fair has canceled this year’s beer and wine competitions. The wine competition has been a fixture at the fair for 31 years, the beer contest for 22 years.
More HERE…
It’s time to get rid of the OLCC.
Completely.
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A colossal waste of tax money. In California, while I am buying fajita ingredients and fresh limes at the local supermarket, I can also throw some Cuervo and triple sec in the cart, without having to make a special trip to a price controlled and inventory challenged state store. Just try to find a decent selection of high end booze like Cognac or single malt scotch around Gresham – fagetaboutit.
BTW–
The liquor store in Gearhart is one of the best around. If you like the “good” stuff. And, he would love for the state to get out of the business. Not worried about competition from Freddies and such. He knows how to sell liquor!
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This is not about hard alcohol folks it is about homebrew and there is a reason that we don’t have liquor stores on every corner like they do in Cali. I want to keep it that way. But this rule is just plain wrong. Submitting a few bottles for judges to taste is within the spirit of the law.
By the way, you may want to clarify who actually decided that this is the way the law should be interpreted. Turns out the justice department set the interpretation and OLCC is simply following through on enforcing the decision by the JD. More can be found here…
http://brewpublic.com/beer-events/oregon-homebrew-currently-under-“house-arrest”-according-to-new-legal-interpretation/
I understand & agree Homebrewer. Liquor stores on every corner like in my native LA is a bad thing. But the OLCC instead of just enforcing laws like serving inebriated customers or selling to under age buyers, has their dick skinners in everything, wasting money, and creating a class of folks who have “connections” allowing them to get those precious licenses. AND TRYING TO CONTROL EVERY OUNCE OF ALCHOL IN OREGON. It stinks.
We are making plans to move to a dry county in the southern US. I plan to brew my own beer, and attempt some winemaking. It is legal for me to carry a jug over to a neighbor’s house there because they are not a bunch of control freaks like the powers that be here in the PNW. Dry county just means I cannot sell it, not posses or share. And trust me, they posses and share.
Additionally as Oregonguy pointed out, this is not the US state department, but OLCC interpretation of the law in the Oregon constitution. Kulongoski appointed those nimrods and they do his bidding. So if you voted for him, or are likely to vote for Kitzhaber, this is what you can expect.