Undercover police rained on Ohio University's parade this past
Saturday. Confiscating 13 kegs of homebrew on the premise of
upholding the law, even though organizers went to great lengths
to stage a responsible and legal event. Leaving their glasses
empty. Photo by Charlie Papazian
They had planned to hold their first annual homebrew festival with the goal of helping change the attitude of alcohol use on the University of Ohio campus.
The Ohio University publication The Post reported "We've been wanting to have a big event like this," said Brett Baker, president of the OU Brew Crew. "It hasn't happened in so long and OU has such a negative drinking culture attached to it and we want to dispel that."
"The university often talks about responsible drinking behavior but doesn't always offer students of legal age to enjoy alcohol in a responsible manner," said Chad Barnhardt, assistant director of activities programming, who advised the Brew Crew while they planned the event. "That's what they're trying to do.
Organizers made a full effort to abide by all laws and produce a responsible event. They even got $2,600 funding from the Student Activities Commission. They hired Athens Police officers as extra security. University police officers were invited to be present and monitor the scene. Homebrewing demonstrations and homebrewed beer were to be featured. Student parents were present. They inquired about necessary permits and received an F-permit from the state, thinking that they were covered.
But then the October 3rd event went the way of a planned haywire. The Athens News reported student organizers misunderstood what the F-permit covered.
Undercover police busted the organizers and confiscated 13 kegs of homebrewed beer (which were dumped) and told organizers that maybe they could get their kegs back in no less than 6 months. Why? Because they had the wrong permit.
Question on everyone’s mind is why didn’t they just tell the organizers ahead of time to get it right instead of acting out a grade C movie?
To make matters worse the Athens News reports “Chelsea Toy, a reporter for The Athens News who was videotaping and photographing the bust was warned that if any of her visuals appeared on the Web, and any officers were hurt as a result of the publicity, Ohio Investigative Unit (which conducted the undercover bust} would be ‘coming after you.’” Her edited video is below. She and Athens NEWS Editor Terry Smith made the editorial decision to not include close-up shots of the agents.
Whatever happened to the U.S. Constitution?
Comments
Sad to hear that even though the students tried doing everything the correct way, Police acted this way. I am hoping that Police hears from citizens about this. If students were trying to do it right, why stop them? (educate them instead!)
On another note, I believe police officers waive the right of their image being printed or distributed while in uniform as Law enforcement.
Sad to hear that even though the students tried doing everything the correct way, Police acted this way. I am hoping that Police hears from citizens about this. If students were trying to do it right, why stop them? (educate them instead!)
On another note, I believe police officers waive the right of their image being printed or distributed while in uniform as Law enforcement.
Lame, really really lame. And why would cops not allow their faces to be shown? Do they have something to hide?
The organizers of this event are members of homebrewtalk.com and we've had this discussion last week after it happened. I didn't read the news links you provided but what piqued the interest of the OIU was the fact they they were selling homebrew for $1 a glass. That is a clearly illegal act in which it should have not been allowed.
The way it was handled was the worst part thought. The organizers were in contact with both school officials and campus police during the entire planning stages. If someone would have mentioned that selling the homebrew was illegal then they would have not done it and found another way to have the party. The OIU had advance knowledge of this party because they sent in undercover officers. How much time and money was wasted on this small time bust when a simple phone call to the organizers would have solved all the problems caused and made it a good time. Ahh bureaucracy at its finest.
I don't know if it is true or not, but another article reported that it is not possible to get a permit for selling home brewed beer. It's not clear in any report if the organizers were clear when acquiring a permit if they mentioned the sale of home brew. If the club was clear, then the state would seem to have blown it.
It is terrible that it had to go down like this, but it is no secret among homebrewers in the US that selling your wares is completely illegal. I do not understand how it is possible that the OU Brew Crew was not aware of this. There is no permit you can get for this. Ask any professional brewer about the pains of getting licenses at the federal, state, and local levels. No homebrew club is going to put up the time or money to get this done.
Sorry guys, but pay attention to what you are doing next time. You should have been giving it away. The AHA is there to help you stay legal for this kinda of stuff.
Yea, wow. I am surprised that these folks didn't know you can't sell homebrew. More surprised nobody told them,as it seems to have been well publicized. And wow - those officers are smart. They made the gentleman dump out the wort he brewed for his demonstration. They must have been afraid he'd be able to perform the ole instant fermentation technique I have yet to master...
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