Elmer Steingass’ friends call him Goose, and his brown ale took home a gold medal at a recent homebrewing competition. It’s going to be tough to get a taste, though. That’s because homebrewing falls into a bit of a grey area under Ohio law. A measure on its way to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk would clear the path for homebrewers and fermenters to host events showing off their latest batch.
Steingass sits on the American Homebrewers Association governing committee, and he’s been pushing for this legislation for four years. Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson, sponsored the measure which passed the Senate easily Wednesday on a vote of 30-1 after the House tacked on a number of additional provisions.
The core of the proposal codifies the right to brew beer or ferment wine in Ohio without a liquor permit, so long as it’s for personal consumption or to share with friends and family. Federal law allows homebrewing, but because Ohio law is silent on the matter, it hasn’t always been clear what is and isn’t allowed.
“So that’s kind of why we started working on this is to bring the Ohio liquor laws into compliance with what is permitted under federal law,” Steingass said.