Washington State Residents Wake to Higher Liquior Prices, DIYer Musings..

Not long ago, we citizens voted to take liquor sales away from the State, a good IDEA? Maybe, but according to a friend of mine that buys half gallons of something, the total price in California for his favorite is about $28, and $55 here (total ) price.

The State imposes a stiff sales tax, AND there’s another tax at $6 a Litre on booze here now.  Apparently the State figured it actually makes far more money now without employees, stores, and so much more to manage, I have no idea who is getting the far larger cut now than before..

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of talk, and some of it is about the unintended ‘JOBs’ program this may have inspired.

I wonder if we’ll see a slight bump in sales of good used diesel trucks with van bodies? I don’t really drink much more than a beer or two a month, sometimes a glass of wine, sometimes none at all for months on end.  But I do reserve the right to drink up to three beers if I want. Smoking? I wish I never had, but who could afford not to if you were a kid in the Navy and they were $1 a carton? I have not smoked for about 26 years or more I guess.

It’s all supply and demand, and unless the sellers and taxers of booze and ciggerettes  figure out how to roll the price back, or make sure the price isn’t far cheaper just across the border.. I’d bet the revenue will go down from here.  I can envision contracts (illegal ones) being made to deliver booze to saloons and cocktail lounges from out of state.  Yes, the guy will arrive looking like a food service truck, and wheel in cases of the top sellers disguised as food stuffs.  

Those trucks that run interstate, will the SOW need inspect them all, and maybe even x-ray those crates to determine if there’s illegal booze coming into the state? Maybe they’ll hire a new Army of inspectors? Maybe give the job to the State Patrol? 

But these thoughts spawn other ideas… especially if you are a DIYer.. Yes, the FED thinks it was a fine idea to drive interest rates to zero denying so many people in retirement traditional investments that carried a man through his retirement years, so why shouldn’t we be creative?

First off, maybe we look at what beer is legally, a plastic bottle WILL hold pressures great enough to stop fermentation, so maybe it’s possible to sell wort with yeast added just before bottling? Not all yeasts are the same, but my experiments suggest we need only crack the cap, and allow the fermentation to happen at a higher pressure so you have the carbonation when it’s done. Champagne, wine? Maybe we can do it all this way and avoid paying tax, and even showing ID to buy it?  Ahh, you are thinking the pressure regulator cap.. good, keep thinking..

There are down sides, as it is now, kids could buy all the wort they want, just put it in a place that’s about 65-70 degrees F, and wait a week.. sediment you say? Put the original cap back on, wait a while, and pour slowly into a glass. Maybe use a coffee filter?

But I mention these things not because they are mature ideas, but because they are ideas that might spawn bigger and more mature ideas.

You’ve seen that guy that drives around delivering 5 gallon carboys of Water right? What’s stopping you from selling 5 gallons of high Quality Wort directly to a house hold? Is there an existing law that says you can’t pop in an air lock before you leave, or ask the person who let you in to do so?  When you return the following week, is it legal to rack off the done fermenting carboy to a clean carboy you brought , and return the empty?

How does it work for wine?… in my state, you are allowed to make up to 600 gallons of the stuff.

What are the rules in your state? There are some taverns that are micro breweries  too, but not all will care to mess with it, maybe you can offer a service that is a step in between?

Solar Power, no doubt, when it’s done right, it’s very good indeed, I think about solar distillation and how I might do it.. at sea level, you don’t need to be much higher than 105F degrees to pull the Alcohol off with a Vacuum, and I think about those little 12 volt compressors, there are a few that are well made, and may go the long haul, that Fresnel lens from an old projection TV, a few panels, and let the sun make your legal motor fuel.

Yes.. some will think about drinking this stuff.. but remember, it’s illegal, and we need leave those activities to the politicians.

I hear the gears turning somewhere.. we need do away with all State’s rights, make it all Fed.. put up  barbed wire if we have too in order to curb illegal activities.

This home delivery idea for wort.. I think it has merit, same for wine.. and the add ons.. you can deliver bottles, caps, and all kinds of supplies to the door of your customers! Imagine.. returning cleaned and sanitized cases of bottles, brewing supplies, custom labels, and..  is it illegal for you to offer a bottling servie of their ferment right out of your truck? Go to the section of your local grocery and note the price of a top preium beer sold in a 22 ounce bottle. there’s room for your mark up me thinks..

GB