Mississippi Law Requires Home Brewers to Pay Excise Tax

Just when you think you get a handle on these silly liquor laws, something else pops up. Mississippi law does allow home brewers to make beer at home if they get a permit from the state. However, the permits available don't apply to homebrewers, and those permits cost $1000. And, theoretically, would make the home brewer pay an excise tax of $0.4268 per gallon of beer produced.

If I lived in Alabama, and this law were actually enforced, I would need to pay the state $85 to brew beer that I don't sell. What would hurt worse, the police could seize the beer.

Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, is riding to the rescue, saying he will "likely" introduce legislation to correct this. But you know how politicians are.

This all came up because the local beer advocacy group Raise Your Pints requested clarification from the attorney general's office as part of the organization's plan to clarify the state's beer law. The group has been told that the law would not be enforced.