It seems like you can’t throw a can of Old Chub in Colorado without hitting a beer geek, but an incident in Colorado Springs on Monday shows us just how small the world of craft beer nerditry really is.
I’m guessing the home brew guy didn’t have one of those sweet balconies…
It happened at the Hyde Park apartments at 2400 Tremont Street in Colorado Springs. The complex’s manager smelled something funny and witnessed two five gallon buckets with an unknown fluid in them. Thinking he had stumbled across a meth lab, the manager called the authorities, who evacuated the immediate area and sent in the Hazmat team.
The buckets turned out to be a particularly stinky batch of home brew (is there any other kind?) and folks were let back into their homes about 45 minutes later.
There’s no word as to what happened to the beer, but if it made it through the ordeal intact and uninfected, the guy who brewed it can now give it a very cool name, like Tweaker IPA, or Crank Skank Stout, or Hazmat Hop Monster.
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Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
HaHa, stupid.
It’s hard to argue with such a well composed thought, Don…
Un-frigging-believable!
I guess (s)he should have put a sign on it. I also suspect that (s)he’ll be asked to vacate the premises. Apartment managers aren’t usually known for their tolerance of things like that.
Good insight. I’m sure some rule was broken which could be used as grounds for eviction. When they call in the Hazmat team on you, your days as a resident are most likely numbered!
I don’t know why a rule would be broken. It is legal, and if they brewed on their stove, there was no burner that would be illegal. It would be the same as if someone made a large batch of soup. There is no fault to the resident just because the landlord didnt know what it was. Think of all the stinky food that is made in apartment complexes that creep into the hall and through the walls- should they be evicted.
I agree with that many folks cook stinky food, but there may be something in the lease that stipulated that you can’t do certain types of projects or activities that create bad smells or are disruptive or whatever. While homebrewing has a cooking element to it, there’s a difference between it and making chili.
one difference is that a pot of chili won’t explode if it has too much sugar in it… 🙂
yes…they should be evicted!
You know, this is really scary for those of us who homebrew where it isn’t legal (READ: Alabama or Mississippi). If someone makes that mistake in my neighborhood, then I could be convicted of a felony.
No kidding.
That’s true. It’s not as bad as meth, but you could still get punished, especially if the cops have to drag their butts to your house in response to a complaint.
You have to admit that homebrew equipment and the process of homebrewing seems like you’re cooking up something “special.” White five gallon buckets, tubes, propane turkey fryers, sanitizers, etc would concern anybody that doesn’t know what making beer involves, including craft beer geeks. I can’t blame the neighbors for their concern.
Agreed – especially when you smell it before you see it.
I have had people drive by very slowly during many of my brew days. I always wondered if they thought I was doing something really illegal. Well, besides brewing that is as I get asked all too often if homebrewing is legal.
I always wave, as if to say “nothing illegal happening here folks!” It helps that I have a ginormous brew kettle – they probably think I’m cooking lobsters in the driveway!
We brew at a friend’s place, and after we started brewing larger batches outside they asked him if we were cooking meth. This may be a common mistake. They did not call the authorities though.
I wonder if they were relieved or disappointed…
I think they may have been a little disappointed. That whole gentrification thing can get on peoples nerves.
I’m always worried that will happen to me. The other day I was in the garage and the neighbor started talking to me so I walked out in the yard with a 2 liter erlenmeyer flask in my hand. Ooops. I’m sure they think I’m a “chemist” of some sort. You’ll never catch me coppers ya see!
That’s a good way to get your phone tapped!