# Dry Counties? Wait, what century is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 23, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779 "2005-04-23T18:03:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779/61 "2005-04-26T01:06:20Z")
A few years ago, a colleague and I traveled to Tifton, GA for work. The first evening that we were there, we asked the motel owner where we could get a drink. He grinned and replied, “Didn’t you know we’re dry here?” We got talking with him about dry counties, and marveled that they were still around. He claimed that the ban would come up for repeal on the ballot regularly, but whenever it did, people who owned bars and liquor stores _just outside_ the county would fund big ad campaigns, urging people to keep the booze out of the county. Otherwise, all the business from people driving just over the border would be lost. Preachers were always hired, and paid well by the hooch merchants to thunder on TV about the demon rum. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Cooper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@Agent\_Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Cooper)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779/62 "2005-04-26T23:09:31Z")
Welcome to the Century of Religious Nutjobs Running the Show … please shut up and allow them to get on with saving you. People will not get over it. If you are looking for sanity, you have come to the wrong planet. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779/63 "2005-04-27T00:01:30Z")
Ok, so here’s a serious question-- does anyone here perhaps live in a dry county but homebrew beer (a hobby of ours. Yes, we are exceedingly northwest)? I see homebrewing clubs in Louisville and Lexington et al, but is it ok in the other counties (if not explicitly legal at least “shrug” and not prosecuted or anything)? Would I need shipments from Williams’ Brewing to come in unmarked packages, and brewing supply catalogs to come mailed in brown paper, like porn? I mean, it looks like a state with a lot of mellow and enlightened people-- there must be homebrewing outside the cities? ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779/64 "2005-04-27T00:23:34Z")
As far as I know, you can brew what you like, as long as it’s under the federal limit whatever that is. 100 gallons? You just can’t distill, no moonshine. I do dandelion wine from time to time, though I live in Fayette now I grew up in a dry county. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779/65 "2005-04-27T00:41:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Stock up before you arrive because it’ll be a couple weeks between mixing your mash and the first drips out of your still. Maybe another week if you want to age it. > > I’m sure you’ll be able to find a local who can teach you the fine points after you’ve lived there long enough that they are sure you aren’t a revenuer, say, maybe three generations. We’re moving up to the hills this summer, and this is absolutely something I intend to learn to do. Gotta preserve those dying arts, you know. (I’m willing to bet that my pedigree checks out.) > [@capybara](#): > > Ok, so here’s a serious question-- does anyone here perhaps live in a dry county but homebrew beer (a hobby of ours. Yes, we are exceedingly northwest)? I see homebrewing clubs in Louisville and Lexington et al, but is it ok in the other counties (if not explicitly legal at least “shrug” and not prosecuted or anything)? Would I need shipments from Williams’ Brewing to come in unmarked packages, and brewing supply catalogs to come mailed in brown paper, like porn? I mean, it looks like a state with a lot of mellow and enlightened people-- there must be homebrewing outside the cities? I can’t imagine that it would be an issue. If it is, it might be related to another unfortunate Kentucky booze law–at least as of a few years ago, it was illegal to receive alcohol in the mail in Kentucky. Of course, homebrew supplies don’t contain any alcohol, but I don’t know how broadly the law is written. (There was talk a few years back about changing this, but I doubt they’ve gotten around to it.) If the big online homebrew stores are willing to ship to Kentucky, then you can rest assured. (You can also be comforted that they have a modest selection of homebrew supplies in Lexington at Liquor Barn.) ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779/66 "2005-04-27T01:58:35Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > If it is, it might be related to another unfortunate Kentucky booze law–at least as of a few years ago, it was illegal to receive alcohol in the mail in Kentucky. This was a tax issue. Something about other states not collecting reciprocal sales tax or something. It wasn’t a morality thing. As far as I know, homebrewing is OK in dry counties as long as you aren’t brewing it to sell. You can possess alcohol in dry counties, you just can’t sell it. DoctorJ, where are y’all moving? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779/67 "2005-04-30T03:44:35Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > See, and that state-owned crap is why I can’t go out and buy a bottle of tequila now, at 9pm on a Saturday. Friggin’ ABC stores are closed. That was incredibly hard to get used to when we moved down here, because back in Kentucky when I got a booze craving at midnight, I could trot across the street and get whatever I wanted. (For some reason, I only ever get the urge to drink late in the evening, usually right after the stupid ABC stores close.) It still seems incredibly stupid to me, not being able to buy booze on a Saturday night, although people who grew up here don’t seem to think twice about it. It’s just what seems normal to them, because it’s what they’re used to. I thought the state stores in PA, or at least in Pittsburgh, were great. Because they only stock liquor, they have a wide selection, and the staff knew what they had and could answer any questions. Also because of this, they were clean and not heavily trafficked. And they had guards. As far as craving alcohol after hours, well, you just have to plan ahead. Out here in LA, you can get liquor at a grocery or a bodega, and even the nominal liquor stores also sell snacks, mixers, lottery tickets and so forth. I don’t like them much. I don’t drink any more, but Mr. Rilch goes to a nearby liquor store to get cigars from their humidor. I’m sure the staff does their best\*, but they just can’t keep things orderly when people are always in and out buying non-liquor items. So I have no problem with state stores as opposed to stores that have liquor as an afterthought. \*and they are cool people. While Mr. Rilch was in the humidor, I was chit-chatting with the cashier about how badly we thought the Hitchhiker’s movie might suck. But the carpet is dirty and torn, and I don’t know about the age of the candy by the register. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779/68 "2005-04-30T14:53:41Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I’m really sorry to hear that. I had no idea that the New England coastal area had fallen on hard times. > [/hijack] Look at that. You install one indoor toilet, and the whole state starts getting uppity… 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-counties-wait-what-century-is-this/300779.md?page=3)