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Has anybody traveled with whole hops?

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:25 pm
by bpgreen
I'm going to be visiting my mom soon, and while I'm there, I'll help my brother and nephew brew a 10 gallon batch. They've started growing hops, but I'm not sure if they have enough to brew the beer they want using only homegrown hops.

I've got an overabundance of hops, and could bring some with me. I've traveled a lot and try not to do anything that will cause any problems. I once brought some dme. It got pulled out of my bag and they asked me what it was and that was that (actually, the guy thought it was cool that I brewedmy own, but it was in DC).

But I'm a little worried that a TSA agent (especially one in Utah, who is unlikely to know anything about brewing) might think the hops are their close relative.

Re: Has anybody traveled with whole hops?

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:32 pm
by FrozenInTime
Less worries if sealed and sent by USPS?

Re: Has anybody traveled with whole hops?

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:01 pm
by bpgreen
FrozenInTime wrote:Less worries if sealed and sent by USPS?
I might go that route, but the postage might be more than buying hops there,

Re: Has anybody traveled with whole hops?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 6:36 am
by RickBeer
The TSA has no power to stop you from transporting hops.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-scr ... ibring/all

The TSA employees are not law enforcement professionals. They cannot arrest you. They can summon an air marshal or a policeman, but that official cannot arrest you for transporting hops.

Re: Has anybody traveled with whole hops?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 12:17 pm
by BlackDuck
That may be true, but I'm pretty sure it's not worth the hassle to be detained while they summon and Air Marshal or the police. Who knows how long that will take, then you'll have to explain and prove to them that they are in fact hops. After all this has gone down, you've missed your flight. Now you have to deal with the airline to rebook. Now your late to your destination. Yup, not worth the hassle.

Might as well ship them.

Re: Has anybody traveled with whole hops?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 12:41 pm
by bpgreen
BlackDuck wrote:That may be true, but I'm pretty sure it's not worth the hassle to be detained while they summon and Air Marshal or the police. Who knows how long that will take, then you'll have to explain and prove to them that they are in fact hops. After all this has gone down, you've missed your flight. Now you have to deal with the airline to rebook. Now your late to your destination. Yup, not worth the hassle.

Might as well ship them.
I travel often enough that I like to make the process go as smoothly as possible. I've learned which things show up on xray that'll flash for secondary, so I take those out in advance., etc. Organic matter usually leads to a secondary search of the bag. So how's would show up, and it's Utah, so even if they believed me that they're hops, they might give me a hard time (alcohol is a nono for mormons and some think that it should be a nono for everybody).

I think I'll just leave them at home or ship then.

Re: Has anybody traveled with whole hops?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 7:06 pm
by berryman
They can tend to look like an illegal commodity ha ha.
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