PJ20 beer "faithfull ale"

[theserialthrilla]

Sorry for the delay, everyone!! I am still waiting for shipping boxes. It seems that they were delivered to my house last Friday when I was at work. When I got home that evening they were not there. I checked the next day and confirmed that they were definitely left on my front porch so it seems that someone has stolen them! It is really unfortunate but I have ordered more shipping boxes and will receive them at my office this time I should have them by Thursday and I will be able to send out the packages on Saturday at the latest.

I feel bad about the delay. I was hoping to send these out last Saturday. Now I feel like the 10C with the shipping delay
I hope you can bear with me through this slight delay.

Confirming shipping Faithfull Ale to these people:
Massimo - 2
theserialthrilla - 2
LostRebel - 2
do.the.evolution - 2
Paulina87 - 2
pdalowsky - 2
Chrislein - 1
Vicspeed - 2
Juggernaut - 2

i thought paul and i were sharing one each...but im cool

[LostRebel]

Sorry for the delay, everyone!! I am still waiting for shipping boxes. It seems that they were delivered to my house last Friday when I was at work. When I got home that evening they were not there. I checked the next day and confirmed that they were definitely left on my front porch so it seems that someone has stolen them! It is really unfortunate but I have ordered more shipping boxes and will receive them at my office this time I should have them by Thursday and I will be able to send out the packages on Saturday at the latest.

I feel bad about the delay. I was hoping to send these out last Saturday. Now I feel like the 10C with the shipping delay
I hope you can bear with me through this slight delay.

Confirming shipping Faithfull Ale to these people:
Massimo - 2
theserialthrilla - 2
LostRebel - 2
do.the.evolution - 2
Paulina87 - 2
pdalowsky - 2
Chrislein - 1
Vicspeed - 2
Juggernaut - 2

i thought paul and i were sharing one each...but im cool

If you don't need the second pair, you can always send it to your alcoholic friend in Greece

[do.the.evolution]

don't worry about the delay, Marc, we are all very grateful!
And don't forget to add the costs for the stolen boxes to our shipping costs.
Those should not be paid by you!

[Paulina87]

don't worry about the delay, Marc, we are all very grateful!
And don't forget to add the costs for the stolen boxes to our shipping costs.
Those should not be paid by you!

+1

[Marc]

Hi everyone,

I received the shipping boxes and was able to pack all of the Faithfull Ale bottles. I am really happy with the boxes and packing. But I am having second thoughts about the packages arriving at their destinations. I've talked to a couple of people and read a little more about sending beer in the mail and there are some legitimate concerns.

I am concerned about postal inspectors finding the beer because when the box is shifted I can hear the liquid inside the package. And if they suspect liquid in the package it is likely they will not let it go through. I am also concerned with the packages being on an airplane. The air pressure change from sea level to 30,00+ feet to sea level again can cause the caps to pop off of the bottles. It may not happen to all of them but it would be terrible if even a couple of bottles should lose their contents inside the box.

I really want to help everyone here to get the Faithfull Ale if possible. But I also do not want to take foolish risks to do so. I would feel terrible to spend so much money mailing out the packages and then finding out most if not all of the packages were not delivered to you.

Please let me know how you feel about this situation. The sure way to get the Faithfull Ale bottle to you is to send them empty. Of course, it is not the most fun way If someone really wants to try it with full bottles, maybe I can try to send 1 package out and see how it goes. Again, I want to know if you think it is worth the risks and money to try this.

Marc

[pdalowsky]

Thanks Marc

tricky one it seems

I guess we need to investigate whether it is permitted to ship alcohol? I have heard its not technically legal to use certain services in the states to ship alcohol but some allow it such as fedex....Im not sure if US customs would allow it to pass through.

I can look into the Uk customs side, I just wondered if the beer was declared on the package and we were upfront about it would that assist - in them not needing to open the box?

Also is it worth considering surface/ground shipping? that way taking the pressure out of the occasion. I hadnt considered this issue at all, and should have really. I received the ten promo jar of jam a few years back and the pressure of the plane had played havoc with the seal on the jar causing a small amount to spill out. thankfully no lasting damage was done.

[pdalowsky]

I should add Marc, if you would like a test case sort of guinea pig scenario.....sign me up....I'll give it a whirl with you

[Chrisilein]

Marc, most important thing is that i don't want to cause you problems! If its really that hard to send a full bottle i would happily take an empty one! I think its a good idea to try one package and send it to Paul! Lets see what the others are thinking...

Again, thanks for all your kind help!

[Juggernaut]

I will take the risk.

You should pack it in bubble wrap very good. And put newspapers in the package.

Mark it as collectible glassware or yeast sample and as a gift. The pressure should be ok on the plane.

Let me know how much it all costs and send me an invoice through PayPal: j.vanderdam@planet.nl and I will pay right away.

You really don't end up in jail for doing this. Im also a member of a beer forum and people send and receive beer to and from the USA alot.

[do.the.evolution]

HI Marc,
i read in a beer forum that sending beer without saying there is beer/alcohol in the package, would work in 90 to 95%
It is common to send beer, if it's really legal, I'm not sure, may vary from one country to another.
But,
I like the idea not to send it by airmail, but to send it by ship.
Would take much longer, but I guess we are all very patient
This is an attribute that a collector unavoidable must have, I guess.
I would die for the taste of that beer, so, please, if ever it is possible,
I want to have full bottles.
But, I agree with Chrisilein, I don't want you to get into more troubles than you have anyway.
And, I also read "collectible glassware" is a good way to protect packages as best as you can.
at last, thank you very much for your hard work!!!

[Marc]

Thank you for your replies.

Paul, it is definitely not legal to use the USPS to send any liquid (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). It is expressly not permitted. This is my concern as the package goes through customs. If it is discovered that there is liquid in the package they would confiscate it. That means I don't get it back and it doesn't get forwarded to you. And we are all out the time and money spent trying to do this. But this is the only penalty. I'm not going to get into trouble, except they will tell me to not do it again. So when I fill out the customs forms I can't say what is really in the package.

But it is easier to use other carriers like UPS or FedEx (the 90 - 95%). It seems to me that they have more of a don't ask, don't tell policy. But using these other carriers the cost is much higher to ship than USPS. It would be more like $100 - $125 to ship two bottles to Europe compared to around $50 for USPS. I do like the idea of trying to send it "ground" because it is less expensive and they bottles may better arrive intact. I will check to see if it makes sense to try to send these by ship.

I'm really only worried about getting the packages out of the US. If they get through US customs I think they would be delivered. Looking into what can be received in the mail by other counties, alcohol is not named on the not allowed list in most cases. I'll give an update on what I find out in a couple of days.

Marc

[Paulina87]

if shipping "ground" is safer I'm in for that even if it may take longer.
I would still like to get full bottles but I agree with guys, I don't want you to get into more troubles than you have anyway.

and BIG thanks for all your help Marc

[Marc]

I was finally able to take a couple of packages to UPS yesterday to get shipping costs to Europe and to find out the options for shipping. UPS will not be an option, for sure. I asked for the cost to ship a package of two bottles to Athens and The Netherlands and I was told the lowest cost would be $189US and $158US, respectively. Unbelievable!! I saw on his screen that it would take no longer than 7 days for the package to be delivered for this price and of course I could pay more if I wanted it delivered in as soon as two days. I then asked if there was an option for slower delivery and the man said that they no longer use boats and that all packages going to Europe go by airplane. So now we are back to square one. That USPS is by far the cheapest carrier, but they expressly do not allow liquid to be mailed.

I have agreed to send a two bottle package to Juggernaut on Monday Dec. 5 and see how it goes. I will put the package in a bigger box with packing peanuts for extra cushion and hopefully the sound of the ale inside the bottles will not be heard. If all goes well I can try it with others, too.

Sorry for the delay in updating you on this but I just want everything to go as well as it can for this difficult situation.

Marc

[VicSpeed]

Thank you Marc!

[LostRebel]

Thanks Marc for all your help!

Let's see how this one will go