When Gary Shellman shows off a beer brewing system in his garage, he'll refer to it as a "brewing sculpture." "Because it's literally brewing art," he says. But Shellman won't show our cameras the finished product because he knows brewing beer at home is actually against the law in Oklahoma.
However, it's legal to make other alcoholic beverages in your home.
State Statute Title 37, Section 505 says "nothing shall prevent the making of cider, or of wine."
"But the words 'or of beer' are missing," Shellman says. "Why not beer? George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were home brewers."
Shellman has called legislators about changing the law, but says the response isn't promising.
"They'll just simply say, 'In olden times, Jesus drank wine. Jesus didn't drink beer'."
As the popularity of brew pubs has grown, so has the interest in home brewing. It's estimated there are 750,000 home brewers in the U.S.
Chuck Deveney, owner of The Brew Shop, says lawyers, law enforcement officers, doctors and other professionals make their own beer at home.
He says he's never heard of anyone being arrested for making beer.
"If you can legally make wine, and wine has a much higher alcohol percentage than beer does, it makes no sense to me," Deveney says.
When we asked Brew Shop customers if the law discourages their hobby, one man laughed. "No. Not at all," he said.
So just how strict is this law? John Maisch is General Counsel for the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission.
"I don't know if the ABLE Commission, as a general rule, would go and pay a visit to somebody's home on a report of home brewing of beer," Maisch says.
The ABLE Commission regulates 54,000 restaurants, clubs, liquor stores, etc; they do all this with only 25 enforcement officers in the state.
In addition, they're only concerned with beer that exceeds 3.2% alcohol.
"If you're in the business of brewing, or you enjoy brewing low point beer, the ABLE Commission probably doesn't have any jurisdiction over you to begin with," Maisch says.
House Minority Leader Danny Morgan says he was surprised to hear home brewing was illegal, but feels Oklahoma's laws on dealing with alcohol's use, storage and shipments are "antiquated."
He believes the statute that excludes beer from what could be made at home was merely an "oversight".
That law dates back to 1959 and was never amended when home brewing was legalized on the federal level in 1978. "I think there's a lot of people that would like to see us make everything uniform, so it doesn't matter what you're doing. They all fall under the same parameters," Morgan says. "'Well I can make wine, but I can't make beer', that really just doesn't make a lot of sense."
Oklahoma, Alabama and Mississippi are the only states that have yet to make home brewing beer legal.
This past March, Utah became the 47th state to allow the practice.
However, it's legal to make other alcoholic beverages in your home.
State Statute Title 37, Section 505 says "nothing shall prevent the making of cider, or of wine."
"But the words 'or of beer' are missing," Shellman says. "Why not beer? George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were home brewers."
Shellman has called legislators about changing the law, but says the response isn't promising.
"They'll just simply say, 'In olden times, Jesus drank wine. Jesus didn't drink beer'."
As the popularity of brew pubs has grown, so has the interest in home brewing. It's estimated there are 750,000 home brewers in the U.S.
Chuck Deveney, owner of The Brew Shop, says lawyers, law enforcement officers, doctors and other professionals make their own beer at home.
He says he's never heard of anyone being arrested for making beer.
"If you can legally make wine, and wine has a much higher alcohol percentage than beer does, it makes no sense to me," Deveney says.
When we asked Brew Shop customers if the law discourages their hobby, one man laughed. "No. Not at all," he said.
So just how strict is this law? John Maisch is General Counsel for the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission.
"I don't know if the ABLE Commission, as a general rule, would go and pay a visit to somebody's home on a report of home brewing of beer," Maisch says.
The ABLE Commission regulates 54,000 restaurants, clubs, liquor stores, etc; they do all this with only 25 enforcement officers in the state.
In addition, they're only concerned with beer that exceeds 3.2% alcohol.
"If you're in the business of brewing, or you enjoy brewing low point beer, the ABLE Commission probably doesn't have any jurisdiction over you to begin with," Maisch says.
House Minority Leader Danny Morgan says he was surprised to hear home brewing was illegal, but feels Oklahoma's laws on dealing with alcohol's use, storage and shipments are "antiquated."
He believes the statute that excludes beer from what could be made at home was merely an "oversight".
That law dates back to 1959 and was never amended when home brewing was legalized on the federal level in 1978. "I think there's a lot of people that would like to see us make everything uniform, so it doesn't matter what you're doing. They all fall under the same parameters," Morgan says. "'Well I can make wine, but I can't make beer', that really just doesn't make a lot of sense."
Oklahoma, Alabama and Mississippi are the only states that have yet to make home brewing beer legal.
This past March, Utah became the 47th state to allow the practice.
