Re: Favorite beer of choice?
MBB Participants. I have been asked via PM about shipping beer and so wanted to give a quick rundown on how to do this as there are people who are less experienced and we want to ensure that everyone has a smooth experience.
First, I am starting this thing off with a styrofoam wine bottle shipper. This way, the bottles/cans will remain upright through their journey and will have less risk of breakage. This styro shipper SHOULD survive through all targets. When packing your beers it is best practice to place them in a ziploc bag (air squeezed out) and then wrap with one layer of thin bubble wrap. Place the beer in a slot in the shipper. Add newspaper around the beer to reduce the amount of wiggle the beer has in the shipper slot. Repeat the process for the remaining beers you have. Once you have packed all the beers you are sending, put the top of the shipper over the beers and tape up the box. I recommend clear plastic packing tape.
Next go to either ups.com or fedex.com and create a shipping label. There are options on both sites to create a one-time label using a credit/debit card. All you need to put in is your address for return, the receivers address, and the weight of the box. If you don't know the weight, guess. Essentially what happens is if you over guess you'll get a slight shipping refund and if you under guess you will get charged a bit more....either charge will hit once the shipment is delivered successfully. You do not need to know the box dimensions. You will want to choose either UPS ground or Fedex Home Delivery as your shipping method. It's pretty easy to create a label online and I suggest doing so because when you do this and tape the label on to the box, you will rarely/if ever be questioned by a worker at the drop-off location......just walk-in, put the box on the counter, tell a worker the box is good to go with label and leave the store. DO NOT TELL THEM THERE IS BEER IN THE BOX. Shipping beer is actually illegal and if you get busted you will receive a terse letter from the company telling you to not do it again. If they do ask what you are shipping, let them know that you make homemade soda and you are sending some to a friend.....or tell them you are a scientist and they are yeast samples you're sending to a friend.....or maybe you have an emerging maple syrup company and you're sending out test batches to some friends.......whatever.....just don't tell them it's alcohol. Once the box is dropped off it is good to go.
With regards to packing the glass...I recommend stuffing the glass with newspaper and wrapping it in bubble wrap and placing it in the shipper. I also recommend stuffing newspaper in the top portion of the shipper for the glassware slot.
Additionally, don't be afraid to throw a few strips of tape on the bottom of the box to ensure there are no problems on the bottom. As the box ages it will degrade and may become problematic. The wine shipper, however, will be fine. To improve the integrity of the box sometimes I tape the thing all the way around the sides in order to make it tighter. If the structural integrity of the box is totally compromised, you will need to find another box and pack the wine shipper inside it before sending out your beer to your target.
If at any point you have questions about shipping beer, please post here or message me directly. I'm happy to help explain the process because I want this to go well.
Another tip is to write the tracking number on the box. Sometimes labels come off and it is handy to have that written just in case the label gets ripped off. I highly recommend taping the label to the box instead of using a UPS or FedEx label jacket because those can be peeled off the box much easier than if it were taped. Put the label on the top of the box as well.
Finally, once the first package has been delivered....I will ask that person to post pictures here of how the box was packed. This should help provide a visual for those who haven't done this before.
Any questions....please let me know. Also, if you have other tips please feel free to share them as well.
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Kevin
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