Crossing border with kegs

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:45 pm

I know that coming back to Canada with beer has been discussed before, but I wanted to ask something specific - crossing with kegs.

I'm going to head to the States in a bit with the intention of getting some kegs for a party here. Does anyone have experience bringing (and declaring) kegs back? Anything strange to expect?

From what I can see the latest docs on CBSA says you're allowed 45L on top of your personal exemption which would make a keg (30L) no problem. But I was still curious if anything different was encountered coming back just with kegs.

iguenard · Post by **iguenard** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:06 pm

Whatever happens, please report back your findings cause I can get 30L of 90 min IPA for 79$ in Ohio, and that shit would look ghooooud on my deck right about now.

mooner · Post by **mooner** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:29 am

I can tell you I've crossed at Sarnia many times with 30L kegs of Bells, Founders and mostly Shorts to dispense from my kegerator. However with my Nexus card I can simply fill out a paper declaration and drop it in the little box at the booth and have the tax and duty charged to my credit card without talking to anyone. When I first started bringing kegs over I asked a good buddy who's a border guard about what to expect and he couldn't tell me cause he hadn't ran into it, but said it shouldn't be a problem. A tip he offered is to convert the volume of beer into cases or 12 packs for the ease of the border agent as this is what they generally deal with.

Although if you're feeling lucky, I once found myself without a pen and couldn't fill out my paper declaration. When I got to the booth with my 30L and said I had a "mini keg" fully expecting to be sent to secondary to pay the duty and the girl just let me cruise right on through. I assume she likely thought I had a "bubba" type keg. Similarly, this always works when I have a $100 mixed case of 6'ers and bombers and declare a "case of beer from the party store". This just reinforces the golden rule of border declarations: Tell them as little as possible without lying.

NRman · Post by **NRman** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:28 am

mooner wrote:However with my Nexus card I can simply fill out a paper declaration and drop it in the little box at the booth and have the tax and duty charged to my credit card without talking to anyone.

I'll add my support of Nexus and the convenience of the drop box declaration. Never have a problem as mooner says but you have to be comfortable with Homeland Security and CBSA (and god knows who else) having your fingerprints and retina scans - conspiracy theorists need not apply.

On land its hugely satisfying if you can get to the NEXUS lane and not get stuck waiting on the other side of the bridge. The only piece I have yet to complete is the have the toll loaded on my NEXUS card for the "Nexus only" Whirlpool Bridge in NF. You need to stop in once to get this registered and then its reloadable online.

Even better if you travel YYZ frequently from the US you will smile every Friday night you breeze through customers with a retina scan vs. standing behind hundreds of tourists arriving in an airport for what seems like the first time. (Equally satisfying at 530 AM while flying to the US)

$50 for 5 years and some admin time and its the best money you'll ever spend if you cross more than 1-2 times per year.

Dokta Owange · Post by **Dokta Owange** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:33 am

anyone know if you can get kegs from Ryan's Party store in Port Huron?

I would be looking for some obscure brands from the breweries that they offer (ie: Sierra Nevada Celebration / Bigfoot, Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, Hopslam, etc)

Would you have to make arrangements with the brewery sales rep to pick up a keg at a store in the US?

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:57 am

NRman wrote:
mooner wrote:However with my Nexus card I can simply fill out a paper declaration and drop it in the little box at the booth and have the tax and duty charged to my credit card without talking to anyone.
I'll add my support of Nexus and the convenience of the drop box declaration. Never have a problem as mooner says but you have to be comfortable with Homeland Security and CBSA (and god knows who else) having your fingerprints and retina scans - conspiracy theorists need not apply.

On land its hugely satisfying if you can get to the NEXUS lane and not get stuck waiting on the other side of the bridge. The only piece I have yet to complete is the have the toll loaded on my NEXUS card for the "Nexus only" Whirlpool Bridge in NF. You need to stop in once to get this registered and then its reloadable online.

Even better if you travel YYZ frequently from the US you will smile every Friday night you breeze through customers with a retina scan vs. standing behind hundreds of tourists arriving in an airport for what seems like the first time. (Equally satisfying at 530 AM while flying to the US)

$50 for 5 years and some admin time and its the best money you'll ever spend if you cross more than 1-2 times per year.

Can anyone apply for a Nexus card or do you have to frequently travel to the US for business? I always thought the purpose of the card was the latter and I never looked in to it further for that reason.

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:59 am

mooner wrote:... and have the tax and duty charged to my credit card without talking to anyone.

Do they often charge the card when you have exceeded your limit? In comparison to before you had the Nexus card? I am curious to see if that you reduce my chances of getting dinged with duty on day trips to Buffalo/NF...

NRman · Post by **NRman** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:35 am

TheSevenDuffs wrote:Can anyone apply for a Nexus card or do you have to frequently travel to the US for business? I always thought the purpose of the card was the latter and I never looked in to it further for that reason.

I did originally get mine for work (never had a VISA or anything was just in the US in "meetings" all the time - the work VISA for the US and NEXUS are totally unconnected - AFAIK NEXUS is just a faster clearance for low risk travellers) but now I only travel for leisure. My wife applied when I refused to cross a border with her until she got a Nexus card and she had no issue and no real need except personal travel (although her folks now live in the US but no one seemed to care). One catch is everyone in the car needs Nexus to use the Nexus lane.

Re: duty, mooner will know better. We have always been under out limit til last week when we dropped a card and claimed we had 12 bottles over our 48 allowed. The guy saw us drop the card, looked at our NEXUS cards for 15 secs (refused to look at the offered passports) and said "have a good day". Although it is still a border and they could at anytime haul us in just like anyone else (although its never happened to me in over 50 flights/drives). I'll update this if we ever get charged duty for the 12.

FYI - If you go ahead, we did it all online on the US site below right up to picking an interview time online for YYZ (always faster and more open slots than in Buffalo - at least when I applied).
Like I said the best $50 ever and with a no fee NY EZpass, border crossing is usually painless, unless the bridge is blocked.

https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:43 am

NRman wrote:
TheSevenDuffs wrote:Can anyone apply for a Nexus card or do you have to frequently travel to the US for business? I always thought the purpose of the card was the latter and I never looked in to it further for that reason.
I did originally get mine for work (never had a VISA or anything was just in the US in "meetings" all the time - the work VISA for the US and NEXUS are totally unconnected - AFAIK NEXUS is just a faster clearance for low risk travellers) but now I only travel for leisure. My wife applied when I refused to cross a border with her until she got a Nexus card and she had no issue and no real need except personal travel (although her folks now live in the US but no one seemed to care). One catch is everyone in the car needs Nexus to use the Nexus lane.

Re: duty, mooner will know better. We have always been under out limit til last week when we dropped a card and claimed we had 12 bottles over our 48 allowed. The guy saw us drop the card, looked at our NEXUS cards for 15 secs (refused to look at the offered passports) and said "have a good day". Although it is still a border and they could at anytime haul us in just like anyone else (although its never happened to me in over 50 flights/drives). I'll update this if we ever get charged duty for the 12.

FYI - If you go ahead, we did it all online on the US site below right up to picking an interview time online for YYZ (always faster and more open slots than in Buffalo - at least when I applied).
Like I said the best $50 ever and with a no fee NY EZpass, border crossing is usually painless, unless the bridge is blocked.

https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/

That is some excellent info. Thanks!

Didn't realize that everyone in the car needs a Nexus pass. For me that means that my girlfriend will need one too, which shouldn't be a big deal all.

As for the interview: so you go for the interview at YYZ, that is where the fingerprint you and do the retina scan, I assume? And make sure you are not a terrorist?

iguenard · Post by **iguenard** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:15 am

Thank you so much for this info guys, I will be applying as they have started charging me 10.75$ everytime I cross the border into the US as they think I'm an eBay salesman now for some f?*& ed up reason.

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:21 am

iguenard wrote:Thank you so much for this info guys, I will be applying as they have started charging me 10.75$ everytime I cross the border into the US as they think I'm an eBay salesman now for some f?*& ed up reason.

Really? They can just charge you $10.75 for no reason? That doesn't seem right...

iguenard · Post by **iguenard** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:56 am

TheSevenDuffs wrote:
iguenard wrote:Thank you so much for this info guys, I will be applying as they have started charging me 10.75$ everytime I cross the border into the US as they think I'm an eBay salesman now for some f?*& ed up reason.
Really? They can just charge you $10.75 for no reason? That doesn't seem right...

Since they think I'm an ebey'er, they charge everytime I go in, even if I dont bring any freaking beer into the US. Last time she told me I'd probably be bringing back beer, so they charged me 10.75$ (with no beer in my possession) stating that burden of proof was on me.

Bitch! How the fuck can I prove I wont be doing something in the future, and that I'm NOT an eBay'er... has anyone ever even proved something of the like?

She just laughed at me.

I stopped my trading into the US until I figure a way around that. Hopefully Nexus is the key.

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:50 am

Thanks for all the info. I do in fact have a Nexus card and it's one of the best things I've ever done!

But as mentioned all bodies in the car need to have one to use it, and that won't be the case when I do the keg run.

NRman · Post by **NRman** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:52 am

Cass wrote:Thanks for all the info. I do in fact have a Nexus card and it's one of the best things I've ever done!

But as mentioned all bodies in the car need to have one to use it, and that won't be the case when I do the keg run.

make them walk

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:44 pm

iguenard wrote:I will be applying as they have started charging me 10.75$ everytime I cross the border into the US as they think I'm an eBay salesman now for some f?*& ed up reason... I stopped my trading into the US until I figure a way around that. Hopefully Nexus is the key.

Are they charging you a commercial vehicle fee? Is your name on file or something? Are you driving a commercial vehicle? I don't think you are explaining this fully.

I doubt gettinga NEXUS card would help you since if you have some kind of flag against you, you may not be able to avoid the fee.