Will FedEx ship beer?

[Jumper Bones]

I'm shipping a bike box to somebody who has had a bike of mine in their storage for a long time (kind of dumped it on him after I got reassigned bases). He lives in Charleston SC, and all the bike shops there are NOT cool about giving out bike boxes to ship, one wanted a hundred bikes to take the bike and disassemble it and ship it to me. I thought that was highway robbery since my dad had shipped the bike out to me for 30 bucks.

Anyway, I've got a box now. I'm sending the empty box to him, and as a gratuity I'm including a sampler of local brews, all the have down there is Amber Bock. The US Post office, besides charging me out the ass because of the size/weight of the box, absolutely flipped out when I asked if I could include beer on the shipment out. The lady started quoting the laws and fines they could hit me with. Damn!

So, with FedEx ground, is beer okay? I'll be packing the box with rolled-up newspaper, so I don't think they'll be damaged.

I'd ask them myself, but I don't want to tip them off/get the response I got from the post office chick.

and if anybody knows of a cheaper way to ship a bike, shout out, any ideas are encouraged.

[PabstBlueRibbon]

PABST BLUE RIBBON

[Mr. Altagirl]

Fedex shouldn't be a bad option, the last one I did was for about $50. Don't tell them about the beer and you'll be fine. I've used UPS a bit and they were a little cheaper. (I've mailed a lot of beer / wine/ liquer and never had a problem; When I PCSd from Aviano, I mailed A LOT). Good luck.

[Buster Highmen]

UPS does wine, so I imagine FedEx would do beer. It's not against the law unless the following is a precursor to more restringent laws:
http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-000733.php

[The AD]

It's sort of like the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. They don't mind shipping it, but if you mention that it's beer they're not allowed to. Make sure the packaging has no reference to beer and you should be fine.

[Crinkle]

legally you are not allowed to ship beer. I looked into it before, to send my brother in law some Fat Tire. Only legal way was if it was yeast samples or something like that. Now that being said, I am sure there are ways around it.

[cj001f]

The short answer is it's illegal, so don't tell them what it is. Long answere is it depends which state your shipping from, and which state your shipping too
http://www.wineinstitute.org/shipwine/

[Steven S. Dallas]

Originally posted by Jetter
. . .one wanted a hundred bikes to take the bike and disassemble it and ship it to me. . .

That does seem greedy, considering how many bikes they probably already have.

[Vets]

I brew my own beer. Maybe you can send a gift brew kit from Mr. Beer. They send me supplies UPS ground all the time. Here is a link:
Mr. Beer

You might also check around for some beer of the month clubs that are supposed to deliver beer to your door.

Good luck.