Who cares? Brew small batches for yourself anyways. I have no respect for such ridiculous laws.

Making fuel or perfume (both legitimate uses of a still) is not quite the same as kicking an old man down the stairs.

No kidding.

Wanna really PISS them off, pour you corn squeeze'ens in your gas tank to make your own E85 and don't pay road tax on it.  That will make their heads explode.

That's what the Mexicans said when they look across the Rio Grande.





 

That's what I'm thinking. Who cares or would even know I made a bit of hooch for myself. I can't see them knocking on my door and killing my dogs for 2 gallons of moonshine and a shitty still. On a side note ,they would be coming after me for alcohol but not the shithead down the street selling weed on his front lawn.They haven't been able to bust him for 3 years, even though they've done "stake outs" on him. "Well no shit you didn't see anything everyone in neighborhood saw the cop sitting in his car for 3 hours on street sweeping day." He was the only one parked in the street, dumbass. I don't think the local LE is anything to worry about and I wouldn't be selling it or advertising it, so who would know. Except for you guys, but then again it's all hypothetical.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/

There are some good guys there that are running some 1st class likker.
Good "recepies" section too.

Build  yourself a reflux column still and cook off some 175* in one run.

"Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." - Ronald Reagan

WTF does this have to do with anything?

I am sure this has been covered but federal law prevents it. Home brewing wasn’t legalized until 1978 actually. And you can only brew up to a certain amount per year. Now federally and also on a state level you cannot sell homemade wine or beer without a license. The feds want their tax cut and so does the state. They also get you by making you have to purchase a license as well. However you can legally give it away to friends and family such as a gift.  Beer and wine that is.
Now back to the moonshine. Now you can own and have a still for the production of ethanol (fuel). As a matter of fact stills have become more popular after our gas prices started to sky rocket years ago. Also if you noticed there started to also be more house/garage fires and explosions around the US as well. This was due to people trying to save some money and make their own “flex” fuel with a still.
However law enforcement has no way of tracking who is making fuel and who is making moonshine. And at a state level most states have their own laws against it. Yet “Agents” don’t actively go around looking for stills. What draws the attention of the Fed’s and state agents is when you start selling it or giving it away to people who spread the word.  
So all in all it is illegal even if it’s for personal consumption in your own house on your own property. Yet who is going to know in the long run as long as you don’t sell it, advertise it or give it to those you don’t trust.
I know all this as I did research in college on the history and legality of moonshine, I have books on it and I had a still in college. Now my one of my professions deals directly with the laws and regulations of moonshine/bootlegging. And yes bootlegging still happens. Hope this helps.

That guy on The Colony did it as well.





 

Yep.  

People get confused.  Home fermenting is legal––home distilling is not.

Federal.

You wasted your second post in 5 years on that ?  



 

Yep, this.  But you know there's always someone who says he knows someone's cousin's step-brother in law who says that it's legal in his county.

Retards, one and all.

For the last mutherfucking time, you cannot LEGALLY distill alcohol for any purpose (even fuel, dammit), in any quantity whatsoever, without the proper permits, licenses, etc.  This is a Federal law, and trumps any and all state, local and Billy Bob's brother's laws.

Yes, you might not get caught, but are you willing to chance it?

Do I agree it should be illegal?  Hell no, but the facts are the facts.  I feel better now.

LC

So did Steve McQueen in "The Great Escape".  I dunno, maybe it was legal in Nazi Germany?  Doesn't mean you can legally do it in the U.S. of A.

LC

What makes you think there was really any alcohol in that mash?

Illegal.  But living in EKY it is very commonly produced, consumed, and sold.  There does not seem to be much interest in busting people over it here.  I cannot think of a single instance of someone getting in trouble for shine in my area with the possible exception of them getting in trouble for something else and also having shine with them.  Even then that is incredibly rare.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Maybe he forgot to log out of his troll account?

On a serious note, can you distill for fuel or any other use legally?

Just another thing the fed stuck their dick into and had no right to do so.  

It's true.  You can Brew, Ferment, Concoct and consume up to whatever the state allows for personal consumption, but when you start evaporating the ethanol out of it and condensing it for any purpose (possible exception for fuel) you betta haz u a tax stamp er them revnooers iz gonna bust up yo still an trow u in da hooskow.

Oddly, I could distill hooch here, have an unlicensed machinegun, get caught with both, and the only thing they'd do is send me back to the states.  There's something wrong with that.

Sorry, forgot which account I was logged in to.

Sounds very pre libtard America to me lol

Ol' Smokey Distillery in Gatlinburg TN.  First legal "moonshine" distillery.  The stuff in the pic is 100 proof.  Having had some I can tell you it's primarily sugar derived with enough corn flavor to make it interesting.

It's plenty "real", but it's not made with corn mash and it's tempered to 100 proof to avoid a heavy tax burden.

The illicit variety from a good maker/still is generally 130-170 proof and made with corn mash.  Bubbles dissipate quickly when the jar is shaken and should burn with a blue flame.  


I'm still looking for an old pottery jug.  I prefer it's 60+ years old.

It's illegal but I might know someone that made a still and made a few batches. It's fun but to make good liquior takes a lot of work.

Brewhaus has a nice line of Stainless home Water Distallation, Ahem Ahem, stills. They are numerous forums for home distallation of flavored, Ahem Ahem , waters.  The fine for making booze is minor the fine for making and selling is very bad, according to said forums, I would not know myself.



All Hail the mighty yeast

Makes the poor man feel like a King

And a ugly women look like a queen

fixd

nope

A friend of mine is into home brewing, another regularly takes wine making classes.  I looked into distilling alcohol but as already pointed out here it is very much illegal in the United States.

Friends 1 & 2 try to goad me into it –– "c'mon man, you passed Chem Lab on your third try, running a still will be a piece of cake!".  Until I point out that a couple of legal semi-auto rifles and one illegal still means:
1) The ATF up my ass
2) My dog gets shot
3) The Star Ledger paints me as the second coming of Al Capone
4) I'm the butt of "WTF were you thinking, Prohibition has been repealed for decades" jokes while cooling my heals in PMITA prison.

Yeah, I am not interested in that route.

WTF are you talking about?

11th= "Don't get caught, Jethro."

ETA:  Apparently I'm the only one to say this....besides Reagan's version, the other is "Thou Shalt not take the name of Elizabeth Taylor in Vain."

That's good to know about the proofing.  I was scratching my head wondering why they limited it to 100 proof.  I always thought White Lightning was supposed to be at least 170-180 proof.  It figures taxes are the reason they had to temper it.    I didn't bother asking the person at the counter, I just took a quick spin around the distillery "tour" and bought my jars.

It was interesting to see (what I thought was) corn mash bubbling away at the distillery.  I guess most whiskeys start with this process, with barley being the preferred mashbill with Scotch and Irish whisk(e)ys.  A buddy of mine took the tour at the Jack Daniels distillery but it is located in a dry county () so he didn't get to buy any product there.



NB they didn't have any of the seasonal flavors (e.g. apple pie, butterscotch) but they will give you the recipe if you buy a jar of the white lightning.  Supposedly you can mix up the recipe for the flavorings and dump it into the white lightning fairly easily.

I'm suprised more distilleries don't try to get licensed for real moonshine and even pay the heavy tax burden and charge accordingly.  I bet there'd be a niche demand for it, or who knows, it might be a hit with everybody.

Many, many years ago, I tried a couple of sips of moonshine somebody brought to a party and it was like mountain springwater with a warm afterglow.  I wouldn't mind keeping some on hand if it were legal.

It's very easy to do.  

100% apple juice,  Ground cinnamon,  dash of Ground nutmeg, drop of vanilla extract, and a couple apple slices tossed in.  Bring mix to rapid boil stirring continuously, remove from heat, allow to cool until you can put your finger in the mix for ~5 seconds without burning yourself.  Add to jars partially filled with moonshine.  Refrigerate and consume.

Some folks like it if you drop a couple apple slices in the jar with the pie.  That's fine, but they don't tend to taste very good...in fact they taste like straight liquor...especially if you're using real shine.  In my experience the apple slices if consumed in large amounts will give you a heaving case of the shits in the morning as well as mess you up pretty good post-consumption.


FWIW, they add sugar to their apple pie.  Too sweet and not strong enough for my tastes, but some folks dig it.

Something you might try is coring, slicing, and peeling a pear.  Put some of your shine in a pint jar and drop the pear in with it.  Let it sit for a month and then consume.

It might be illegal to do - but it is easy enough to get the equipment and knowledge.  Likewise it is still done - probably about as frequently as someone grows a pot plant.

Dont you guys wish that you could go back in time and kick the man who invented the 'Tax Stamp' in the nuts.

Which means it's totally LEGAL if you're willing to apply and pay your $$.

Your state could very well have other provisions / restrictions. For instance - in AZ - you have to register your still as well as, of course, abide by federal law.

Basically - with beer & wine you can make so much without paying taxes. With distilled spirits you can't make anything without paying taxes.

I do believe that federal law might excempt you from paying taxes on alcohol produced solely for use as fuel (not positive), but you still have to apply.

So distillation using a still is illegal...what about freeze distillation?

The First Congress of the United States passed a whiskey excise tax (authorized in the first sentence of Article I Section 8 of the Constitution) which made distilling alcohol without payment of federal taxes an illegal act.

In case you were unaware, many of the people who drafted the Constitution also served in the First Congress.

It's illegal and the revenuer man will shoot yer dog.  Don't do it.  



Personally, I think making five gallons or so a year should be perfectly legal.  Nobody is going to get rich on five gallons a year and most moonshiners aren't making much more than that anyway.  These days the stills only get fired up for special occasions.

You left out the part about Little Junior growing some weed up the holler.  



 

Nope.

You have to get a permit and pay a tax to have a distillery of any size.
There is no exemption for personal consumption.
The only exemptions are for non-distilled alcoholic beverages such as beer, ale, and wine.
You can legally distill your own whiskey in New Zealand for personal consumption.

Absolutely 100% correct.

I do not care what your uncle's brother's best friend told you.  It is not legal to make distilled spirits for any reason (unless you have/are willing to pay exhorbitant taxes, acquire permission, and build a distillery of rather large size).  It is not legal to possess untaxed distilled spirits...again, there is no legal amount to have in your possession.

Add home made firecrackers and you've got the BATFE shooting yer' dog.

i think that the feds limit home brewing to:

100 gallons of beer or wine per year per person

or

150 gallons of beer or wine per family


i am surprised no one has mentioned a tried and true method that seems
to be totally legal, as it involves absolutely no distilling at all

now, please understand....i have never done this, just read about
it on the net and also talked to a bunch of old timers

grow your apples
make your cider as you always do
either pitch your yeastie beasties or let it turn "au natural"
let it completely ferment out

put in big ole barrel and put outside to freeze in the winter cold

water freezes around the outside but the inner core is alcohol, which
doesnt freeze at the same temp water does....if at all

drill barrel and go to core

take out applejack

enjoy!

sounds like it could be a legal work around

oh....just dont sell it (or even give it away) just like you
shouldnt do with your home brewed wine and beer....

Don't believe that's legal either.  Folks still make it.

read this with some interest:  Someone want to explain how Washington State (and I think there are at least 2 other states) that have passed laws sawing if the 80% (or some such percent) of the raw material comes from inside the State and the alcohol is sold ONLY IN WASHINGTON that you do not have to pay the Federal tax.

Washington has somewhere around 5 distilleries with more on the way.  ATF has done nothing at this point that I am aware of.

I was talking with a guy a few years ago he had thought about going into distilling (and I have not researched these numbers) but the tax stamp for distilling drinkable is $250,000 a year, and that the stars that are making hard A make the mash then send it off to be distilled.  IIRC for non drinkable the tax stamp is $15.  Again this is hearsay.

Incorrect.  It is 100 gallons per year per person over 21 in the household.  If your wife doesn't drink it all, you're still allowed to make 100 gallons for her and she can give the extra to you.  There is no family provision and alcohol content is irrelevant.  0.5% natural soda counts the same as 18% high gravity (nondistilled) beer as far as the law is concerned.

You're also incorrect about applejack being legal.

The method of distillation (whether fractional or by freezing) is irrelevant according to the law.  If you remove more than one half of one percent of the water content of an alcoholic beverage by any means (including freezing), it counts as distillation.  Note that commercial  ice beers only remove 0.5% of the water content.  It is illegal to make eisbock in the US without a distillation license, tax stamp and excise paid.

The law does not make any provision for the natural production of applejack.  Where, exactly, do you affix the tax plate on "Winter?"  The only way to do it legally is to distill it first by commercial freezing in a registered refrigeration still and removing 1% or more of the water content, paying the excise on it and doing all that under license.  The product would then be a distilled spirit, legally, even though it's only slightly stronger than it originally was.  Then, you could take the distilled spirit and distill it further without consequence.

Nobody will do that, though, because the tax is paid based upon volume within a certain strength range.  By doing it that way, you're paying 5 times as much tax as you need to had you just distilled it completely the first time.

And nobody uses commercial freeze distillation because for the same cost in tax (about $200,000, which far exceeds the actual cost of equipment), you could have a fractional still that turns out a better product when you get into higher strength products.

The only thing freeze distillation is good for is to enhance the aging characteristics of beer and similar substances, as in eisbock and other examples.  Since it is prohibitively expensive, we don't make it here.  It is still imported from Germany or England as "beer," however, because the import laws are different.

So if you wanted to make natural applejack, the only cost-effective means of production is to make it overseas and import it.
Yes, you read that right.  One of our nation's oldest traditions cannot be manufactured here because of the fedgov.

I would love to make some home 'stilled Grappa!

That's the cost of putting the stamp plate on the still.  It's a one-time fee, much like the $200 stamp for an NFA item.

I do not know what the actual cost of the stamp plate itself is, but it's miniscule compared to all the fees, bribes, lawyer costs and applications that need to be paid and submitted.

A startup distillery can expect to spend $200,000 to $300,000 just in legislative compliance before they ever manufacture their first bottle of spirits.