Home Distilling

[Maurkov]

Federal law exempts from taxation the brewing beer or wine for personal use. I would like to see this exemption extended to distilling.

Am I the only person that wants to try distilling without setting up a commercial distillery?

Short of moving to Washington to become a lobbyist or hiring the same, what is the best way of getting the law changed?

What are some arguments against? I'd like to prepare counters.

[Superfly]

1. Good freaking luck...

there is an entire movement to allow free interstate commerce in wine and beer, which is being met with serious resistance. The days that we can distill our own beverages in the US is a far, far way off. (I've been dying to make a brandy-esque distillation of mead)

Check out Free the Grapes for some indication of the uphill battle facing the wine and beer trade.

[ret5hd]

3. maybe i am WAY off base...

but i have always had the understanding (after a TOTAL lack of research) that you were allowed to distill a very limited quantity, maybe something like 2 quarts a year.

maybe (probably) totally wrong.

[Maurkov]

10. Actually

Right now I have 5 gallons of a pretty horrible mead that I can't decide whether to pitch or to bottle and pray. If I could distill the stuff, at least all that alcohol wouldn't go to waste.

It appears the Free the Grapes folks are trying to change laws in numerous states, where my problem is at the federal level. I'll look into it, at least they may serve as a model for action.

[slackmaster]

35. I vote for bottle and pray

As long as your problem isn't excessive residual sugar you have a good chance of ending up with drinkable mead in a year or so.

[LeftCoast]

2. Generally small distilleries are ok

but you should always be careful since distilling can be a dangerous process (alcohol + heat = VERY flamable situation).

Here are a few of the home distillery links I've accumulated:

http://www.moonshine-still.com (not sure if this one still works)

http://homedistiller.org/static_menu.htm (this one does work)

[Drifter]

7. Not to mention ...

the liquid that is produced might KILL you.

Do not distill your own spirits.

See, if you screw up a batch of beer or wine, you end up with bad tasting beer or wine.

If you screw up a distilled batch you run the risk of poisoning yourself.

I'm not positive but I believe distilling your own spirits is NOT legal for that reason.

Cheers
Drifter

[FeebMaster]

16. Please.

It's about taxes. Nothing more.

[Maurkov]

18. Thank you for the warnings

During Prohibition back yard stills gained a reputation for blowing up and poisoning people, but I blame the prohibition.

Stills tend to blow up because of heat and pressure issues rather than the inflammability of alcohol. There is some risk of fire, but it is minor.

Methyl alcohol was a problem because you could condense it out of smoke when using wood as the heat source. A hot plate or electric range won't have the same risk. Another bad idea is using an automobile radiator as a condenser, since they contain lead solder.

Distilling is not inherently more dangerous than many hobbies.

[MrSandman]

21. Poisoning comes from using galvanized metals...

Stay with copper and you can be alright

[Wwagsthedog]

4. This manual is a knock off from one published....

....in Saudi Arabia for expats back in the 1950s after the sale of alcohol was banned. It has served thousands of expats in that country for 50 years. Enjoy!

http://www.expats.org.uk/features-theblueflame.html

[demsrule4life]

5. Brits will drink anything

when I was in Saudi in 91 I witnessed several of them drinking jet fuel mixed in water. Forget the exact mix, I think it was three drops of fuel to each cup of water.

[MrBenchley]

6. Jeeze, shootin' irons AND a still...

It's the Snuffy Smith caucus....

[demsrule4life]

8. Didn't we have a thread the other day

on why more people won't post here?

[MrBenchley]

9. Maybe they're afraid of them dadburn revenooers

[slackmaster]

Those gummint red 'X's better stay off'n my land

[FeebMaster]

11. The only one mentioning guns in this thread is you. (nt)

[Wonk]

12. That's true enough, but they go together SO WELL, don't they?

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lifire193764196apr19,0,610694.story?coll=ny-linews-print

(snip)
April 19, 2004

An intoxicated Davis Park man died after he lit a rug on fire and challenged his roommate to see who could stay in the house on Fire Island longer Saturday night, Suffolk County police said.

Police said Thomas Woods, 59, ignited the rug in his house at 9 Driftwood Walk sometime before 8 p.m. As the fire spread, Woods fired one or two rounds from a pre-World War I Mauser pistol, said Det. Sgt. Ed Fandrey of the Suffolk County homicide squad. Police do not know why he fired the gun.

(snip)

Fandrey said the two men were drinking heavily Saturday night when Woods issued his dare: "Let's see which one of us leaves first."

:eyes:

[MrBenchley]

14. Gee, if only he'd had a still

and a big stash of ammo... maybe he could have taken out some firefighters and neighbors too....

[MrBenchley]

13. Jeeze, feeb....

even you ought to be able to remember what other issue our friends get their panties in a bunch over....

[FeebMaster]

15. Our friends? What friends are those? (nt)

[Maurkov]

22. Another useless post from MrB?

I guess that's what the ignore button is for.

[MrBenchley]

23. Another damn silly thread from the RKBA "enthusaists"...

You guys are a font of unintentional comedy every day....in my wildest dreams, I'd have never thought you could come up as silly as this.

[slackmaster]

24. Stereotype

Main Entry: 2stereotype
Function: noun
Etymology: French stéréotype, from stéré- stere- + type
1 : a plate cast from a printing surface
2 : something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially : a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment - emphasis added

See http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

[flaminlib]

17. Nothing like a good homemade hooch!

Keeps your friends close and your neighbors away!

[MrSandman]

43. It would be much more palatable...

If it aged more than ten days.

[Liberal Classic]

19. Damned revenuers

When we're fighting a war on terror, why don't they live my moonshine alone? Have some sense of proportion.

[FeebMaster]

20. Have to pay for that war on terror somehow. (nt)

[MrBenchley]

25. What's Next?

Can't wait for the next tangent from the Snuffy Smith caucus:

Diane Feinstein wants to take away my chaw!

Why won't the zoning laws let me keep an old pickup truck on cinderblocks in my front yard?

You guys crack me up.

[Superfly]

26. The anti-RKBA crowd has patented the use of bigotry...

From Merriam-Websters: -: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices

[MrBenchley]

28. Too too funny....

The Snuffy Smith caucus plays the "race card" or whatever the fuck they think this is.

[Superfly]

30. And, funny how I did not mention race...

Bigotry is not exclusively racism, but is as disgusting.

[MrBenchley]

33. You didn't mention anything worth discussing, fly

[Superfly]

36. And, yet, here you are...in a *discussion* with me...

funny how that works. :shrug:

[MrBenchley]

37. And laughing my ass off, too....

[Superfly]

38. Family portrait, Bench?

Which one are you?

[MrBenchley]

39. Nope...

Just the sort of "patriot" who keeps a shooting iron and a still....

[Superfly]

40. So, your reality is a cartoon?

Explains so, so, so much, that does.

[MrBenchley]

41. Jeeze, I'm not the one that wants a still and a shootin iron...

[slackmaster]

42. Then don't acquire them

I respect your right not to own whatever you choose not to own.

[OpSomBlood]

27. No time for love, Dr. Jones...

No, we're too busy working hard to get military-style assault vehicles banned. Won't you help us?

[MrBenchley]

29. No, I'll let the Snuffy Smith caucus

stew in their own rancid little idiocies...

[OpSomBlood]

31. You've been utterly owned on this issue.

And your juvenile pouting and name-calling only serves to prove it.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Wickerman]

32. An old guy I know distills his own Tequlia

He lives in West Texas in the middle of nowhere, his sons have made it big in entertainment, he has time and money on his hands, so he makes his own Tequila.

The rate he drinks it, I would assume he saves money even after his startup costs. Plus, now he doesn't drive to the store when he runs out. Everyone is ahead. So far, nothing bad enough to blind him or anything.

Actually, I think the process is much different than whiskey. And, I'm not certain, but it may be mescal, not tequila. Its hard to say, I only talk to him on the phone and he tends to slur his words a tad and slips in and out of Tex-Mex. :beer: