Why the hell is it illegal to distill my own hard alcohol?

[LostInAnomie]

People can make beer and wine but not the hard stuff. It doesn't seem fair.

I want to make my own corn liquor dammit!

[seriousstan]

1. I agree

[RevolutionaryActs]

2. Bathtub gin!

:silly:

[yardwork]

3. I want to grow a cannibus hedge - it used to be legal

I'm not interested in smoking the stuff. I can't understand why it's illegal to grow a plant, for crying out loud!

I can grow all kinds of other poisonous plants, but not cannibus, which isn't even poisonous. That's dumb, imo.

[Floogeldy]

4. Because you might fuck up and kill somebody with alcohol poisoning

Nothing personal!

[LostInAnomie]

6. People fuck up with microbreweries and the beer tastes like shit...

... same difference.

[Floogeldy]

9. Making whiskey is much more dangerous. People can more easily die.

[LostInAnomie]

12. People can die pretty easily if I drink some shitty beer too.

Believe that.

[Floogeldy]

14. You've convinced me

No doubt, you are a knowledgeable, master whiskey brewer.

[LostInAnomie]

18. There, was that so hard?

Maybe I'll let you take a pull off my jug of corn squeezin's. :beer:

[Floogeldy]

19. Oh, I'd drink it

[GRLMGC]

5. Because the man wants to keep you down

If you want to make your own moonshine, you should be able to! It's an American tradition!

[WCGreen]

7. I believe you can distill it as long as you don't sell it....

That's why it was the revener' that was gittin' after the shinners.....

[TXlib]

31. Nope. It's unambiguously illegal under all circumstances

Unless you have paid for the proper licenses.

[DrWeird]

8. Probably for safetry reasons.

Fire prevention, most likely.

But I think it's legal in most places. I know a guy who makes some great rum. Maybe there's a license for it.

[Floogeldy]

15. I remember hearing all of those old stories

About stills catching on fire and burning down everything around.

[DrWeird]

17. I can believe it.

Open flame, flammable liquid, badly fitting joints, bunch of drunks...

[jmowreader]

21. No t'ain't

From ATF:

You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant.    There are numerous requirements that must be met that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use.  Some of these requirements are paying special tax, filing an extensive application, filing a bond, providing adequate equipment to measure spirits, providing suitable tanks and pipelines, providing a separate building (other than a dwelling) and maintaining detailed records, and filing reports.  All of these requirements are listed in 27 CFR Part 19.

Spirits may be produced for nonbeverage purposes for fuel use only without payment of tax, but you also must file an application, receive ATF's approval, and follow requirements, such as construction, use, records and reports.

[okieinpain]

10. we already have one idiot in the white house. we don't need

another one trying to run again.

[timtom]

11. I believe it's all about taxes

(See "Whiskey Rebellion", for example.

Same old story. Bush & company (Federalists) against the people.

[BornaDem]

42. You are exactly correct. It's the same concept as the lottery...

once the government involves itself and declares that they have the only rights to distribute and collect taxes on something, they form some sort of police unit ("revenuers") to enforce their control over it and all persons who once operated on their own in the field either stop at once, or are stopped and jailed.

[lpbk2713]

13. Because the gummint can't collect tax on it.

They have always got to have a piece of the action.

[ThorsHammer]

30. I'm surprised they haven't legalized other substances for this reason yet

[MountainLaurel]

41. That's itm. I'm pretty sure n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Taxation...

there's an excise tax on distilled liquor, and it has to caqrry an excise stamp.

A lot of people weren't too happy about this about 200 years ago, either...ever hear of the "Whiskey Rebellion"?

[lastknowngood]

20. I believe the law allows you to produce a defined quantity for

personel use of beer and whiskey if you register and follow requirements.

[seemunkee]

27. 250 gallons per year per adult of beer/wine

no whiskey or distilled spirits.
I believe it is even illegal to make eisbock. Freezing beer and decanting off the alcohol. (dont' quote me on that)

[TXlib]

35. According to Charlie Papazian

in his book "The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing", on page 2, he states that the federal law signed by Carter in 1978 allows for the home production of "not more than 100 gallons of beer in a year" per adult in the household. No state law may increase that amount, although they may decrease it.

Wine was legalised in a previous law, which, due to stenographer omission, forgot to legalise homebrewing of beer.

[seemunkee]

38. Oops, you're right

Don't know why that figure was in my head but it is 100 per year per person.

Lets see 2 people X 100 = 200 gallons. At 4.5(got to figure in shrinkage and lose from siphoning) gallons per batch that would be 44 batches per year. If I brew every 3 weeks that means I need to do 3 different brews each time. Hmmm, I need more bottles or drink faster

[Tsiyu]

22. Why make your own?

Come to Tennessee, where the experts are. I can ALWAYS find a jug of mountain dew ( running about $40 a gallon these days) as clear and clean as water.

But if you drink too much - well - we call that a "Moonshine Mind" and you may end up on the floor.

[bearfan454]

23. Taxes

Greed again.

[AngryAmish]

24. You soon may be able to do so.

The new Federalist jurisprudence is really cutting back on Fed'l government power over purely intrastate activities. There is a marijuana case up there right now (I think it has already been argued) that says the pot was not "in commerce" therefore the feds cannot regulate it. Should be interesting.

[Flammable Materials]

25. Shut up and enjoy your freedoms, America hater! n/t

:evilgrin:

[seemunkee]

26. There are a few people doing it.

It's becoming a small growing pasttime. At one of the homebrew stores I go to there has been talk of it and there a some small distlleries that are available for sale from other countries. It's at a stage similar to homebrewing was a few years before that was legalized where ATF is kind of looking the other way.
I don't do it but I do have 15 gallons of homebrew fermenting right now. :eyes: :beer:

[whatelseisnew]

29. Where do you get your yeast?

Ever try mead making?

[seemunkee]

37. I get my yeast at a local store

Maryland Homebrew

[TXlib]

32. The distillation apparatus sold at homebrew shops

is for "water purification purposes only".

Much like bongs (excuse me, "water pipes") are sold for tobacco use only.

But it's not the merchant's fault if you abuse the product after you bought it...

And it's not so much that the ATF is looking the other way, as that there just isn't any real benefit to them in busting a homebrewer making small quantities of distilled spirit. Not enough fines in that to pay for the investigation and arrest.

[amazona]

28. as long as you don't distribute

No one is going to bust you for it. It's a tax/revenue issue.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[TXlib]

33. Who is the cartoon character in your sig line?

And to answer your question it's because (a) it is very easy to concentrate the methanol always present in small quantities in fermented beverages unless you are really careful, and (b) because the tax-revenue density of spirits is MUCH higher than that of simple fermented beverages.

But I think it's mostly (b).

[Solly Mack]

34. We used to sit and watch a neighbor make corn whiskey all the time

No one ever bothered him about it.

He did it right out in the open too.

It was in his backyard but it was visible. He did it the hard way. Cheese-cloth, metal tub over an open fire, and a mother lode of corn.

We weren't allowed to get too close.

Making it for personal consumption should be allowed.

Just go after the ones who make bad hooch. Cause some homemade hooch can kill ya.

I like homebrew...and I'm not talking a beer making kit either.

[Hans Delbrook]

36. Since when did this country need a reason to make something illegal?

Let alone a logical reason?

[Xithras]

39. You CAN legally do it, but it's not worth it

Because of safety issues there are special requirements about location (can't do it in a home) and the equipment used (improperly built distilleries can explode or ignite). You also need to have an insurance bond to cover any damage that your equipment might do to neighboring properties.

Yes, you do need a license from the BATF, but you need licenses to do lots of things on your property (try building a garage, or putting in a pool without the proper permits). The license fee is about $1000 per year. The taxes only come into play if you're selling it, and like most products you simply pass those on to your customer (about two bucks and change per bottle). If you never sell any, you never pay any of these taxes.

Realistically it would end up costing you $15,000+ to build a legal distillery in the US, and unless you drink gallons of alcohol per day, it's simply not worth it.

[hunter]

40. The people "distilling" pseudophedrine are a much bigger concern...

In many places the backcountry is littered with meth labs. "Moonshiners" are quaint, and not nearly so dangerous.

[Ms_Mary]

43. I made peach schnapps once. It was pretty easy. I had a kit.