# Home distilling - MEN article



## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

Mother Earth News has an article on home distilling. Here's a link for anyone interested:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/home-distilling-zm0z13fmzmat.aspx#axzz2JsMbmDTB


----------



## wes917 (Sep 26, 2011)

Thanks


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

_Not to paint too rosy a picture: Home distilling is illegal in most parts of the world (including the United States and Canada) but is also generally tolerated (including in the United States and Canada) if the distilling is only for personal consumption._

Um.. yeah... see how that works out if the cops find out you got a still sitting in your kitchen and you didn't get a permit..


----------



## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

Unless one has a liscence to distill, you are a 'shiner

Not much difference in the eyes of the law between a 'shiner and a meth house

Home brewing is *legal* home distilling is *not* (in the US)

Done here


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

BTW, stills have been known to blow up, so if anyone does decide to try thumbing their nose at the law, you might want to do it outdoors where you have plenty of fresh air and alcohol fumes don't build up if you don't get it to condense correctly...


----------



## crispin (Jun 30, 2010)

I really think people need to lighten up a bit.

OP - thank you for sharing the article.

To compare distilling some pear wine down to brandy to a Meth house is a *far *stretch - IMO


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I got a buddy that makes some killer pear shine... has the tree in the front yard so he figured might as well...

I was just letting people know that because an article about something illegal says it is tolerated doesn't mean it's true cause it was on the internet... And hence the reason I also gave a warning about cooking indoors.. .I'm sure someone will try it, and more power to them..just don't blow yourself up..


----------



## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

crispin said:


> I really think people need to lighten up a bit.
> 
> OP - thank you for sharing the article.
> 
> To compare distilling some pear wine down to brandy to a Meth house is a *far *stretch - IMO


Tell that to BATF

IMO it would be morally wrong not to state that home distilling without proper liscencing is a Federal offence, that will put you in prison. Does not matter a n ounce, a pint, a gallon or a thousand gallons, if you are caught, the book will be thrown at you. And all of your property could be forfieted.


----------



## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

Yup just owning a still is enough to land you a nice stay.
That is if you don't have your permits in order. 
If your not in certain segments of the country,as of yet I think you have little to fear of the BATF.
though if your a registered gun owner and leave a trail,Buying a still off line,being able to be traced back from Internet posts, Become a person of Interest for what ever reason, be assured your little hobby will be a nail in your coffin.
The whole anti gun climate we have now.
As distilling at home grows in popularity, You will see the BATF step up efforts towards such.


----------



## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

I thought the article was interesting and educational, but obviously don't recommend running afoul of the law. Still, just as legal restrictions on brewing beer at home have been lifted in the past decades, perhaps some restrictions will be lifted on home distilling, too. I have some pear and cherry trees that I'd be willing to drink the fruit of.


----------



## trimpy (Mar 30, 2011)

I never understood why making alcohol was legal, but removing some water from it is illegal. Even freeze distillation, making an eisbock for example, is considered legal by the feds.


----------



## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

Its taxes, trimpy.
goes back to after the Revolutionary war. 
Congress was bound by the constitution then.
Meaning they could only level Taxes for certain things.
To pay off the War debts they put it on the Whiskey makers.
Which where predominately Scot and Scot/Irish Hill folks.
Where as Congress was predominately English.
Those Hill Folks made Whiskey cause it was more profitable then the Corn they Grew, was also easier to Transport. 
It was big business then and still is.
And Uncle wants his cut and a lot of guys in the BATF use it to their advantage to Justify their Jobs. A few Local types use it to poke their noses into others affairs. 
The old saying is there is more then one way to skin a cat.
Thats the reason.

there are still restrictions on brewing and vinting, just not like distilling.


----------



## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

trimpy said:


> I never understood why making alcohol was legal, but removing some water from it is illegal. Even freeze distillation, making an eisbock for example, is considered legal by the feds.


Trimpy did you mean *Even freeze distillation, making an eisbock for example, is considered illegal by the feds*? Because it is, but harder to prove.


----------



## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

The small pot stills are not illegal to own as they can be used for extracting essentail oils and extracts. Just there usage in distilling alcohol is illegal.

WWW


----------



## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

WWW you better recheck that, a stills a still is a still.


----------



## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

crispin said:


> I really think people need to lighten up a bit.
> 
> OP - thank you for sharing the article.
> 
> To compare distilling some pear wine down to brandy to a Meth house is a *far *stretch - IMO


I bet this guy wished that our state alcohol control agents and multicounty drug task force would lighten up 

http://whnt.com/2013/02/19/agents-hazel-green-man-caught-with-moonshine-still/

"MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) â A Hazel Green man was charged with illegal possession of prohibited liquor Tuesday after a traffic stop. Investigators said Randy Childers had a five-gallon moonshine still...."

The report on the television news edition indicated additional state and federal charges were to be filed.


----------



## dogrunner (Mar 2, 2009)

If "owning a still" is illegal I find it strange that there are literally a dozen or more American manufacturers selling them online with apparently no problems. Explain that? You can distill water, essential oils and the like all you want, that is not ill
egal in the slightest.


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Shrek said:


> I bet this guy wished that our state alcohol control agents and multicounty drug task force would lighten up
> 
> http://whnt.com/2013/02/19/agents-hazel-green-man-caught-with-moonshine-still/
> 
> ...


Looks to me like his problems were having grain sugar and probably some mash or actual liquor... 

I thought you could own a still, just so long as you didn't use it to run drinking liquor...


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I found this site.. Seems you can own one so long as it makes less than a gallon, but it is illegal to make any at all... However, in Missouri, the state says it is legal to make liquor... "Pack up the wagon granny.. We're moving to the hills... YE HAAAaaa.." 

I wonder how they are getting away with having stills on the Moonshiners show? Unless they aren't actually able to work, as in holes cut in the back of them or something we can't see.. 

http://www.ehow.com/list_6727651_alcohol-still-laws.html


----------



## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

It is legal to sell stills as long as you and your still are federally registered, licensed and taxed.

It is legal to run a still as long as your state and local laws allow it and your still is federally inspected and licensed , production federally monitored and federal tax on the final product is collected .

The stills used on the various documentary shows are licensed by the BATF for the program only from what I have read.

As federal licensing runs up in the thousands of dollars, for home drinking of distilled spirits its more cost effective to buy your whiskey at the local liquor store and confine your home brewing to the fermentation of country wines and beer if your area allows fermentation for personal use within the 250 gallons per year allowed per person in a household for personal consumption by the federal statute.


----------



## wildcat6 (Apr 5, 2011)

||Downhome|| said:


> WWW you better recheck that, a stills a still is a still.


It is perfectly legal to own a still. I know of actual stores that in KY that sell manufactured in the USA stills. Even seen them on television selling the stills.


----------



## wildcat6 (Apr 5, 2011)

It isn't even illegal to make or consume. It is however, illegal to sell the product.


----------



## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Great link at the end of the MEN article: http://homedistiller.org/forum/index.php :buds:


----------

