Legal distilling in the USA

[olie]

NOTE: I'm not here to rain on anyone's parade, nor to judge anyone. I'm genuinely just asking what I'm asking, with no hidden agenda. "You do you!"

Am I correct that there is no amount of distilled spirits for drinking that is legal to "homebrew" in USA? Or did that change recently, and I'm just behind the times?

(Context: I saw the forum title: "discussion about legal distilling" and thought "so is it just all the Euro/non-US members?!", but then wondered if the rules have changed since I was last aware.)

I was under the impression that, without a distillery license, "zero" was the amount of distilled spirits a USA-ian is legally allowed to make. Also that folks get around the "have a still" thing by making purified drinking water, biofuels and other not-for-consumption products.

Is that still the case? Or am I (a USA-ian) allowed to legally dabble in "moonshine" now-a-days?

If things have changed and there is now an allowed amount (similar to the 200 gallons/year for homebrew), can someone post a link to the relevant statutes?

Thanks!

 

[El Whedo]

ANY distilling without a Federal distillation license is a Federal crime.

As far as I know only New Zealand has legal home distillation.

 

[DBhomebrew]

ANY distilling without a Federal distillation license is a Federal crime.

Too wide a brush.

Any distilling worth one's while, most definitely.

 

[Bobby_M]

As a homebrew shop owner for the last 10 years, you'd be amazed about how many people "heard" that the law had changed. I'm always like "you have google right?" The real bottom line is that you'd be hassled about small volume distilling just as much as you're audited for the 200 gallons a years on the homebrew side.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

As a homebrew shop owner for the last 10 years, you'd be amazed about how many people "heard" that the law had changed. I'm always like "you have google right?" The real bottom line is that you'd be hassled about small volume distilling just as much as you're audited for the 200 gallons a years on the homebrew side.

You’ve read those occasional accounts of homebrewers that have had police show up on a brew day because someone called in a “still or something“? In the stories I’ve read beer was being brewed. My point is if one is dabbling in distillation do it out of the sight of snooping eyes.

 

[forestbeekeeper]

About 10 years ago, I was following the product line of a still manufacturer, and they introduced an 8-gallon still with an herb 'basket' designed for extracting essential oils.

I felt that this gives me an excuse for owning a still.

I am an organic farmer, and I have access to a lot of herbs.

In my own little world, the IRS is usually the agency that goes after moonshiners. Their motive is the assumption that proper taxes have not been paid. If you strictly only distill for your own private consumption, that puts you at the extreme bottom of their priority list.

Local Law Enforcement and District Attorneys don't care about moonshiners.

Yes, it is illegal.

Conduct yourself accordingly.

 

[cmac62]

I brew in the frontyard, I run the still in the backyard. I use the pool for my RC and PC cooling water. LOL

 

[ITV]

You’ve read those occasional accounts of homebrewers that have had police show up on a brew day because someone called in a “still or something“? In the stories I’ve read beer was being brewed. My point is if one is dabbling in distillation do it out of the sight of snooping eyes.

Fortunately the wort on brew day contains no alcohol.

Talking to home distillers years ago, the smell is a dead giveaway.

 

[wepeeler]

As a homebrew shop owner for the last 10 years, you'd be amazed about how many people "heard" that the law had changed. I'm always like "you have google right?" The real bottom line is that you'd be hassled about small volume distilling just as much as you're audited for the 200 gallons a years on the homebrew side.

200 gallons

 

[Brewer Mike]

Too wide a brush.

Exactly!

It's illegal to distill vinegar, or water?

 

[DBhomebrew]

Federal law allows licensed private citizens to own and operate a still for the purposes of non-alcohol product. Perfume, fuel, water, etc.

 

[El Whedo]

Federal law allows licensed private citizens to own and operate a still for the purposes of non-alcohol product. Perfume, fuel, water, etc.

Home production of fuel requires a Federal license.

 

[mac_1103]

Home production of fuel requires a Federal license.

I would guess that's why he said "licensed private citizens." I think water might be the only thing you can legally distill without a license.

 

[cmac62]

Talking to home distillers years ago, the smell is a dead giveaway.

Only if you know what it smells like, but it is a distinctive smell. I'm personally distilling peeted hand sanitizer. LOL

 

[bernardsmith]

Definitely not prepared to bet the farm on this (if I owned a farm, and I don't) but the cost of going after anyone making a gallon or so of moonshine would be such an outrageous use of scarce resources that it would be beyond comprehension to imagine. If the moonshiners are making hundreds of gallons of spirits and selling them, then I can see that the loss to the treasury is not insignificant and so I can imagine local, state and federal authorities treating such activity as a serious breach, but as others have noted, distilling IS illegal and so wiping law enforcement's nose in such activities even if you are distilling from a gallon of wine or beer may not be the best idea. But that said, there are many Youtubers who regularly post on "theoretically" making spirits.