Legal distilling in the USA

[olie]

EDIT: Answered my own question in comment below: "zero" is still the amount that is legal to distill in the US without a distiller's license. LINK

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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.

 

[olie]

Clarification:

I'm not asking what one can get away with. I'm not asking about how soft enforcement is.

I'm asking what's legal.

I'm under the impression that it is still illegal to distill spirits in the US without a distiller's license.

"Federal law strictly prohibits individuals from producing distilled spirits at home (see 26 United States Code (U.S.C.) 5042(a)(2) and 5053(e)). Producing distilled spirits at any place other than a TTB-qualified distilled spirits plant can expose you to Federal charges for serious offenses and lead to consequences"

TTB (tax-arm of the BATFE) web site LINK

 

[cmac62]

That's a fact.

 

[wwww.potatocol]

I know at least in the state of Missouri home stilling is completely legal if it's for personal use and you're not selling any spirit.

 

[DBhomebrew]

I know at least in the state of Missouri home stilling is completely legal if it's for personal use and you're not selling any spirit.

I'm in Missouri. Care to share the statute?

 

[mac_1103]

I know at least in the state of Missouri home stilling is completely legal if it's for personal use and you're not selling any spirit.

See #16. If something is a violation of Federal law, then it cannot be completely legal in any state. If the DEA wanted to, they could be busting people for simple possession of marijuana in every single state that has legalized it. They choose not to. Similarly, ATF would likely choose not to go after a home distiller who wasn't selling. But that doesn't change the statute.

 

[olie]

As an aside on the states vs feds thing, I called California ABC to ask where various fermentables (sugar-water, lemon juice, etc) fell on the "is it beer? Wine? Sake? Mead? etc" scale. They explained that, while CA has fairly strict definitions of what constitutes "beer", TTB (the feds) are much more relaxed (ex: Hard Seltzer is "beer"), and they can't override the feds on that.

Which means that, while CA code (BPC) prohibits beer-manufacturers from making (for example) hard seltzer, federal law (TTB) allows it, and so CA doesn't bust them.

NOTE: this is totally separate from distilled spirits; I'm just adding data WRT how states & feds work together (or not!)

 

[wwww.potatocol]

I'm in Missouri. Care to share the statute?

"311.055. License to manufacture not required, personal or family use — limitation — removal from premises permitted, when — inapplicability, when. — 1. No person at least twenty-one years of age shall be required to obtain a license to manufacture intoxicating liquor, as defined in section 311.020, for personal or family use. The aggregate amount of intoxicating liquor manufactured per household shall not exceed two hundred gallons per calendar year if there are two or more persons over the age of twenty-one years in such household, or one hundred gallons per calendar year if there is only one person over the age of twenty-one years in such household. Any intoxicating liquor manufactured under this section shall not be sold or offered for sale." - 311.055

 

[DBhomebrew]

"311.055. License to manufacture not required, personal or family use — limitation — removal from premises permitted, when — inapplicability, when. — 1. No person at least twenty-one years of age shall be required to obtain a license to manufacture intoxicating liquor, as defined in section 311.020, for personal or family use. The aggregate amount of intoxicating liquor manufactured per household shall not exceed two hundred gallons per calendar year if there are two or more persons over the age of twenty-one years in such household, or one hundred gallons per calendar year if there is only one person over the age of twenty-one years in such household. Any intoxicating liquor manufactured under this section shall not be sold or offered for sale." - 311.055

While distilled liquor qualifies under 311.020, so does beer, wine, cider, mead, etc. If it's over 0.5% ABV, it's a intoxicating liquor. Missouri law, according to 311.055, allows it all.

Federal law, however, narrows that permission by disallowing distillation for the purpose of beverages.

100 gallons per person per year of 40%+ liquor? If it's all for personal use, that's roughly 2 gallons of liquor per week.

 

[mac_1103]

100 gallons per person per year of 40%+ liquor? If it's all for personal use, that's roughly 2 gallons of liquor per week.

So? That's only a quart a day and two on Sundays.

 

[Sailingeric]

I have a sailing buddy in South Carolina who does a little distilling and he was saying it was legal there, but I think it falls under the same Mo rules and it really falls under the Fed rules but like others have said, like weed, the gov'mnt has bigger fish to fry unless you are running truck loads of 'shine (or Coors) from Texarkana to Georgia.