most rum is made from fermented molasses, so your recipe is water + molasses
after fermentation, it is usually distilled, but that's illegal to do at home. what's not illegal is freeze concentration; put it in plastic jugs (don't fill completely) into the freezer for a couple days. take it out, turn upside down and collect what pours out
age in barrels at least a year. for dark rum use charred barrels.
Not arguing, but curious...
1. Is it illegal everywhere (in the U.S.)? I ask because I know there are some gray areas... Also Adventures in Homebrewing sells, or used to sell, stills. I know this is similar to selling beer kits to kids because processing/final product are the problem, not the apparatus/ingredients.
2. If illegal, is freeze distilling legal? Doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not a lawyer.
Enough distilling talk. I'd never do it or think about it or even talk about it.
Not arguing, but curious...
1. Is it illegal everywhere (in the U.S.)? I ask because I know there are some gray areas... Also Adventures in Homebrewing sells, or used to sell, stills. I know this is similar to selling beer kits to kids because processing/final product are the problem, not the apparatus/ingredients.
2. If illegal, is freeze distilling legal? Doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not a lawyer.
Enough distilling talk. I'd never do it or think about it or even talk about it.
Step 1: Move to New Zealand, it's the only place in the world where it's officially legal to home distil.![]()
And in any case, the Federal Government still doesn't allow it.
Freezing is a grey area. My personal opinion is that it still falls under the definition of distilling, but others don't agree with me. There are several threads around this so will not debate it here. Do your own research.