Question about home-made liquor.

[korenyx]

When does making your own alcoholic beverages cross over into possession of untaxed liquor?
Making beer and wine is legal but what about brandy or whiskey?
Is it the alcohol content that makes it illegal?
I asked my lawyer brother what the law is in Kansas but he didn't know and Wikipedia wasn't much help.

 

[Zelenius]

When does making your own alcoholic beverages cross over into possession of untaxed liquor?
Making beer and wine is legal but what about brandy or whiskey?
Is it the alcohol content that makes it illegal?
I asked my lawyer brother what the law is in Kansas but he didn't know and Wikipedia wasn't much help.

First of all, why do you want to do this? Is it more for scientific reasons or do you love booze?

I'm in the north-east U.S(or maybe not). I used to make my own wine and beer on a regular basis, and nearly graduated to making liquor, but after reading up on the laws regulating the manufacture of liquor(not to mention the price of the equipment) I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. All my home-brewing never attracted any attention luckily. I'm not much of a drinker either, these were more like science experiments. It's a lot of fun.

The wine was always pulpy(the way I like it) and tasted great, and the beer was usually so low in alcohol even a child could drink a few glasses. If the wine from stores is too overly refined and predictable for you, I recommend making your own. There's nothing quite like "wild" pulpy, fizzy, unrefined homemade blueberry wine. I'd probably become an alcoholic if I brewed that delicious stuff again.

You can read up on some of the laws regulating liquor production here

Buying a distiller can attract attention. Your best bet would be to get the smallest one possible; if anyone ever asks questions say you are using it to make home-made fuel or to extract essential oils from plants for their therapeutic effects. If you try to sell your home made booze without a license you could get into very serious trouble. Also, be careful that you don't accidentally produce methanol instead of ethanol. Methanol is extremely toxic. Methanol can cause blindness or even kill in small doses; I sometimes come across news reports of methanol poisoning caused by careless people running illegal home distilleries. This happens all over the world, there was a particularly bad case in India not too long ago. Be very very careful. My advice is to just stick to making wine and beer, and forget liquor altogether.

I would just buy vodka if I wanted liquor, it's so much easier than making your own.

 

[RandFan]

First of all, why do you want to do this? Is it more for scientific reasons or do you love booze?

I'm in the north-east U.S(or maybe not). I used to make my own wine and beer on a regular basis, and nearly graduated to making liquor, but after reading up on the laws regulating the manufacture of liquor(not to mention the price of the equipment) I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. All my home-brewing never attracted any attention luckily. I'm not much of a drinker either, these were more like science experiments. It's a lot of fun.

The wine was always pulpy(the way I like it) and tasted great, and the beer was usually so low in alcohol even a child could drink a few glasses. If the wine from stores is too overly refined and predictable for you, I recommend making your own. There's nothing quite like "wild" pulpy, fizzy, unrefined homemade blueberry wine. I'd probably become an alcoholic if I brewed that delicious stuff again.

You can read up on some of the laws regulating liquor production here

Buying a distiller can attract attention. Your best bet would be to get the smallest one possible; if anyone ever asks questions say you are using it to make home-made fuel or to extract essential oils from plants for their therapeutic effects. If you try to sell your home made booze without a license you could get into very serious trouble. Also, be careful that you don't accidentally produce methanol instead of ethanol. Methanol is extremely toxic. Methanol can cause blindness or even kill in small doses; I sometimes come across news reports of methanol poisoning caused by careless people running illegal home distilleries. This happens all over the world, there was a particularly bad case in India not too long ago. Be very very careful. My advice is to just stick to making wine and beer, and forget liquor altogether.

I would just buy vodka if I wanted liquor, it's so much easier than making your own.

Awesome. Thanks. Great info.

 

[korenyx]

First of all, why do you want to do this? Is it more for scientific reasons or do you love booze?

I'm in the north-east U.S(or maybe not). I used to make my own wine and beer on a regular basis, and nearly graduated to making liquor, but after reading up on the laws regulating the manufacture of liquor(not to mention the price of the equipment) I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. All my home-brewing never attracted any attention luckily. I'm not much of a drinker either, these were more like science experiments. It's a lot of fun.

The wine was always pulpy(the way I like it) and tasted great, and the beer was usually so low in alcohol even a child could drink a few glasses. If the wine from stores is too overly refined and predictable for you, I recommend making your own. There's nothing quite like "wild" pulpy, fizzy, unrefined homemade blueberry wine. I'd probably become an alcoholic if I brewed that delicious stuff again.

You can read up on some of the laws regulating liquor production here

Buying a distiller can attract attention. Your best bet would be to get the smallest one possible; if anyone ever asks questions say you are using it to make home-made fuel or to extract essential oils from plants for their therapeutic effects. If you try to sell your home made booze without a license you could get into very serious trouble. Also, be careful that you don't accidentally produce methanol instead of ethanol. Methanol is extremely toxic. Methanol can cause blindness or even kill in small doses; I sometimes come across news reports of methanol poisoning caused by careless people running illegal home distilleries. This happens all over the world, there was a particularly bad case in India not too long ago. Be very very careful. My advice is to just stick to making wine and beer, and forget liquor altogether.

I would just buy vodka if I wanted liquor, it's so much easier than making your own.

Thanks for the information, I had no idea where to look.

I don't drink but I read a mystery series by Margaret Maron in which the main character is a bootlegger's daughter. Every time I read one of the books I start wondering about liquor laws but didn't know where to start looking for information.

 

[casebro]

Homebrew beer and wine are federally legal- it's the best thing Jimmy Carter ever did.

Champagne yeast makes about 22% abv. But concentrating it beyond that is illegal. Process won't matter, whether by distillation or by freezing the water out.

But a still to concentrate your beer or wine is easily made out of a seal-able pot, like an old pressure cooker and 13 feet of copper tubing. A thermometer system helps too- let the vapors boil off until they reach umm 180(?), then collect the condensate. The critical point is to allow the methanol to go away, but collect the ethanol which boils at slightly higher temp. As the alcohol % gets lower, the temp will get higher, but that is when the flavors come out, and also lower the proof from 180, undrinkable. I'm not sure if methanol is a problem if you use refined ingredients- I've read that methanol is a product of fermenting the cellulose, like corn hulls. Sugar makes ethanol. Makes some beer first, or maybe some wine that didn't work out right.

My Dad told me all this. Seems his mom was a bootlegger during prhibition. Dad had to go home from school at lunch to change the bottle under the drip, or it would overflow.

I'm currently sipping my 56rd batch of home brewed beer or wine. And I'll never admit to making tequila tasting 'syrup' from an experimental batch of Prickly Pear Wine that turned out like Aloe Vera lotion. It's great for soaking ink jet printer cartridges in. ;^)

 

[Salerio]

Home Distilling

I've been known to dabble a bit

If you want a cheap and easy way to do it, and have plenty of time, you can easily get a small, low-powered, air-cooled 4L pot still from any home-brew shop. This is fantastic for running off small batches of home made fruit washes for liquors and spirits.

Not so good for making neutral spirits like vodka because you can't get any reflux action to clean it up. If you're careful and experiment you can do much better than the way they recommend, purchase a good lot of activated carbon and you're good to go, tripple distil and it's like a cheap vodka.

I don't want to derail the thread by going into great detail, but can if you want me to. It is illegal, so keep quiet about your activities, and just use your kitchen if you have one of these low-powered pot stills or your back garden if you set up something bigger. As well as my little air-cooled thing, i have a 5 gallon boiler which I can bolt a reflux column onto and tap off really good clean spirits or run as a pot-still. This is more sensible than doing a 5 gallon bucket in 4L batches and taking over a week.

If you want to learn more there's a couple of very active forums
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/new_distillers/
then once you're up and running go join /distillers/ you'll get a lot of help, advice and arguments from artisan distillers. It's a great hobby.

 

[GzuzKryzt]

Thanks for the information, I had no idea where to look.

I don't drink but I read a mystery series by Margaret Maron in which the main character is a bootlegger's daughter. Every time I read one of the books I start wondering about liquor laws but didn't know where to start looking for information.

If you are worried about legality: In Germany you simply go to local administration, ask for a form, fill it out (commercial/private use; quantity; form of spirits; etc.), wait for approval and go.

It is rather expensive - approval process alone is around €60.00 and you have to pay extra for each litre you are producing, depending on Vol.% - work-intensive, time-consuming and you have to agree to equipment inspection at the discretion of the administration.
Drives the romance out, but lets legality in.

Perhaps your state has a similar process.

 

[Crossbow]

When does making your own alcoholic beverages cross over into possession of untaxed liquor?
Making beer and wine is legal but what about brandy or whiskey?
Is it the alcohol content that makes it illegal?
I asked my lawyer brother what the law is in Kansas but he didn't know and Wikipedia wasn't much help.

Essentially, as long as one is making the alcoholic beverages for their own personal consumption and that one is not selling the product, then one can make a good bit of it.

It has been a while since I studied this issue, but as I recall, one can make as much non-distilled alcoholic beverages (wine, beer, etc.) as one would like provided that the above guidlines are followed.

And that one can make upto 50 gallons (which is a very generous amount) of distilled beverages (whiskey, gin, etc.) per year provided these same guidelines are followed.

Just make sure that you do not try to sell the product, or make money from it in any way; and also, make it clear that the product you are making is only for your personal comsuption.

Note: please refer to this Wikipedia entry if you have not already done so:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_brewing#Legality

 

[Trakar]

Awesome. Thanks. Great info.

You can actually apply for a permit to experimentally manufacture limited quantity of ethanol fuel additive. I have a group of friends who get together once or twice a year to share and compare the products of their skills and a few of them sport these federal permits, but most hobby distillers consider the risk part of the hobby. If you aren't manufacturing large batches or selling your product (neither of which fit under the term "hobby") the feds generally aren't interested in you any more than they are every Thursday night poker game around the country. Some of the best whiskey I've ever sipped was manufactured under open skies by the shine of the moon.

 

[godless dave]

Distilling your own liquor was recently legalized at the federal level. Any state laws still apply.

As to when it becomes taxable, that depends on the volume you produce. And naturally if you sell it you are subject to all kinds of taxes and health and safety regulations.

 

[korenyx]

Essentially, as long as one is making the alcoholic beverages for their own personal consumption and that one is not selling the product, then one can make a good bit of it.

It has been a while since I studied this issue, but as I recall, one can make as much non-distilled alcoholic beverages (wine, beer, etc.) as one would like provided that the above guidlines are followed.

And that one can make upto 50 gallons (which is a very generous amount) of distilled beverages (whiskey, gin, etc.) per year provided these same guidelines are followed.

Just make sure that you do not try to sell the product, or make money from it in any way; and also, make it clear that the product you are making is only for your personal comsuption.

Note: please refer to this Wikipedia entry if you have not already done so:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_brewing#Legality

Thanks for the link, I didn't find that one while I was looking.
Like I said I don't make liquor but reading a book series about a bootlegger's daughter made me wonder about the laws.