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Author
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Topic: is moon shine'n still illegal?
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87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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I always wanted to make some. I don't drink but for some strange reason I want to make some  My grandpa used to run it back in the day in Georgia. I was digging through a box my grandpa left me and he had a recipe for white lightning. I'm not going to sell it but kinda want to make it. What sucks is I already have a still that I made a while back. IP: Logged |
kyunderdawg
Member Posts: 2896
From: Bowling Green, KY. USA
Registered: Aug 2008
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Not here.......or so I'm told.IP: Logged |
87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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I don't get why it would be illegal if I'm not going to sell it. I just want to make 10 gallons or so. 20 tops. I've done weirder stuff before on a impulse. Example: I once made a tesla coil "for the hell of it". IP: Logged |
kyunderdawg
Member Posts: 2896
From: Bowling Green, KY. USA
Registered: Aug 2008
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I think One of the liguor stores my father-in-law goes to sells 'shine or some sort of wisky by an individual. Not 100% sure.IP: Logged |
ryan.hess
Member Posts: 18658
From: Central FL
Registered: Dec 2002
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It is legal if you have a permit from the BATF. You are required to tell them how much alcohol you intend to distill (per year I believe). There may be taxes or fees involved...
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Formula88
Member Posts: 31731
From: Raleigh, NC, USA
Registered: Jan 2001
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I believe it would be legal as long as you don't intend to sell.
The trick is proving intent. I would imagine you need to make sure it's a small operation and you don't make much.
I wonder what ALE would say if you called to ask them how to buy tax stamps for your home made whisky?  IP: Logged |
twofatguys
Member Posts: 7375
From: Wheaton,Mo
Registered: Jul 2004
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Here you can make it now, IF you only make it for alternative motor fuel, pay for and receive a permit, and IIRC you have to add something to it making it denatured. Though I am not sure how they would check to see if you added it or not.
You are allowed so many gallons, and you cannot sell it (I'm not sure about accepting donations).
BradIP: Logged |
avengador1
Member Posts: 24145
From: Orlando, Florida
Registered: Oct 2001
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| | | quote | From the Federal website of the Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau
"Homeland Security Act
The Homeland Security Act renders functions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) into two new organizations. This Act creates with the Department of the Treasury a new Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and moves certain law enforcement functions of ATF to the Department of Justice.
Spirits
You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant. [See 26 U.S.C. 5601 & 5602 for some of the criminal penalties.] There are numerous requirements that must be met that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use. Some of these requirements are paying special tax, filing an extensive application, filing a bond, providing adequate equipment to measure spirits, providing suitable tanks and pipelines, providing a separate building (other than a dwelling) and maintaining detailed records, and filing reports. All of these requirements are listed in 27 CFR Part 19. " |
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http://www.ttb.gov/other/regulations.shtml
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/c...7:1.0.1.1.15&idno=27
To be able to make it for drinking requires a distilling permit and the paying of taxes. If you are making it for fuel, the requirements are less stringent.
http://fueldistillation.com/[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 02-08-2010).] IP: Logged |
87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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Well that's no fun^^IP: Logged |
Doug85GT
Member Posts: 2679
From: Sacramento CA USA
Registered: May 2003
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I know personally of people who make their own "home brew" beer and other liquors. I don't know the legalities of it but there are a lot of things you can buy to brew your own alcohlic drinks.
http://www.google.com/produ...um=3&ved=0CCkQrQQwAg
I do know there is a difference between brewing and distilling. It may be that distilling is illegal since the alcohlic content is so high.IP: Logged |
Jake_Dragon
Member Posts: 19714
From: Lakeland, Florida USA
Registered: Jan 2001
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Dont ask dont tellIP: Logged |
cliffw
Member Posts: 17266
From: Kerrville, Texas, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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| | | quote | Originally posted by 87antuzzi:
What sucks is I already have a still that I made a while back. |
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Is it legal ?
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87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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Owning a still is legal but using it is not. I made it for a friend and he used it for a little and now it just sits still (pun intended). IP: Logged |
Doug85GT
Member Posts: 2679
From: Sacramento CA USA
Registered: May 2003
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You can distill alcoholic drinks without a distillery by just placing them in the freezer and pulling the chunks of ice out. What is left will have a higher content of alcohol since you are removing the water. You can even distill it further by using dry ice once it doesn't freeze in a regular freezer anymore.
I don't think it is illegal to distill alcohol by freezing. It even goes all the way back to colonial times when the colonists would store their alcohol outside and one the coldest winter nights, they would pull the sheets of ice off the top.IP: Logged |
Blacktree
Member Posts: 9806
From: Central Florida
Registered: Dec 2001
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It's ironic, because taxes on alcohol were part of the reason the American colonials revolted against Britain. And one of the first things the US Federal Gov't did was impose a tax on liquor (which led to the Whiskey Rebellion). The Federal Gov't has been taxing / regulating the distillation of alcohol ever since.IP: Logged |
84fiero123
Member Posts: 8348
From: farmington, maine usa
Registered: Oct 2004
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Correct me if I am wrong, and I know you will. 
But isn’t Everclear lightning?
That is like 99% alcohol and legal and available at many liquor stores, even up here in Maine.
Steve ------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys. IP: Logged |
psychosurfer
Member Posts: 963
From: Athens, GA USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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You can make it as long as it is under a certain quantity and that you do not "distribute" it.  IP: Logged |
87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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Your right about ever clear. But the recipe I got is peach lightning and apple jacks. I think it would be fun to make. Nothing more. IP: Logged |
Nurb432
Member Posts: 9966
From: Indy
Registered: May 2006
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| | | quote | Originally posted by Doug85GT:
I know personally of people who make their own "home brew" beer and other liquors. I don't know the legalities of it but there are a lot of things you can buy to brew your own alcohlic drinks.
http://www.google.com/produ...um=3&ved=0CCkQrQQwAg
I do know there is a difference between brewing and distilling. It may be that distilling is illegal since the alcohlic content is so high. |
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Beer and wine laws are far different then distilled. But they do regulate amount per year even of beer...IP: Logged |
Nurb432
Member Posts: 9966
From: Indy
Registered: May 2006
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| | | quote | Originally posted by psychosurfer:
You can make it as long as it is under a certain quantity and that you do not "distribute" it. |
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Not to drink .. only for fuel. IP: Logged |
twofatguys
Member Posts: 7375
From: Wheaton,Mo
Registered: Jul 2004
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| | | quote | Originally posted by 84fiero123:
Correct me if I am wrong, and I know you will.
But isn’t Everclear lightning?
That is like 99% alcohol and legal and available at many liquor stores, even up here in Maine.
Steve
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No, no it's not. Sure, it's grain alcohol, and it's basically the same... But there is no substitute for a good bottle of shine. None.
They are different animals.Basically calling Moonehine and Everclear the same thing is like saying that fresh Lasagna in Italy fresh out of the oven is the same as that frozen stuff heated up in the microwave.
Brad
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maryjane
Member Posts: 29885
From: Cleveland Tex
Registered: Apr 2001
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| | | quote | Originally posted by 87antuzzi:
I always wanted to make some. I don't drink but for some strange reason I want to make some My grandpa used to run it back in the day in Georgia. I was digging through a box my grandpa left me and he had a recipe for white lightning. I'm not going to sell it but kinda want to make it. What sucks is I already have a still that I made a while back. |
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would you share it--the recipe?
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87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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And what would you do with it? and wich recipe??IP: Logged |
twofatguys
Member Posts: 7375
From: Wheaton,Mo
Registered: Jul 2004
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| | | quote | Originally posted by 87antuzzi:
And what would you do with it? and wich recipe?? |
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Wait, how many recipes do you have? I thought you just had one.
They need to be put somewhere where they can be used I think. Your Grandfather would want people to be drinking his shine right .
Brad IP: Logged |
Wolfhound
Member Posts: 4853
From: Opelika , Alabama, USA
Registered: Oct 1999
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Back in high school we used to run across some elaborate stills hunting. Lots of axe wounds and bullet holes. Never found one functional.
Probably a good thing.IP: Logged |
87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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I got 4 recipies. The one I want to make is the apple jack recipie. IP: Logged |
ls3mach
Member Posts: 3235
From: Moore, Oklahoma, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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I have had moonshine. It is sweet and fairly potent. You don't mix it, in my experience you swig it straight from the bottle. I prefer it cold, but I have noticed it seems to become more potent cold. I know people who make and sell it. I had about a half dozen bottles of it last year. Nothing like everclear, not even kind of. To say I have never been drunker then when I had moonshine would be a lie. To say I have never had anything more potent would be too. To say I have had never had anything as strong and smooth is exactly right. Make it and shut your mouth. Geeze, why even ask on the internet? If you were worried about it, you should have never even mentioned it...IP: Logged |
spark1
Member Posts: 2945
From: Portland, OR
Registered: Dec 2002
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Maybe you could get George Soros to fund a voter initiative to legalize medical alcohol. Then it would be legal to make your own shine at home.IP: Logged |
IMSA GT
Member Posts: 2171
From: San Mateo, Ca
Registered: Aug 2007
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Here is the "legal" answer
Because the liquor is worth more to the government than beer or wine. Uncle Sam takes an excise tax of $2.14 for each 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof spirits, compared with 21 cents for a bottle of wine (of 14 percent alcohol or less) and 5 cents for a can of beer. No one knows exactly how much money changes hands in the moonshine trade, but it's certainly enough for the missing taxes to make a difference: In 2000, an ATF investigation busted one Virginia store that sold enough raw materials to moonshiners to make 1.4 million gallons of liquor, worth an estimated $19.6 million in lost government revenue. In 2005, almost $5 billion of federal excise taxes on alcohol came from legally produced spirits.
Government prosecutors point out that moonshine poses serious health risks, including heavy-metal toxicity. So, how dangerous is it? There's no inspection of the manufacturing process, so quality—and levels of contamination—vary. (There are some informal and imprecise ways to test the purity of hooch: You can light some on fire and check for a blue flame or shake the pint and look for clear liquid drops that dissipate quickly.) Aside from drinking too much and doing something dumb—oh, like attacking somebody with a chain saw and fire extinguisher— the biggest risk is lead poisoning, since a homemade still might consist of car radiators or pipes that were dangerously soldered together. One study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine in September 2003 found that more than half of moonshine drinkers have enough lead in their bloodstream to exceed what the CDC calls a "level of concern."[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 02-09-2010).] IP: Logged |
87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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Just asked my mom if I could make some. She said yes. So on friday I will start my batch of peach brandy . I am going to make a 20 gallon batch. I got everything I need to get started but the 25lbs of sugar and 10 peaches. IP: Logged |
revin
Member Posts: 6610
From: Pville, TX
Registered: Aug 2001
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all of this and you make a GIRL drink?!?!?!? what next? fuzzy navel?
straight corn or potato mash!! IP: Logged |
87antuzzi
Member Posts: 3493
From: auburn ca
Registered: Feb 2009
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I'm not going to make white lightning my first try. The flavored drinks are easyIP: Logged |
Nurb432
Member Posts: 9966
From: Indy
Registered: May 2006
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| | | quote | Originally posted by IMSA GT:
Here is the "legal" answer
*snip* the biggest risk is lead poisoning, *snip*
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There is your 'sweet' flavoring
Couple of years ago i thought i heard of someone selling moonshine in stores ( above board, taxed.. ) even to the extent of packaging in mason jars. Might have been a regional thing. Didn't buy any, and wouldn't know the difference anywayIP: Logged |
skuzzbomer
Member Posts: 992
From: Nashville
Registered: Sep 2009
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| | | quote | Originally posted by 87antuzzi:
I'm not going to make white lightning my first try. The flavored drinks are easy |
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wuss. IP: Logged |
IMSA GT
Member Posts: 2171
From: San Mateo, Ca
Registered: Aug 2007
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This is what I used to drink....from Beverages and More......the strongest crap I have had in a while:
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ls3mach
Member Posts: 3235
From: Moore, Oklahoma, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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| | | quote | Originally posted by IMSA GT:
This is what I used to drink....from Beverages and More......the strongest crap I have had in a while:
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Had it. Nothing like the moonshine I have had. I will have some more after Easter...IP: Logged |
