Distilling alcohol?

Question

does anybody know where i can find the regulations reguarding production of distilled spirits for personal consumption. i make small batches of fruit wine and would like to try my hand at distilling it into brandy without doing so illicitly. no interest in making "shine" particularily no interest in having any trouble with the authorities. just want a fed website link that gives me in black and white what i can and cannot distill, and what, if any, is considered legal for personal consumption. i searched on the atf website but came up empty handed. figured that they would be the source because they are the ones that enforce the regulations for this. thanks

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

The only place in the world where its legal to distill without a license is the Neatherlands.

Brandy, Shine, Whiskey, Vodka and anything that contains more then 20% alcohol that are made thru a still is considered illegal without a license

Quote from law

Can I produce beer, wine or spirits for my personal or family use without paying Federal excise tax and filing Federal paperwork?

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 excise 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.

Spirits may be produced for non-beverage purposes for fuel use only without payment of tax, but you also must file an application, receive TTB's approval, and follow requirements, such as construction, use, records and reports.

http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/genalcohol.shtml…

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

tyty. your link gave me the answers that i needed. guess no making booze for me going to stick with my 100 gal allotment of fruit wine, not that i come close to that or think that i will ever drink that much. lol.

Answer 2

Are you in the US? If so then you CAN NOT distill acohol legally for personal consumption...no exceptions. The TTB (Tax and Trade Bureau) regulations are in 27 CFR (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisi…

the TTB has a decent site (http://www.ttb.gov) where they give the following answer:
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Under Federal rules administered by TTB, it depends on how you use the still. You may not produce alcohol with these stills unless you qualify as a distilled spirits plant (see earlier question). However, owning a small still and using it for other purposes is allowed. You should also check with your State and local authorities - their rules may differ.

A still is defined as apparatus capable of being used to separate ethyl alcohol from a mixture that contains alcohol. Small stills (with a cubic distilling capacity of a gallon or less) that are used for laboratory purposes or for distilling water or other non-alcoholic materials are exempt from our rules. If you buy a small still and use it to distill water or extract essential oils by steam or water extraction methods, you are not subject to TTB requirements. If you produce essential oils by a solvent method and you get alcohol as a by-product of your process, we consider that distilling. Even though you are using and recovering purchased alcohol, you are separating the alcohol from a mixture -distilling.
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However...if you'd like to try your hand at home distillation, http://www.homedistiller.org/ has a lot of great information.

Answer 3

First, let's define what you mean. After all, this is a legal issue, so it's important that we understand the question.
Alcohol is produced by the process of fermentation, which IS legal in the U.S. Distillation doesn't produce alcohol, it concentrates it; and that is where the issue gets complicated.
Distillation of water, essential essences, herbs etc is entirely legal everywhere.
Distillation of alcohol is often a different matter, depending on where you are, and what you DO with the alcohol.
In the U.S., distilling alcohol for your personal consumption is NOT legal. It doesn't matter if you make just a few bottles, or 10,000 barrels. It is not legal