Step 4: Create your Brand. Step 5: Find your Suppliers. Step 6: Build a Solid Marketing Plan. Step 7: Take it to Market. If you're avoiding Johnny Law like most moonshiners, 26 U.
Many states will grant licenses to "craft distillers" who wish to make moonshine for their own private consumption. Get caught selling it and you could be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony. So why is moonshine still illegal? Because the liquor is worth more to the government than beer or wine. Federal law permits a household to produce gallons of homemade alcoholic beverages but no distilling. Beyond that you must pay excise taxes and obtain professional licenses.
Federal law permits sharing homebrew beyond the household for organized tastings, competitions and the like. Some states like Missouri allow citizens over age 21 to distill alcohol at home without any permits or licenses at all, and other states like Florida do not even allow citizens to own distilling equipment unless they have obtained the proper state permit.
Not picking up much corn at all. Has a rubbing alcohol taste. Step One — Cure your wooden barrel. Step Two — Fill the barrel about halfway with a neutral-flavored spirit such as vodka or grain alcohol for bourbon, scotch, whiskey, brandy, or vodka essences. Step Three — Pour your flavor essence into the spirit barrel. Homebrewing was federally legalized in for the first time since Prohibition made it illegal in However, regulation of alcohol is predominantly left to the states.
In , Mississippi and Alabama—the last two states remaining with laws against homebrewing—passed legislation to permit beer brewing at home.
Why Is Moonshine Called Moonshine? Normally made from corn, moonshine is a whiskey that is un-aged. Usually containing very high content of alcohol, moonshine is whisky that is distilled illegally at home. State laws about distilling whiskey vary in two regards — legality and enforcement. In general, most of the states hold distillation of whiskey and other spirits to be illegal, but there are some definite exceptions.
Missouri, for example, allows residents to distill up to gallons of spirits a year. One way to interpret the State laws is to say that if Federal laws allowed one to distill and produce whiskey at home, a resident of Missouri would be free to do so without additional licensing, whereas a resident of Illinois, say, or Colorado still could not distill whisky without a state license. However, a second way has emerged as craft brewing of moonshine has taken on a renewed life in recent times — and that is local enforcement of Federal or state statutes.
Since it is often unlikely that TTB agents would move against a small home brewery, it is often the states who will be in charge of enforcement. Here there is a certain bit of leeway. For example, some believe that if you get charged with home brewing whiskey in Colorado, you will be let off with a small fine and a cease and desist warning.
Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, depending on your viewpoint , the US position regarding home brewing alcohol is consistent with laws over most of the developed world, with very few exceptions — such as South Africa, Peru and parts of Russia. Interviews with sellers of stills and barrels, such as Moonshine Still Pro , in Missouri, and Hillbilly Stills , in Barlow, Kentucky, have reported how interest in buying ethanol stills have spiked up over the past years.
Some of it may be attributed to popularization of the craft through TV shows e. Similarly, the sales of Sherry and Bourbon kegs tend to go up. There is no hard evidence that the stills and kegs are being used to make moonshine, but anecdotal evidence seems to point towards a rejuvenation of such trends.
Laws regulating the distillation of alcohol exist at the Federal, State and sometimes local level in the US. Federal Law prohibits the making of moonshine without a proper license and that trumps regulations at the state level.
If you decide to make moonshine without a permit, do so at your own risk. An avid fan of all things digital and a webmaster building a site around a new passion - the wonderful world of whisky. When I'm not online, I'll be out in the country walking, visiting an old English pub or travelling through Scotland as I try to visit and blog about as many distilleries as I can.
Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Whiskey Rebellion Ironically, the origin of the Federal restrictions against moonshine without licenses date back to the period shortly after the ratification of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights In Conclusion … Laws regulating the distillation of alcohol exist at the Federal, State and sometimes local level in the US. Next How Much Whisky is in a Dram?
About The Author. Mark An avid fan of all things digital and a webmaster building a site around a new passion - the wonderful world of whisky. Why are Stills and Still Use so tightly controlled? What will happen if I do not Register my Still or myself?
It is required by the law: If you fail to register, and you are then caught owning and unregistered still even if you have not been using it , the following can happen: You will be fined You may be charged Excise Tax on the assumption of full-time use of the still for the entire period that it has been in your possession You will have a Liquor Related Offence linked to your name, prohibiting you from obtaining any form of Liquor Related License or Registration for a minimum of three years, and longer if the Controllers deem fit.
The next Article in this series will handle the actual registration process. Technically speaking there are 7 different still types in the world. There is no legislation that limits a Home Distiller to a certain Still Size. Home Distilling, Legislation, Miscellaneous. Older Post. Newer Post. Add to cart. Home distillers record book R Testing and serializing your still R The cookie settings on this website are set to 'allow all cookies' to give you the very best experience.
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