Food & Spirits Court

I made a few batches of moonshine a few years back.

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srdavis2000

A

In Reply to: RE: Just go to the liquor store Dave! posted by dark_dave56 on March 02, 2025 at 02:09:21

I got a letter in the mail from the ATF informing me that they knew that I had purchased materials for distilling and to stop immediately. Also said that they would be paying me a visit in the near future. My wife freaked out and asked me to trash my setup which I did. They never paid me a visit, but the risk/reward balance told me not to chance it.

Apparently, the ATF monitors suppliers of hobbyist on-line stores. It was creepy.

Follow Ups:

It's not 100% "illegal" to make small batches... - dark_dave56 01:07:22 03/15/25 (5)
...of distilled spirits for personal consumption. Just don't get caught selling it for cash, or even trading it for "compensation" in the form of goods or services.

I'm sure some of those "hobbyist" sites are on some sort of watchlists by both Federal and State agencies. Some of the same equipment used to produce distilled spirits can also be used to manufacture and/or process illicit drugs.

I purchased all of my physical gear through laboratory equipment suppliers, and if I got "checked", I would show up as a retired research scientist/professor affiliated with a major university, so I would probably get a "pass". I also own livestock, so buying grain(s) would be a common transaction. Now if I started buying 100lb bags of yeast and sugar (and not owning a bakery), or drums of acetone or methanol (commonly used in drug processing)?--that might be a "red flag".

Sorry to hear that you scrapped your set-up. Even if they did visit, and it was there, but only had a capacity of a couple gallons, they would probably just laugh and leave.

"And today is for sale and it's all you can afford. Buy your own admission. The whole things got you bored. Well the Lord chooses the good ones, and the bad ones use the Lord"--a very dear friend for decades Michael Stanley (Gee)--RIP
- It is, in fact, illegal in the US . . . - tlea 09:44:49 03/17/25 (1)
  . . . but I agree that it isn't likely your home would be raided for making a couple gallons of moonshine for personal consumption or paint removal.
  
  See link below.
  
  . . . in theory, practice and theory are the same; in practice, they are different . . .
  - US Alcohol and Tobacco TTB (Open in New Window)
  - That was basically negated at the end of Prohibition... - dark_dave56 02:57:52 03/30/25 (0)
    ...just like States legalizing/decriminalizing Marijuana (and other drugs) despite the fact that they are still illicit drugs under Federal law.
    
    "And today is for sale and it's all you can afford. Buy your own admission. The whole things got you bored. Well the Lord chooses the good ones, and the bad ones use the Lord"--a very dear friend for decades Michael Stanley (Gee)--RIP
- RE: It's not 100% "illegal" - srdavis2000 07:32:36 03/15/25 (2)
  What percent illegal is it? You can legally make beer and wine for personal consumption, but distilling is illegal.
  
  For me it was just a fun experiment and educational. My best tasting version was around 80 proof. I bottled it in qt. sized Mason jars with a cinnamon stick in each jar. I gave away most of it to friends. It was a novelty and in no way an attempt to make serious booze.
  
  I made wine years ago in 5 gal. batches. I had a couple of decent batches, but I had more batches that were undrinkable. My FIL made wine, and for special occasions, we would both bring a bottle of our recent best effort. It was fun for a while.
  - Funny anecdote... - dark_dave56 03:03:34 03/30/25 (1)
    ...my uncle used to make wine. One year he bottled it too early--fermentation was not complete/stopped. He was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of explosions. It was bottles of wine exploding in his basement.
    
    "And today is for sale and it's all you can afford. Buy your own admission. The whole things got you bored. Well the Lord chooses the good ones, and the bad ones use the Lord"--a very dear friend for decades Michael Stanley (Gee)--RIP
    - RE: Funny anecdote... - srdavis2000 13:39:46 03/30/25 (0)
      I had a couple of bottles of red wine explode once while we were out of town. They were in a rack on one side of the room and there was wine on the opposite wall about 15' away.

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