Home Distilled Spirits (AKA Moonshiners)

[Fosgate]

Curious if anyone distills their own beverages. Here in the US it's illegal to produce spirits privately. However, home brew store back home in South Dakota brought in a bunch of air stills. http://stillspirits.com/collections/stills/products/turbo-air-still People gobbled them up and I guess law enforcement visited the guy and he took them off the shelf. Was weird, because when I went home moonshine and home brew seemed to be the rage. I'd visit a garage gathering and some of the friends of the host were police officers who brought their own hooch in unlabeled mason jars. One of them showed me their Air Still and was impressed. How do they do it? Apparently the ATF can receive the information of who owns the Air Still and buy purchasing one they can come by your home without notice and inspect the still. You have to have a purpose for distilling other than making spirits say like distilling your water for a CPAP machine etc. Anyway if they show up on your door one had better hope the still is clean of grain residue etc.

Anyway, thought I would share what it is like in my area. Does anyone here do their own? What are the laws in some of your countries? What do you make?

[Maplepie]

it's even better in rural canada where there's so much barley and wheat and corn that the ingredients are as cheap as a Somalian prostitute.

just don't sell or they'll really crack down on you......

Beer Baron anyone?

[Fosgate]

I thought Australians could distill their own in limited amounts?

[AndrewNR]

Dunno about the limited amounts deal? I make my own beers currently and know a few guys doing their own spirits. Few have home made set ups and a couple have kits from brew stores. Full kit costs around 800-1200 I believe and your off and making 4 litres of the hard stuff each batch if im right? But the home spirits thing is a strange beast.. I'll go into it more tomorrow its past my bed time

[StingMeadery]

At Sting Meadery we distill a pure Moonshine made exclusively from fully fermented Certified Organic Active Manuka honey mead...It is absolutely epic and unbelieveably complex.

Massive Manuka honey notes in the nose and the taste is "multidimensional.

Only problem is it comes out at 180 proof

Its the only one of its kind in the world!

Heres a youtube link to a Sting Manuka honeymead tasting I did one day working the hives...

[earthson]

I currently live in middle Tennessee - I can literally walk to 4 or maybe 5 old shine sites hidden in the hollers - I should get some pics of the old cook pits - 2 are still littered with rusty cans of sweet feed from the 50s or 60s.

Most folks make a sort of "white lightening," which is brewed primarily of sweet feed (high-sugar cattle feed made with a mix of corn, rye, sugarbeet and a few other things). I'm personally partial to straight corn liquor around 120-140 proof. It has a great vegetal/grainy flavor almost like a smooth Tequila.

A friend of mine is currently trying to find a good ~3 gallon oak barrel to char and age some stuff in. He's had great luck simply floating a charred oak chip in the mason jar - leads to a great almost aged flavor.

Gotta watch some of the rednecks though, some old boys I know condense their swill through an old radiator. Didn't find out until I had been drinking it off and on for a few years. Always thought it tasted funny.... Hey! Who turned out the lights?

[earthson]

Although I have never undertaken any shining myself, I must warn all experimental types out there to really know what you're doing. The first quart or so is called "greenhorn" around here and will make you s-i-c-k!

[ptrthgr8]

I've wondered just how much they (the alphabet boys) would really go looking for something like this. It took me all of 10 seconds to find kits on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/1-Gallon-Moonshine-Still-Kit/dp/B00G4D8Y32/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394833348&sr=8-1&keywords=home+distilling+kit

They make 1 gallon, 5 gallon, and 10 gallon kits. I'm sure there are lots of other companies selling even more on Amazon.

I'm sure it's a lot like a "tobacco pipe" in the US... you can sell it since it can be used for perfectly legal things, but everyone really knows what you're doing with it.

Stupid. The feds won't let us make cheese with unpasturized milk, nor will they let you make your own whiskey. Sad, really.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[earthson]

I do know that one way around the alphabet soup is to produce some for fuel. Or just live in rural Tennessee where even the county sheriff is known to be involved in stillin'

[ogus]

Curious if anyone distills their own beverages. Here in the US it's illegal to produce spirits privately.

I am in SC and I understand you can brew corn wine without license if you do not SELL.

Anyhoo we make corn whiskey in a pot distiller with the help of the beverage store locally and it is pretty good. We use the Australian yeast for distilling. The local brew shop sells us oak to make bourbon. It's all good and safe.