Posted on 09/06/2017 8:19:52 PM PDT by ForYourChildren
Treating home distilling as illegal makes little sense, given that homebrewing and wine making have been legal at the federal level since 1978.
In the aftermath of its failure to pass a health-care overhaul, Congress appears poised to turn to tax reform. While income and corporate tax rates will likely garner most of the attention, alcohol producers are also hoping for changes to booze taxes. Specifically, brewer, vintners, and distillers have been pushing on Capitol Hill for the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, which would lower federal excise taxes on alcohol.
Despite attracting nearly 300 co-sponsors in the House and more than 50 in the Senate, the bill has failed to get a vote in recent sessions of Congress. Theres renewed hope for the act this yearperhaps as part of a larger tax overhaulbut the current version of the bill is missing a key feature of previous iterations: the legalization of home distilling. Whereas the 2015 version of the act included a provision that would have permitted distillation of up to 24 proof gallons per year for personal consumption, that provision has been stripped from the new version of the bill.
Americans Can Already Brew Some Kinds of Alcohol
Treating home distilling as illegal makes little sense, given that homebrewing and wine making have been legal at the federal level since 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed legislation allowing Americans to produce limited amounts of beer and wine for personal consumption. Nearly 40 years later, many beer industry analysts have argued that Carters home brewing reform was a key factor in the meteoric rise of the craft beer movement.
{..snip..}
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
ya... close..
Distillers were taxed based on the size of their stills. Stills with the capacity to annually produce at least 400 gallons of whiskey were taxed between 7 and 18 cents a gallon, depending on the proof of the liquor. Distillers who made stronger whiskey paid a higher tax. Smaller stills were taxed at a rate of 10 cents for every month a still was in operation, or 7 cents for every gallon produced, whichever was lower.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/whiskey-rebellion
The purpose was “theoretically, the producer will pass the tax burden along to the consumer in the price of the product.”
https://www.ttb.gov/public_info/special_feature.shtml
Not individual consumption, although if you drank more than a gallon a month, per the previous post, it would be taxed.
customary2: Regulating & heavily taxing hard liquors was practically the first such laws in this country. Look up Whiskey Rebellion; weve been arguing over this for centuries.
__________________________________________________
Apples and oranges. During the Whiskey Rebellion, Feds were strictly interested in revenues for Revolutionary War debts. There was no federal regulation of whiskey other than taxation. Health and safety concerns were left to the states.
What are “the rules” for home-brew beer as far as “distribution” goes? Can I give a case to my neighbor w/o a “tax-stamp”? I assume I cannot sell him a case? I would think most “home distillers” might not want the the expense of a still set-up w/o the ability to sell their ‘shine. Maybe not...legalize distilling for “personal use” and see I guess!
If you happen to have an approximation of the Rye whiskey George Washington distilled, please send it my way.
I really don’t think the GOV gives a damn whether you brew suds or make wine or even hootch but i know for a fact they don’t want you selling it as long as i make it for my own use i can make enough to last me a couple years you need sterilization and licenses for everything else then there’s taxes and the pricing i make excellent wine with well more than 20 bucks a bottle it wouldn’t be enjoyable with all the rules
Oh well compete with the gov it’s up to you but you’re going to lose not only the fun of it but prolly your taste for it to !
If so at the end of the day there will be a lot LESS stupid people out there that don’t know methanol from ethanol.
And that too should be none of the federal governemnt’s concern.
A matter of State laws, not federal. A 10th Amendment issue.
“customary2” should be “cdonath2”
No permit was involved. The tax, which was constitutional, was IIRC an excise tax.
Problem was, that Whisky was for many the only “currency” they effectively had access to. I consider a modern counterpart the abominable practice of charging sales tax on gold or silver bullion or coin.
It is a simple fact that the Constitution expressly forbids the States to use anything but gold or silver coin and calling federal reserve notes “money” does not annul the Constitution. In fact the claim made on each and every reserve note, that these are legal tender for all public debts, is a lie pure and simple.
So when a State imposes a sales tax of gold or silver that are basically imposing a tax on acquiring Money ... the only Money that they should be permitted to do business with in fact.
Slap a “motor fuel only” or “biofuel” sticker on your stuff an the Goverment will give you grants to make it........
thank you!
I used this thing called a "Mr. Distiller".
I am no distiller, but anything with sugar or starch can be distilled. This goes from fruit to potatoes to grain.
You don't know much about early American history, our founding fathers, and taxes.
That's why you discard the first drippings and distill twice.
Alcohol was always distilled twice in the traditional distilleries. The first distillation was quick and of low quality. This produced the raw spirit, which was diluted with water to 50%, distilled a second time in a column still at 174°F.
Home distillers can do this as well. First, a quick distillation (stripping) and then dilute with water to 40-50% (otherwise it will boil dry and the alcohol will not be as pure).
Distill a second time several fermentations can be distilled as one batch at the same time. Its easier to maintain the temperature and the result is a cleaner alcohol since many of the impurities are separated out during the first distillation.
Grandpa taught me.
The Tampa Bay area is a Mecca of microbreweries. Most of them started out as home Brewers, so did some wineries, too.
Free the Shine!
Wow, thank you for that tip. I will try it.
My tip: If you make apple cider it can be made stronger by freezing it partially; when a layer of ice forms on top remove it. Repeat.
Every time ice (water) is removed, the cider gets stronger.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.