I once thought of distilling my own liquor — it’s really quite simple — but then I remembered how cheap liquor was at the supermarket.
It is simple, but one mistake can be lethal. I worked in Columbus, Georgia to four years, and it turned out the cliche of southerners all making moonshine has some truth to it. The Linux guy in my group was from Alabama, and he was describing how he used stainless steel pipes instead of copper, used Tums to get the pH right, and regulated temperature with an aquarium water heater with thermostat. He was very proud of his product, but warned me not to mention his college pastime to make money to his kids.
Still, (pun intended) it would be fun to make your own whiskey... I’ll have to run up to Lynchburg Tennessee (30 miles) and get some of their spring water.
It takes a long time, I am told. You have to baby sit it for 24 hours.
To get $30 worth at the store.
At college, I used to make hard cider which tasted slightly better than Thunderbird or Night Train.
So how do I make a good beer in my apartment? Probably better to go to the store.
The State of Texas is welcome to raise the excise taxes on liquor sold commercially to make up for revenue they feel they might have lost on home distilling. IMHO, the people who abuse liquor are unlikely to have the ambition to distill their own.
The ability to make alcohol would be an excellent SHTF skill set to have. The purer the better.
Hobbyists wouldn’t do it to save money, they would do it to experiment with different processes and try to create something new and unique they could share with friends.
Even cheap vodka is good for mixing. Making booze is long smelly sticky work. I had an acquaintance at work when I was in Texas who would take orders from all the neighbors who had fruit trees to make moonshine. It was a huge mess.
But I will do it myself just to piss off the government.