Government Regulations

So you’re interested in building a still.

In the US (and many other countries) I guess you know that doing that is simply not the politically correct thing to do.

Even if you are just a curious person and simply want to know what’s involved, you probably feel some reluctance about discussing the subject outside of your own trusted circles.

The reason you feel this way, most likely, is because a lot of laws have been passed over time that severely restrict, and sometimes criminalize, the ways that you may refine products containing ethyl alcohol.

Most US residents are also quite familiar with the moonshine folklore, high-powered cars running shine over mountain back roads, and dodging the federal revenue agents. So much so that many may feel that they are doing something improper, or maybe even criminal by reading this.

Everyone should follow his or her own conscience in these matters.

Personally, I believe that some of these laws are so poorly thought out and implemented that they border on being ridiculous. A case in point. In the US, the government allows an individual to produce wine or beer for personal consumption by using a fermentation process to produce an alcoholic beverage.

It is also perfectly legal in the U.S. for that same individual to build or buy and to use a distillation apparatus for either personal or commercial use.

Nevertheless, the government makes it illegal for the individual to refine the legally produced beer or wine with that apparatus and, in the process, produce another perfectly legal beverage for their own consumption!

Without much reflection, it is easy to see that such laws are flawed.

Fortunately, it is not illegal to express these opinions. That freedom also extends to writing about such things as alcohol distillation (legal or not), and the use and manufacture of equipment to effect this process in the home.

So, as long as your conscience allows, at least in the US, you are not doing anything wrong by reading this information. There is also nothing illegal about building a still in most places in the world.

And while it is hoped that the still will be used for legitimate purposes, always keep in mind that if you decide to build and use the still to produce ethyl alcohol then, in the U.S. and many other areas of the world, you will most likely be breaking the law.