Damn

[grandmoffdavid]

From 27 CFR 19.131:
"Distilled spirits plants shall not be located in any dwelling house, or in any shed, yard, or enclosure connected with any dwelling house, or on board any vessel or boat, or on premises where beer or wine is produced, or liquors of any description are retailed, or (except as provided in 19.133) on premises where any other

Comments

[devonapple]

Well, crap. Perhaps you can get a permit?

[grandmoffdavid]

I doubt it. These are ATF guidelines, so no federal permit. There's also some stuff about a bond I'd have to post that I haven't been able to fully explore.

[devonapple]

Sounds like a cut-and-dry zoning issue. Do those home beer-brewing kits not count?

[grandmoffdavid]

Fermenting and distilling are two entirely different animals. You can't distill water in your house without a permit from the federal government. Fermenting (e.g. making beer and wine) has a limit on the percentage of alcohol you can get (around 15-16%). Technically, distillation has one as well, but it's 97.5% if I remember correctly from my lab days.

Again, this is a federal issue. The state of Washington has a great craft brewers licensing program that I was hoping to take advantage of.

[lunesse]

you can make stuff out of potatoes. What, you can't grow potatoes?
This sounds weak.

[grandmoffdavid]

You can make it out of damn near anything, the problem is doing it legally.

[lunesse]

but they are saying you can't grow the PLANTS. Like you can't grow potatoes. They never said no distilling.

:p

[deirdremoon]

If you read the fine print, there's gotta be a clause in there that says, "Except for individuals associated with the Priebe clan." Because, dude.

[grandmoffdavid]

Lord knows I've been looking...

[camino_volare]

I guess I'm a bit confused: I read this to say that you CAN product distilled spirits as long as you are not producing it on a premise that is A) producing beer or wine and B) not producing it for retail.

Am I wrong?

[rhylar]

sadly, comma-parsing means:

Cannot produce Spirits in:
1. A home
2. elsewhere on home's lot
3. On a boat
4. in a brewery/winery
5. in a retail store
6. Anywhere business is conducted

However, I don't think it says anything about in the back of a van, parked on a public street.

[camino_volare]

Thanks for the clarity: I guess I'm now even more confused - I mean, one can brew beer at home with impunity (as long as you don't sell it), but in this case (distilled spirits) a person can't do that - which is ridiculous.

[grandmoffdavid]

Unfortunately, I can see the reasoning behind it. That whole "going blind from drinking wood alcohol" thing. Not to mention the whole "igniting the ethanol vapors" thing. Governments tend to be a bit sensitive about their citizens setting themselves on fire/blinding themselves.

[maniakes]

If I'm reading this correctly, it'd be legal to put a distilled spirits plant in the basket of a tethered hot-air balloon. It's not in any yard or enclosure connected with your house, and since it's designed to be stationary, it's also not a vessel.

[grandmoffdavid]

Great Scott, man, I think you've found the loophole. Quickly everyone, we must begin work on the dirigible at once!