Distilling brandy

I've seen it too. It was all glass with a small burner. A chemist told me they are very prone to explosion indoors.

And they come packed!

Dick

A small still is available at any scientific supply store, it's just a boiling flask and condenser. That said, if you are in the US distilling alcohol for consumption is illegal. Any property in the vicinity of the still can be confiscated because it is part of the crime; like the house it's in, the car in the garage, etc.

When you distill the first part of the distillate and last parts are poison, another very good reason to consider this carefully.

Store bought brandy is cheap in comparison :)

Joe

The "Wine Enthusiast" ( wineenthusiast.com) sells all kinds of wine storage, serving stuff and many things wine related and surprisingly also sell a mini still for "Turning Wine into Brandy". It sells for $199. I don't know how they get past the laws but there it is if anyone is brave or foolish enough to buy one.

That is surprising. I have seen sevral small stills but they are all sold for distilling water and warn you that it is illegal to distill alcohol. Oh well, be carefull.

Ray

A few years ago I was visiting my home country (Argentina) and a friend gave me some home-made orange liquor to taste. It was pretty good. So I asked him for the recipe, and it was really simple: ethanol, orange peel, and sugar. By the way, in Argentina if you go to the pharmacy and you buy alcohol (for scratches, etc) you are getting pure ethanol with nothing added to it, and it's cheap just like isopropyl is cheap here. So I come back to the USA with the recipe, and I start looking for ethanol, and I can't find it anywhere. Of course the first place I tried was the pharmacy, but you know how it is: you walk up to the "pharmacist" and ask him/her a question (such as "where can I buy pure, un-poisoned ethanol?") and you get the "deer in the headlights" stare. Anyway, after some research I eventually realized that Uncle Sam doesn't want you to be making your own spirits because Uncle Sam wants to collect alcohol taxes.

Bottom line: rig a distiller at home and get caught -> go to jail.

P.S. it's sad to see that what used to be a profesion (pharmacy) has been dumbed down to filling prescriptions (counting pills and little else).

The men in black suits will be knocking on my door shortly.

You could probably use Pure Grain Alcohol (PGA) like "Everclear" which is 95%. It is sold in liquor stores in most states (but it's not legal in every state).

Derric

OK... Maybe this was not a good idea. I thought you could distill a small amount, for personal use, but maybe I am wrong. My old grandpa used to make brandy back in the twenties and thirties for his own use. He used to tell me tales of it, and how it was better then the stuff he could get at the time. Of course, he probably could only get bathtub rotgut brandy back then.

I presume "Wine Enthusiast: obeys the law and submits the names and addresses of purchasers to th ATF just like Sears does on their water stills.

Dick

Don't know. I did not buy one nor intend to do so. It looks like a PITA way to get an ounce of brandy. I drink hard liquor so seldom that I opt to just buy it.

AND they make so much money just counting pills and trying not to see any one at the "drop off" window. amazing, ugh? haha.

DAve

Franco wrote:

No you cannot make it for your own use. They will go after you for one oz just like someone who makes 500 gallons. They truely have zero tolerence. It is even illegal to freeze distill, i.e. freeze wine and dip the ice christals off as they form. There is no way to legally concentrate alcohol.

Ray

I went to that wine enthusiast link and it says it's legal in some states but to be honest I think that is questionable information; (maybe they are referring to 'altered states').

I would make sure the federal, state and municipal govt's said it was OK before I did anything like this. (I know, sounds paranoid. I'm from Western PA and that whole Whiskey Rebellion thing didn't work out the way people around here wanted it to...) I'm pretty sure they are legal in New Zealand but I'm not packing my bags over this...

:)

Joe

Yeah, well Marijuana might be legal in some states. That does not mean the FED's will not put you under the jail for using!

Ray

What is often missed in reality is that New Zealand is damn close to being a third world nation. University Professors I know have lived in cinder block houses with tin roofs and have planted crops and kept livestock to keep food costs down!

What makes the Whiskey Tax humorous is that John Hancock's major occupation was smuggling and he was outraged when the bloody British seized his ships containing tea and rum. To get revenge, he preached revolution! ROTFLMAO

Sound advice.

Dick - Life is like running a moonshine still. You can do anything you want until the revenue agents find you doing it. - Dick Adams (1994)

Be VERY careful of home distilling. I researched it a few years back

-- as far as I could determine it's illegal in every country except New Zealand.

In the USA the penalty for home distilling can include confiscation of real estate, e.g., the Feds take your house.

Bryan

Bryan:

Can you find a reference for this claim? I've heard it, but haven't seen it anywhere.

The penalties I've seen at ATF site are upto 5 years in prison and $10,000 fine. Yeah, that is enough!!!

Steve Oregon and satisfied making wine, Thank you!

snip

It's under Title 26 of the US Code of Federal Regulations. Here is a link:

It could be a very bad day. To be honest, if you don't know what you are doing distilling isn't just a fire and explosion hazard, the first part that boils off and the last part are poisonous. I have an old distilling book from Seagram made during WWII. Even if it were legal I would think twice about it.

Joe