MEAD!!!!

[greg spike]

Unless laws changed recently, you can distill liqueur yourself. I haven't kept up with it for some time but according to the ATF, you can brew a limited amount of beer and distill for personal use. I believe the figure was 20 gallons and one liter, before having to get a permit and pay tax, but that was ten years ago. State laws also apply, but cannot supercede federal.
If you try, mind your distillation temps.. Too much heat and you'll distill out the bad byproducts of fermentation. Could give you a throbbing headache and reduce liver function, and maybe go blind.

[danno]

Is home wine making legal?
Since 1978 the Federal Government has made home wine making legal.

However, there are some limitation. A household of two adults or more can

make up to 200 gallons of homemade wine annually. Single adult house-

holds can make up to 100 gallons of homemade wine annually. You may

also want to check with your state and local authorities to see if there

happens to be any other local restrictions in your area on home wine

making.

[Moonshae]

There are a few states that don't allow homebrewing...Utah and Georgia are two. I'm not sure if there are any others, but I seem to remember hearing that there are three states that don't allow it. Ironically, in those states, homebrew supply shops are not illegal...

[Sean Kelly]

Unless laws changed recently, you can distill liqueur yourself. I haven't kept up with it for some time but according to the ATF, you can brew a limited amount of beer and distill for personal use. I believe the figure was 20 gallons and one liter, before having to get a permit and pay tax, but that was ten years ago. State laws also apply, but cannot supercede federal.

Distilling for human consumption is not legal in any state.  I have emails and letters from the ATF that say so.  But currently there is a bill that's going through the House of Representatives (HR 3949 IH) that's trying to legalize it.  You can see it at the Thomas page for the Library of Congress:  http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.html and do a search for bill HR 3949.  It was submitted in Oct of last year and looks like nothing has been done with it yet.  We need to let people know about this bill and remind our state politicians about it.

Sean Kelly

[SgtMaj]

Sean, the way to get around it is to call it fuel instead.  ;)

[Sean Kelly]

Sean, the way to get around it is to call it fuel instead.  ;)

I understand you can just call it fuel, but I'd rather pass a bill that makes it legal once again like it was 100 years ago.  I'd rather fix the problem than just putting band-aids on it.  It makes absolutely no sense that I can brew a batch of corn mash legally but as soon as I concentrate it by evaporating the alcohol and re-condensing it, I'm now committing a felony!  Just like my home made beer and wine, I dont want to sell it...  so it's not like I'm ripping off the government!  And do you know how hard it is to find a true corn whiskey that has NOT been aged in a charred oak barrel at the liquor store up here in Washington?

So instead of being passive and just looking for a legal "work around", I'd rather be an activist!  Write your congressman and tell him you want to be a moonshiner but don't want to spend time in jail, classified in the same category as meth-lab chemists!

Sean Kelly

[greg spike]

So it is completely illegal now?

Well there's a point to be made, that some things are more fun, Illegal.

Would you rather...

Bang up a copper still, deep in the mountains, on a cold crystal clear mountain stream. Fill every bucket you can beg, borrow or steal with stinking sour mash, for days...weeks...months. Cut wood and feed the endless fire in your still, watching the precious liquer, drop by drop fall into stoneware jugs. Praying that you can make make enough money to save the family farm, and make a better life for your family.If only the revenuers don't catch you.

Or you could write a letter to your congressman, which may or may not, be read by an overachieving ninteen year old unpaid intern, who probably knows enough to throw your letter away. Believe it or not, most politicans don't court the crazy moonshiner vote.

[Sean Kelly]

So it is completely illegal now?

Well there's a point to be made, that some things are more fun, Illegal.

Would you rather...

Bang up a copper still, deep in the mountains, on a cold crystal clear mountain stream. Fill every bucket you can beg, borrow or steal with stinking sour mash, for days...weeks...months. Cut wood and feed the endless fire in your still, watching the precious liquer, drop by drop fall into stoneware jugs. Praying that you can make make enough money to save the family farm, and make a better life for your family.If only the revenuers don't catch you.

Or you could write a letter to your congressman, which may or may not, be read by an overachieving ninteen year old unpaid intern, who probably knows enough to throw your letter away. Believe it or not, most politicans don't court the crazy moonshiner vote.

It has ALWAYS been illegal federally since the prohibition.
I want to do both, make whiskey and promote legalizing home distilling.
I'm not a crazy moonshiner voter, I'm an American voter who enjoys home brewing.

Sean Kelly

[greg spike]

Hey, no offense meant, my friend.

It's hard not to have a sense of humor about it. In my neck of the woods, every other guy over the age of 60 has a nice litte spot on a creek at his "hunting camp". The ATF isn't exactly combing the woods for them.

[greg spike]

And by the way, I believe we all have a little crazy monshiner in us. ;)

[Sean Kelly]

And by the way, I believe we all have a little crazy monshiner in us. ;)

Yes, you're right...  I just want it legal so I could be even more of a crazy moonshiner!   :evil:

Sean Kelly

[lakeman]

Sean, the way to get around it is to call it fuel instead.  ;)

Oh so wrong, because it is illegal for you to make the fuel by distillation unless you have been permitted by the atf, in which case you will be under intense scrutiny.

[buzzbee]

There is distilling equipment you can purchase for distilling water and essential oils. And oddly enough some have links for the people in New Zealand who purchase these items with directions on how to distill alcohol with it. But it is implored that it is illegal to do so in the US!! ;)

http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/shopSSequip.asp
http://www.stillspirits.com/webfiles/StillSpirits/files/25_L_SUPER_Reflux_Still_Ins_with_Z_Filter.pdf

[woodlawnfarms]

how do you get something that makes you rolling on the floor  :roll:

Make a moonshine still.  But that will also put you in jail.  It's treated the same as if you were making drugs.  But you do it right it'll knock your socks off!!!

Sean Kelly

moonshine stills are not illegal you merely need a permit from the government its around $200 and the homemade liquor must be for family use only, you cant sell it unless you get additional permits.
much easier and cheaper to get the permits for beer and wine production. :cheer:

[lakeman]

how do you get something that makes you rolling on the floor  :roll:

Make a moonshine still.  But that will also put you in jail.  It's treated the same as if you were making drugs.  But you do it right it'll knock your socks off!!!

Sean Kelly

moonshine stills are not illegal you merely need a permit from the government its around $200 and the homemade liquor must be for family use only, you cant sell it unless you get additional permits.
much easier and cheaper to get the permits for beer and wine production. :cheer:

You are way off the mark, it is no way what-so-ever that you can legally make distilled spirits for human consumption. You can get a permit to make alcohol for on farm vehicle fuel, only, but it must be so designed that it is immediatly contaminated and made nondrinkable upon exiting the distilling unit. What you are refering to, is you can legally make up to 200 gallons per year of wine, and or beer for use of your immediate family, and this only if you are the head of a household, and for this to do it legally you do need that federal permit Many people make home made beer, and wine, but if they neglect to first get that permit from the feds, they are bootlegging, and are subject to arrest for making illegal alcoholic beverages..

[Vibe]

The US Code and ATF regs are on the net..If you are going to state that it says this or that...just link to the one you are referring to. It sort of gets around the "he said, no he said" problem.

TITLE 27--ALCOHOL, TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND FIREARMS

CHAPTER I--ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

PART 24_WINE--Table of Contents

Subpart C_Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions

Sec. 24.75 Wine for personal or family use.

(a) General. Any adult may, without payment of tax, produce wine for personal or family use and not for sale.

(b) Quantity. The aggregate amount of wine that may be produced exempt from tax with respect to any household may not exceed:

(1) 200 gallons per calendar year for a household in which two or more adults reside, or

(2) 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only one adult residing in the household.

But then again Wine, beer and mead do not require distillation - merely fermentation and filtering.

[Meadlover]

You are way off the mark, it is no way what-so-ever that you can legally make distilled spirits for human consumption.

Unfortunately it is the same here in Australia. It is legal to buy a still if it's smaller than 20L (5.2 Gal) but only to distill water or make essential oils. This means that the home brew stores can sell them, and coincidentally also sell a 25L stainless steel bucket that just happens to have the same fitting as the still. Yeast, sugar, essences are all legal as they're 'just used to make wine, and flavour cheap store-bought vodka".

The problem is that most people ASSUME that if you can buy it at the shops it's legal, or they get told "it's legal to buy a <20L still". The fact remains that it is highly illegal to distill, with any sized still, any qty of ethanol for human consumtion.
Australia is also unfortunately bringing in laws to heavily restrict home fuel production, ie ethanol distillation and biodeisel production buy making it legal, but having to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a permit, plus ongoing inspection costs etc.

But as already stated, doesn't that all just make it more fun.............


Back onto the original topic of the honey mead:
I have found that if you don't want to wait for months and months for the mead to age, just use a very clean ale yeast, and control the fermentation temperature to keep it at it's optimal temp.
I have used Fermentis Safale US-05 which is the dry packet yeast version of Wyeat 1056 liquid yeast and have had good results on all 3 batches so far. The trick is controlling the temperature and keeping at as close to 19C (66F) as possible to keep it as clean tasting as possible, otherwise you get fruity esters that aren't real great with a mead. I am yet to try the Wyeast mead yeasts but that is my next variable to change.
Wyeast liquid yeast list here - check out the sweet and dry mead yeasts.

ML

[wfuavenger]

It has been about a year since this thread was started... How did your Joes' Orange turn out?