SC - Cooking Humor - Elephant Stew

[Vicki Strassburg]

Greetings:

I just thought I'd throw my two florins in on this discussion.

Lord Ras stated:
>Distilling is a no-no in the US without a special permit to do so BUT 
brewing
>is definitely not a no-no. Different states allow different amounts, 
SFAIK.

This  is absolutely true, but there are few details that you may be 
interested in.

1) The only special permits for distillation, that I am aware of, are 
technically for research into alternate fuel sources.  There has been 
several cases in the past when the distillate was diverted for other 
purposes, but the laws concerning the special permits particularly states 
that the distillate must be "denatured" (i.e. rendered unfit for 
consumption, by adding an approved, noxious, poisonous additive).  Note, 
while these permits seemed to popular in the 1970's, they are apparently 
very rare now-a-days.

2)The national laws concerned only prohibit the distillation of Ethanol. 
 If you are distilling a non-consumable type of alcohol (i.e. Isopropyl, 
Methanol, etc.), for example in the production of perfume, perhaps these 
particular laws do not apply. (Note, however, this is NOT legal advice; 
 I'm simply stating that I feel that it warrants inquiring with more 
knowledgeable individuals.)

3)Similarly, the legality of distilling essential oils from spices (e.g. 
Oil of Cloves, Oil of Wintergreen, etc.) is uncertain to me.

4)And as a final point of confusion, the National regulations actually 
refer to the increasing of ethanol content by any means, thereby closing 
the loophole for such other techniques as fractional freezing (used in the 
production of Eisbock), etc. It has occurred to me: "What is the legality 
of distilling a beverage, when the ethanol content does not increase?"  You 
may be saying "Huh?! How is that possible?"  Simple, start with store 
bought (taxed and bonded) brandy or neutral grain spirits.  Then run your 
distillation in a manner in which no concentration is done.  Why would one 
want to do this?  I have a pet theory that a process like this would more 
closely reproduce some of the late-period distilled 
beverages/tonics/medicines, as opposed to the "soak the flavoring agents in 
brandy" technique used by several liqueurs.

Note all of this only concerns NATIONAL laws.  With each state, your 
mileage may vary.

Further information concerning homebrewing (but not specifically 
distillation) can be found at:
http://www.beertown.org/AHA/Legal/legal.htm


Any opinions or comments?

Many thanks for your kind attention,
Matheus de Troyes/Brian Songy

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