SC - distillation

Thu Oct 21 13:34:35 PDT 1999

Cairistiona saith:

> Hello again!
> 
> As I understand it, the legislation regarding distillation is not to insist 
> on high taxes or anything like that for highly alcoholic substances, it is 
> that when you distil, you don't just distil the alcohol, you also distil the 
> toxins, and there is no way (AFAIK) to know just what quantity of toxins you 
> are imbibing when you drink home-distilled stuff.  

That may certainly be the effect of the legislation, but as the US cannot 
effectively regulate stupid behavior, It regulates where it has jurisdiction.
(Frankly, the gov'mint is not harmed by people going blind on poorly 
distilled trash, but it can show harm by being deprived of revenue. )
So that, I guess, is the angle used here.
FWIW, it certainly is possible to reliably "hobby" make safe distilled 
beverages. IF the process is done correctly, on the right equipment, 
and no shortcuts are taken, it is difficult not to wind up with an 
unsafe end product!

It is the people who are trying to make a fast buck running off corn 
likker quickly, who are the ones most likely to take the bad shortcuts, 
like not using a thump box, using lead solder for sealing the still, 
using a truck or tractor radiator for a condenser, not discarding 
the heads and tails of the run (which is where most of the impurities
are collected), cooking the still too hot, not double distilling the 
product, not properly sealing the vessels, not using a non flame 
based heat source, using brass or aluminum cooking vessels, etc. 

If care is taken, and a proper method and equiment is used, the 
process can result in very clean and very pure ethanol. 
Purer product than "Everclear" is not impossible!! (Everclear is 99.5%
pure ethanol - the rest is mostly water absorbed form the air in the 
production and bottling processes.)

For what it is worth, it is also possible to make homemade wine that
has enough microbial contamination, or other impurities, that it will 
injure or kill the drinker. The government does not especially care 
about that. The government mostly just cares about lost taxes. 
Simpley put, a home brewer or vintner is likely to make less than 
200 gals of wine or beer. The equivalent is 20 gals of ethanol
It is a rare distiller who would be satisfied with that small amount.
Most make 400-500 gals cheap and illegal corn whiskey a year.
Some do double or triple that. That equates to a huge total of 
taxes being lost to the government. 
THAT gets their notice, you betcha!

Up to now, the Government has not even considered the concept of 
a hobby distiller who would be perfectly satisfied with staying under
5 - 10 gals total product a year. None have ever applied under that 
description. 
I think that if the right people were made aware of the desire of 
enough of us to have stils that fit that description, who would be 
willing to be subject to modified paperwork and site regulations, that 
such an exemption could be seriously considered.

Brandu

============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================