Can i make whisky at home

This next step, though, is where you can run into problems with the law. The process of distilling the mildly alcoholic beer into liquor is the regulated step in the process. Here in the United States, there is no way to legally distill alcohol for personal home use without a license.

A person may not produce distilled spirits at home for personal use. Except as otherwise provided by law, distilled spirits may only be produced by a distilled spirits plant registered with TTB under the provisions of 26 U.

All distilled spirits produced in the United States are subject to the tax imposed by 26 U. For those looking to go the legal route here, it gets complicated and expensive real quick.

Still sites require licenses, bonded operators, and incur taxes as soon as the whiskey starts rolling out of the condenser.

Record keeping is required for every drop of liquor produced, and federal regulators check and monitor those operations to make sure the right amount of tax is being paid to the government. And due to the complexity of the regulations, the difficulty in obtaining the licenses, and the other considerations like zoning laws, etc that go with them, the bar for operating your own still is set so high that almost no one besides well funded distillery operations can even consider giving it a try.

So, the legal implications of distilling alcohol pretty much put the brakes on any home distillation practices. Barrel aging is a process that originates from the wine and beer makers of centuries past. When the temperature heats up during the day, the barrel expands and allows some of the liquid into the structures of the wood itself.

That liquid breaks down some of the elements of the wood, which then releases flavor. And when the barrel contracts with the cold temperatures at night, that liquid is pushed back out of the wood and the flavors mix with the rest of the liquid. Some of the flavors you eventually get in a whiskey come from the grains that are used, but the majority of the flavors are imparted from the barrels. There are a ton of variables in this part of the process: from the material the barrels are made from, to the climate they are stored in, even down to the aromas wafting through the local environment.

Whereas wine gets most of its flavor from the grapes themselves, whiskey gets most of its character after the spirit has already been distilled. Scottish distilleries typically use plain or only slightly toasted oak barrels for their aging process, which, combined with their milder climate, develops a lighter and sweeter flavor. American bourbon, on the other hand, uses newly made charred barrels in climates with wilder temperature swings for a deeper and richer flavor.

In either case, the whiskey sits in the barrel for a few years before being bottled, soaking up all those delicious flavors. The impact that has on the price of the whiskey is pretty dramatic. Aging normally takes place in Oak barrels.

However, you can also add oak chips to the whiskey and let age. Keep in mind that whiskey only ages in the barrel. Once bottled the flavors will not change and mature. Aging makes the whiskey smoother and adds an oak flavor to the final product. Bourbon whiskey must not enter the barrel at more than In order to enjoy a glass of whiskey you need to cut it with water. Once diluted it is immediately bottled, labeled and enjoyed not necessarily in that order.

This recipe only gives you around 40 proof liquor, you will need to add extra sugar in order to up the liquor content. Your email address will not be published. Save Print. Southern Boy stills 10 lb. The steel gear-driven mechanism design make the grinding capability more powerful. You can leave it in as long as you want, but if you are making your own small batch, you probably want to try it sooner than later, right? This will give you the most flavor, in the shortest amount of time.

And while you now should have a general idea of how you can make whiskey in the comfort of your own home, it certainly doesn't mean you should. It takes a lot of risk, trial and error, and overall effort to do it right. Be careful! Use this new knowledge to impress your friends over a glass of the good stuff, instead of trying your hand at making it at home.

Skip to main content Drink Whisky. So let your imagination run wild here. Step 1: Choosing your base. Step 3: Starting fermentation. Step 4: Getting your fermentation just right.

Step 5: Putting your mash in a still. Step 6: Playing the waiting game. Step 7: Shocking the vapor. Step 8: Making sure your liquor is tasty Step 9: Bringing it all back home with barrel aging. The big, final piece of advice. Wil Fulton is a staff writer for Thrillist. If you told him he could only eat one food for the rest of his life, he'd be frightened and confused.

If you live in the US, there are two sets of laws guiding the production of alcohol — Federal Law and State Law plus local ordinances. State laws are administered by specific state agencies.

In addition, there may be county, parish, city or township laws that require local certifications, permits or licenses to be maintained in order to operate a moonshine still at home. While a handful of states do allow their residents to make whiskey legally see below , it is important to know that Federal law trumps State law on the question of whether it is legal to operate a still and make whiskey or other spirits at home.

So, the upshot is that even if you happen to live in a state which allows you to produce whisky at home, you are in violation of Federal Laws and in danger of facing tax and other charges that could be punishable by up to 10 years in prison and lead to the forfeiture of all property used to manufacture whiskey at home. Another danger is the presence of large amounts of volatile substances being mixed together and heated, which has all the ingredients for an explosion that could burn your house down or cause damage to the neighborhood.

The cynical, and even government sources, will point out that the matter is simply one of tax collection by the Federal and State governments. Permits for a number of activities involving a moonshine still are easy to obtain.

Licenses for distilling, which are contained in the Federal Distilled Spirits Permit, require a number of norms to be adhered to, a hefty fee, and regular inspections.

Ironically, the origin of the Federal restrictions against moonshine without licenses date back to the period shortly after the ratification of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights Desperate for revenues, President Washington decided to levy an excise tax on whiskey. This led to a popular uprising in Western Pennsylvania, where poor farmers, distillers and townsfolk protested that their fundamental rights as just ratified under the Bill of Rights were being infringed upon.

There were a series of attempts at reconciliation, but matters kept getting worse till in July of , things reached a head with an armed insurgency.

The rebellion was quelled by militia from a number of states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland aided by a handful of Army regulars but the die was cast — the Federal government had decided that whisky was a commodity whose production and distribution could be taxed to pay for the needs of the state. These taxes were later repealed in , when Thomas Jefferson was the U. The final nail in the coffin was put in place during the Civil War period. In , President Lincoln signed a tax bill with sweeping effect on many sectors of the US economy, including Whiskey.

That trend continues to this very day — whiskey taxes are here to stay, and so too the restrictions on producing moonshine at home.