5 ms·

It made sense until he advocated home-distilling.

by bencollier49 12y ago

ceejayoz 12y ago
What's wrong with that? I'd love to make some rum or whiskey at home.
sejje 12y ago
What's the problem with home-distilling?
- tribaal 12y ago
  Methanol.
  - scarecrowbob 12y ago
    Having done a bit, honestly, you really can't drink anything that you wouldn't get if you were making beer or wine, and most folks don't like drinking formaldehyde or acetone by themselves, so the foreshots get pulled off... so there really is no risk in going blind or something. The idea that you can go blind off this stuff has more to do with propaganda and poisoning folks: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2010/02/the_chemists_war.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa...
    - TheCoelacanth 12y ago
      Yes, the methanol that people were poisoned by wasn't an accidental byproduct of distillation; it was intentionally added to industrial alcohol to keep people from drinking it.
  - Zigurd 12y ago
    You don't get methanol from distilling. Methanol is found in denatured alcohol. Methanol poisoning comes from drinking denatured alcohol. Kind of like how they put acetaminophen in some narcotic painkillers. Really, the people who designed such ghoulish "deterrents" should be held accountable for the deaths they contributed to.
- gallerytungsten 12y ago
  Among other reasons, it's relatively easily to have a catastrophic fire. Unlike winemaking and brewing, where your end product will be in the range of 4% to 13% ABV, which generally won't burn, you can easily distill to 150 proof (75% ABV) with a simple pot still (or 190 proof with a column still). 150 proof is a highly flammable liquid. The vapor is flammable. If you have a vapor leak it can ignite. The flame is invisible. In other words, it's not something to take lightly. In the micro distilling industry, I personally know of a half dozen fires over the past couple years. It's easy for something to go wrong very, very quickly. Here is an article on the most recent fire: http://newsok.com/blast-rocks-moore-distillery/article/4907972 http://newsok.com/blast-rocks-moore-distillery/article/49079...
  - wtbob 12y ago
    Yeah, catastrophic fires are an issue. And yet we've no problem with home storage of gasoline for lawn mowers (and yes, we don't typically collect gasoline in gaseous form over heat sources). Catastrophic fires are also an issue with deep-frying turkeys, and in fact with deep-frying anything. And we do already have a well-formed body of law dealing with responsibility for fires, damage to neighbour's homes &c. 'Someone might maybe do something wrong' isn't really a good reason for there to be a federal ban on most behaviours. I'd be much less incensed were it at the city or even neighbourhood level.
    - gallerytungsten 12y ago
      I mentioned fires as a point I would be concerned about. While distilling is heavily regulated at the Federal, state, and local levels, the Feds did not ban it due to concerns over fire safety. Rather, a chief reason is "to protect the revenue," which, in the case of Federal excise taxes, is substantial. ($13.50 per proof gallon; a proof gallon is 1 gallon at 50% ABV.) The Feds don't really concern themselves with fire safety. Rather, just as you desire, that's regulated at the state and local level. The TTB outlook is that you have to satisfy the local and state levels as far as fire safety is concerned.
      - 12y ago
ctdonath 12y ago
Not sure what the paranoia about home distilling stems from. Actually, I read most of article wondering when he would get to discussing the absurd home-distilling laws. Making beer, wine, etc is legal in most jurisdictions (with some out-there upper limit like 200 gallons per person per year max). Nothing wrong with drinking [most of] that stuff; with a little practice you can make it better than the cheap store-bought forms (or maybe even get actually good at it). Distilling is simply removing some of the content of the aforementioned beverage. Usually it involves extracting the [harmless] ethanol from the fermented must/wort via evaporation & condensation, which can be done as simply as a "disappearing still" (arrangements of common kitchen pots, ice, and stove). Legally, "distilling" also includes other forms of concentrating the alcohol by removing something, such as by freezing the liquid and draining the still-fluid components from the ice. Either way, it's pretty stupid that people can make vast amounts of inebriants at home for personal use, but are severely punished for concentrating it (again, for personal use). Yes, some people do get stupid and make harmful solutions. A main factor therein is the fact that it's illegal to make distilled spirits without expensive licenses, which in turns make it hard for people to make it properly & safely (both in manufacturing and product). Sure you could argue that they shouldn't be doing illegal things, but that ignores the easy LEGAL availability (liquor stores flourish), and the fact that it's so easy to make at home it's almost hard not to.
- jccooper 12y ago
  I think the paranoia is mostly due to the practice being so illegal for so long that nobody has any idea how it works or contact with it, and now assumes that there must be some good reason other than "we forgot to fix that after Prohibition". And perhaps the authorities encourage this view to protect tax revenues (which are substantial.)

It made sense until he advocated home-distilling.

ceejayoz 12y ago

What's wrong with that? I'd love to make some rum or whiskey at home.

sejje 12y ago

What's the problem with home-distilling?

tribaal 12y ago
Methanol.
- scarecrowbob 12y ago
  Having done a bit, honestly, you really can't drink anything that you wouldn't get if you were making beer or wine, and most folks don't like drinking formaldehyde or acetone by themselves, so the foreshots get pulled off... so there really is no risk in going blind or something. The idea that you can go blind off this stuff has more to do with propaganda and poisoning folks: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2010/02/the_chemists_war.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa...
  - TheCoelacanth 12y ago
    Yes, the methanol that people were poisoned by wasn't an accidental byproduct of distillation; it was intentionally added to industrial alcohol to keep people from drinking it.
- Zigurd 12y ago
  You don't get methanol from distilling. Methanol is found in denatured alcohol. Methanol poisoning comes from drinking denatured alcohol. Kind of like how they put acetaminophen in some narcotic painkillers. Really, the people who designed such ghoulish "deterrents" should be held accountable for the deaths they contributed to.
gallerytungsten 12y ago
Among other reasons, it's relatively easily to have a catastrophic fire. Unlike winemaking and brewing, where your end product will be in the range of 4% to 13% ABV, which generally won't burn, you can easily distill to 150 proof (75% ABV) with a simple pot still (or 190 proof with a column still). 150 proof is a highly flammable liquid. The vapor is flammable. If you have a vapor leak it can ignite. The flame is invisible. In other words, it's not something to take lightly. In the micro distilling industry, I personally know of a half dozen fires over the past couple years. It's easy for something to go wrong very, very quickly. Here is an article on the most recent fire: http://newsok.com/blast-rocks-moore-distillery/article/4907972 http://newsok.com/blast-rocks-moore-distillery/article/49079...
- wtbob 12y ago
  Yeah, catastrophic fires are an issue. And yet we've no problem with home storage of gasoline for lawn mowers (and yes, we don't typically collect gasoline in gaseous form over heat sources). Catastrophic fires are also an issue with deep-frying turkeys, and in fact with deep-frying anything. And we do already have a well-formed body of law dealing with responsibility for fires, damage to neighbour's homes &c. 'Someone might maybe do something wrong' isn't really a good reason for there to be a federal ban on most behaviours. I'd be much less incensed were it at the city or even neighbourhood level.
  - gallerytungsten 12y ago
    I mentioned fires as a point I would be concerned about. While distilling is heavily regulated at the Federal, state, and local levels, the Feds did not ban it due to concerns over fire safety. Rather, a chief reason is "to protect the revenue," which, in the case of Federal excise taxes, is substantial. ($13.50 per proof gallon; a proof gallon is 1 gallon at 50% ABV.) The Feds don't really concern themselves with fire safety. Rather, just as you desire, that's regulated at the state and local level. The TTB outlook is that you have to satisfy the local and state levels as far as fire safety is concerned.
    - 12y ago

ctdonath 12y ago

Not sure what the paranoia about home distilling stems from. Actually, I read most of article wondering when he would get to discussing the absurd home-distilling laws. Making beer, wine, etc is legal in most jurisdictions (with some out-there upper limit like 200 gallons per person per year max). Nothing wrong with drinking [most of] that stuff; with a little practice you can make it better than the cheap store-bought forms (or maybe even get actually good at it). Distilling is simply removing some of the content of the aforementioned beverage. Usually it involves extracting the [harmless] ethanol from the fermented must/wort via evaporation & condensation, which can be done as simply as a "disappearing still" (arrangements of common kitchen pots, ice, and stove). Legally, "distilling" also includes other forms of concentrating the alcohol by removing something, such as by freezing the liquid and draining the still-fluid components from the ice. Either way, it's pretty stupid that people can make vast amounts of inebriants at home for personal use, but are severely punished for concentrating it (again, for personal use). Yes, some people do get stupid and make harmful solutions. A main factor therein is the fact that it's illegal to make distilled spirits without expensive licenses, which in turns make it hard for people to make it properly & safely (both in manufacturing and product). Sure you could argue that they shouldn't be doing illegal things, but that ignores the easy LEGAL availability (liquor stores flourish), and the fact that it's so easy to make at home it's almost hard not to.

jccooper 12y ago
I think the paranoia is mostly due to the practice being so illegal for so long that nobody has any idea how it works or contact with it, and now assumes that there must be some good reason other than "we forgot to fix that after Prohibition". And perhaps the authorities encourage this view to protect tax revenues (which are substantial.)