I find it funny yall think its going to be legalized some day. Where i live they publish their alki tax rev per county and the county i live in made almost 500.000 and the county i work in made 1.27 mil. The lowest county minus the dry county made i think it was 140.000
Theres 100x more of a chance that weed will be legalized simply because of tax rev. A article i read awhile back broke it down to the ingredients consumed to do our hobby and it basically concluded if everyone did it the result would be higher priced everything do to the consumption of materials and lost tax rev.
On the upside tho there would be fewer challenged folks running around. Accidents happen but we usually have safety things in place. If just anyone was doing it people would be passing away from poising. explosions and the darwin effect. Not that we couldnt live with a few less people in the world but its not politically correct.
Legalization view
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still_stirrin
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Re: Legalization view
Who do you think the biggest lobbyist for revised alcohol (e.al.) tax is on Capital Hill? My guess, the beer, liquor and tobacco producers. They're the ones who "pay the bills" for this legislative activity.
But "hobby level" is still in the noise. When the hobby gets big enough that it starts to hurt the revenue streams for the beer, liquor and tobacco producers, then we'll see interest peeked in D.C. This is because the industry feels like it is losing marketshare. In the meantime, they try to retain marketshare by diversifying their products...to capture the wider niche markets as the craft develops (primarily from us hobbyists). Have you seen the varied product lines some of the majors are producing now...just look at your local retail liquor store. Really, "orange flavored beer" from Anheuser-Busch??
The laws won't change anytime soon, or at least until the BLT producers support the change, and why should they? They're the ones paying the taxes now (because of the laws) and you'd think that they would be in favor of reducing the burden. But, legalizing hobby distilling would only further dilute their marketshare (and revenue streams), especially in areas where moonshining is intrinsic to the culture.
So, I say....stay safe, discreet, and responsible. Stay "under the RADAR".
ss
But "hobby level" is still in the noise. When the hobby gets big enough that it starts to hurt the revenue streams for the beer, liquor and tobacco producers, then we'll see interest peeked in D.C. This is because the industry feels like it is losing marketshare. In the meantime, they try to retain marketshare by diversifying their products...to capture the wider niche markets as the craft develops (primarily from us hobbyists). Have you seen the varied product lines some of the majors are producing now...just look at your local retail liquor store. Really, "orange flavored beer" from Anheuser-Busch??
The laws won't change anytime soon, or at least until the BLT producers support the change, and why should they? They're the ones paying the taxes now (because of the laws) and you'd think that they would be in favor of reducing the burden. But, legalizing hobby distilling would only further dilute their marketshare (and revenue streams), especially in areas where moonshining is intrinsic to the culture.
So, I say....stay safe, discreet, and responsible. Stay "under the RADAR".
ss
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My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
Re: Legalization view
My personal view is, it would be nice if it were legal so I could talk about it to people. But, I don't really care because it's none of the govs business what I do with legally bought materials I paid tax on already. It's like them saying you can't make pasta, only chef boyardee can make pasta for you, god forbid you make some sauce to go with it.
Morethenaname you mentioned poisoning, 99.9% of any type of poisoning is due to it being illegal not to protect you from it. During prohibition the government poisoned industrial and medical alcohol, knowing that people would use it for human consumption. They then blamed moonshiners for the many deaths and sickness that it led to.
It's all about money and power, if you get a chance I would suggest reading up on the whiskey rebellion. It's very eye opening on how and why things were done that led us to our current state.
You mentioned the dangers of stillin but if you ask me just taking a shower is more dangerous. Have you ever looked up the deaths and injuries in the bathroom, it's staggering.
If the hobby were legal, most hazards would be nearly non existent.
Morethenaname you mentioned poisoning, 99.9% of any type of poisoning is due to it being illegal not to protect you from it. During prohibition the government poisoned industrial and medical alcohol, knowing that people would use it for human consumption. They then blamed moonshiners for the many deaths and sickness that it led to.
It's all about money and power, if you get a chance I would suggest reading up on the whiskey rebellion. It's very eye opening on how and why things were done that led us to our current state.
You mentioned the dangers of stillin but if you ask me just taking a shower is more dangerous. Have you ever looked up the deaths and injuries in the bathroom, it's staggering.
If the hobby were legal, most hazards would be nearly non existent.
Life is a journey you take alone. Make sure you do what you what makes you happy
Re: Legalization view
I think the theory is nonsense. The homebrew hobby CREATED the craft beer universe and all it's millions in tax revenue. Net sum, hobbyists create MORE of a market for taxed liquor, not less.
Quite simply because very few people will do it, and FAR fewer still will stick with it. How many people do you think have made at least one batch of beer, now how much money have they spent since then buying beer? Shut, most homebrewers I know spend more money on beer than the average non-brewer.
Hell, they didnt even have to outlaw changing your own oil, and most people pay a dealer $80 to do it for them. Ain't illegal to make jam, smuckers looks like its doing pretty good business still, and the fake "homemade" looking jams are commanding top dollar in grocery stores across the country.
There will be a small, measurable, and predictable cycle that matches in step with the economy. There already is. Google stats for "homebrew" and "home distillation" peak when the economy tanks, and drop off when most people would rather spend their money on booze than making it.
Quite simply because very few people will do it, and FAR fewer still will stick with it. How many people do you think have made at least one batch of beer, now how much money have they spent since then buying beer? Shut, most homebrewers I know spend more money on beer than the average non-brewer.
Hell, they didnt even have to outlaw changing your own oil, and most people pay a dealer $80 to do it for them. Ain't illegal to make jam, smuckers looks like its doing pretty good business still, and the fake "homemade" looking jams are commanding top dollar in grocery stores across the country.
There will be a small, measurable, and predictable cycle that matches in step with the economy. There already is. Google stats for "homebrew" and "home distillation" peak when the economy tanks, and drop off when most people would rather spend their money on booze than making it.