Building stills

Discussion and plans for legalizing our hobby.

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Bigmanley2
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Building stills

Post by Bigmanley2 »

I've read and searched south Carolina's distillation laws most of the day today and still can't find any law stating if it is or isn't illegal or legal to own or sell a distillation apparatus in the state . I am a fabricator and I've had numerous people ask me to build them a still but I need to know if it is legal or illegal, it's not worth te fines or the jail,time to me, tobuild someone else a still. Does anybody know the answer to this question ? PLEASE
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Re: Building stills

Post by googe »

Your better off ringing them and talking direct, or email so you can get the correct answers. I'm not saying people on here don't know, it's just that if someone says yeah it's ok go for it, and it's not legal, your stuffed. Get the.answer from the people who make the laws. Good luck mate.
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jholmz
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Re: Building stills

Post by jholmz »

dont know about south carolina laws but as far as manufacture of stills i would imagine you would have to register as a still maker and all stills have to be serial numbered. if these people asking you to build a still are friends you might want to rethink becoming a manufacturer anyway as you are legally obligated by federal law to keep and furnish upon demand names and addresses of all customers to the ttb
Bigmanley2
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Re: Building stills

Post by Bigmanley2 »

I called S.L.E.D. Myself today, and for any body else wondering it IS ILLEGAL in the state of South Carolina to posses a still
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Re: Building stills

Post by Prairiepiss »

I have a feeling that if you called any state and asked. They would tell you its illegal. And not because they know the law that makes it illegal. But because they think it is. It would be a mater of talking to the right person. I would ask for a reference of a statute number. Or where to find that particular law.

Or you could just leave it at that. And get out of it.
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RebelBubba
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Re: Building stills

Post by RebelBubba »

Just a quick note: I read South Carolinas law which is covered in Title 61 and from what I read that a still or vessel as they call it is deemed to be illegal if it used for the manufacture or storage of liquor or if it has any products used to make liquor such a corn, sugar or grains in it.
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kingearwig
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Re: Building stills

Post by kingearwig »

i would ask if it is legal to possess a WATER distillation apparatus... I would then find out the maximum legal size of said water distillation apparatus.
Bigmanley2
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Re: Building stills

Post by Bigmanley2 »

Thank you rebel bubba I will read even more now lol I read about 2 hours worth and got tired of reading. @ prairie piss i called the solicitor and they directed me to sled ( whom I didnt want to talk to either) we had about a 15 minute conversation and they said it was illegal to posses, running or not. Weather or not he was accurate is a mystery until I read the rest of the law. And this question was to figure out how I could go about building them not weather or not to stop. :thumbup: thanks for the input y'all
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Thump35
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Re: Building stills

Post by Thump35 »

Bigmanley2 wrote:I called S.L.E.D. Myself today, and for any body else wondering it IS ILLEGAL in the state of South Carolina to posses a still
Did they point you to the law that says its illegal to make or posses a still? I ask cause I was told the same thing in one of the states I lived in in the past. Problem is they could not point me to the law that says its illegal. In the states, if there is not a law saying its illegal. Then by default it is legal. The legalities of this hobby are still something Im not fluient in, but yeah.
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Bigmanley2
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Re: Building stills

Post by Bigmanley2 »

I killed two or three trees printing it but reading it myself is the only way ill know for sure. Might take a month to read it but I'm gonna :thumbup:
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heynonny
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Re: Building stills

Post by heynonny »

I would imagine its kinda like guns, if youre not a felon. You can have a gun, but you cant just shoot at anything that moves. If it was a water purifier or 'essiential oil extracter' for instance, that would be kool.

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Re: Building stills

Post by bluenose »

Bigmanley2 wrote:I called S.L.E.D. Myself today, and for any body else wondering it IS ILLEGAL in the state of South Carolina to posses a still
what's SLED?
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scout
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Re: Building stills

Post by scout »

In Arkansas, it's illegal to possess any portion (part) of a still designed for the manufacture of whisky.
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Jeffno
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Re: Building stills

Post by Jeffno »

Under regulations in part 29 of title 27, Code of Federal Regulations, TTB has the right to require manufacturers of stills to give the name and address of each customer.

I also remember reading somewhere that under federal law any distilling device must be marked and registered with the ATF unfortunately I can't seem to find the regulation code. But I hope this helps some.
Stink_Pickle
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Re: Building stills

Post by Stink_Pickle »

scout wrote:In Arkansas, it's illegal to possess any portion (part) of a still designed for the manufacture of whisky.
In that case, whenever you are done with any plumbing project, and have any copper tubing that can be assembled into anything that coul be used on a still you have to dispose of it? I don't think that conviction will hold up in any court. However, IF there was sufficient evidence that you had made or sold, illegal spirits. And, you were in possession of an assembled still, or parts that could assemble a still, and those parts were next to one another, not scatered through out the property. It may be a different story. But, plumbing parts, scattered through out the house, and a big pot sitting somewhere else, would be hard or impossible to make a real case. And if you have not sold any, why would anyone look anyway?
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scout
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Re: Building stills

Post by scout »

Stink_Pickle wrote:
scout wrote:In Arkansas, it's illegal to possess any portion (part) of a still designed for the manufacture of whisky.
In that case, whenever you are done with any plumbing project, and have any copper tubing that can be assembled into anything that coul be used on a still you have to dispose of it? I don't think that conviction will hold up in any court. However, IF there was sufficient evidence that you had made or sold, illegal spirits. And, you were in possession of an assembled still, or parts that could assemble a still, and those parts were next to one another, not scatered through out the property. It may be a different story. But, plumbing parts, scattered through out the house, and a big pot sitting somewhere else, would be hard or impossible to make a real case. And if you have not sold any, why would anyone look anyway?
The Arkansas Law means a boiler, worm, thumper keg, etc. the parts would need to be formed for use as a distilling apparatus. The law is specific however that the pieces of a rig do not need to be put together. Since January One,2014 there have been two stills busted in Arkansas, both times the report showed that the way the operators were caught was because neighbors turned them in for selling to underage people. If anyone were to ask me, that type of activity, besides being just stupid, is asking for the law to find you. Don't tell, Don't sell is always a good mantra to follow. Even if you live in Missouri, where they have made it legal for personal consumption.
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