Home Distiller

The original posting was that House Bill 2972 passed the WV House of Delegates on 1/24/22 and is now in the WV Senate under consideration. It would allow home distilling of spirits up to 50 gallons per year for 1 person over 21 living in a residence and 100 gallons a year for 2 or more people living in a residence over the age of 21. If it passes the Senate and gets signed by the governor, then home distilling would be legal under West Virginia State law.
As I also said in the original posting, How this would play out against the federal law that makes home distilling illegal would be interesting.

Well,.the 2022 Legislative session for West Virginia adjourned for the year on March 20th, 2022. The bill to allow home distilling is dead for 2022.

Can you link to the bill? I “am close with” a person running for the Texas House and this a great opportunity.

You should be able to find it if you Google West Virginia HB 2972.

Just saw this topic, hope the bill is revived.

My take on the issue is that any number is the breakthrough. 50 gallons, 50 litres, or 50oz, per day, month, year - it doesn't matter. The most important thing is that you are legally allowed to have the still.

Good luck to any regulator who wants to prove that you used it a bit too much.

Dec, 2023: NEW - but still; "just another brick in the wall" - or - more of the same.

Federal Lawsuit Challenges Ban On One Of The Most American Things Ever

Apparently the bill to distill your own alcohol in West Virginia has been revisited, and it passed the house of delegates now it goes to the West Virginia Senate. So we are one step closer. Here is the link to the news article.....https://www.wtrf.com/top-stories/west-v ... e-at-home/

Like everything else, this will come down to money. If they can figure out how to tax you heavily on items designated for the purpose, then it will pass.

The bill was amended.....still unclear if personal home distilling is permitted, but if it is.....5 gallons per calendar year if one person in home or 10 gallons per year if two or more people in home. For reference.....House Bill 4973 in WV Legislature.

rickyaifd wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 2:12 am The bill was amended.....still unclear if personal home distilling is permitted, but if it is.....5 gallons per calendar year if one person in home or 10 gallons per year if two or more people in home. For reference.....House Bill 4973 in WV Legislature.

Woow , I’d be fucked then ……..but who’s measuring ….. and counting heads .

Question.....according to some information ..... conflicting..... these states currently allow home distillation. Can anyone in these states either confirm or deny the legality? Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and Rhode Island. Trying to determine where else, besides the pending legislation in West Virginia, is legalized on the state level.

Can confirm it's legal at the state level in Missouri. 100gal per adult per year for personal use. Maximum of 200gal per household per year.

rickyaifd wrote: ↑Fri Mar 08, 2024 1:06 pm

Arizona is legal IF you register your still federally, but you can't register it with the feds since it's illegal federally, so it's kinda BS. The good part is that it's a misdemeanor, so IF you are caught, the most that will happen is they take all your distilling equipment. This is all personal consumption, if you are caught selling you can get in big trouble.

UPDATE : I have been following this bill as it makes it way through the West Virginia Legislature. It is currently waiting on the governor to take action on the bill. It passed both the WV House of Delegates and the WV Senate. The legislative session for 2024 ended on March 9th. The governor has 15 days to either sign the bill into law, veto the bill, or do nothing. If he signs it or does nothing, then after 15 days it automatically becomes law. So, I will post another update on March 29th which is the 17th calendar day. This is calendar days, not business days EXCLUDING Sundays. So the deadline is actually March 27th.
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As it stands now, IF IT PASSES, it will be legal in the state of West Virginia to make your own distilled alcoholic spirit. The maximum you can make will be 5 gallons per year if there is only one person in a home or a residence or up to 10 gallons a year if there are two or more people in a home or a residence.
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For reference, if you want to follow the progression of the bill, it is WV House Bill number 4793 for 2024 legislative session.

It really comes down to the old wisdom of "don't commit two felonies at the same time". Don't invite LEO over to your home by doing other stupid stuff (selling liquor, beating your spouse, etc.).

Deplorable wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 6:31 pm Having said that, I can't imagine needing 100 gallons of of distilled spirits a year for personal consumption.

Ive never done the math before, but 100 gal a year is .27 gal a week or just over 1L per week. That's like 2 drinks a night... its really not that much.

Bolverk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:31 am Ive never done the math before, but 100 gal a year is .27 gal a week or just over 1L per week. That's like 2 drinks a night... its really not that much.

Your math is a bit off. 100 gal/ 52 week in year is 1.92 gal per week or .27 gal per day.

subbrew wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 12:21 pm Your math is a bit off. 100 gal/ 52 week in year is 1.92 gal per week or .27 gal per day.

That's still only 2 really big drinks per day...

I wonder if that 5 gallons is alcohol gallons, i.e. you can have 10 gallons if your product is 100 proof. Or 20 gallons if it is only 50 proof. Hopefully it does not include the 1.5 gallons of so if heads I collect and put in my fire starter can.

Looks like it's 25 gallons for one person, 50 gallons for two or more in the household.

https://legiscan.com/WV/text/HB4793/2024

I don't see anything about it being proof gallons or alcohol gallons; it just refers to "aggregate amount of alcoholic liquor".

subbrew wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 12:21 pm

Bolverk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:31 am Ive never done the math before, but 100 gal a year is .27 gal a week or just over 1L per week. That's like 2 drinks a night... its really not that much.

Your math is a bit off. 100 gal/ 52 week in year is 1.92 gal per week or .27 gal per day.

Haha thanks, guess I should held off on my 2 drinks until after posting.

Probably the situation where federal law overrides state law will still apply...

Geoff

subbrew wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 1:01 pm I wonder if that 5 gallons is alcohol gallons, i.e. you can have 10 gallons if your product is 100 proof. Or 20 gallons if it is only 50 proof. Hopefully it does not include the 1.5 gallons of so if heads I collect and put in my fire starter can.

One approach could be to store one's newmake at barrel proof whether aging in a barrel or not, and proof down for drinking as needed, for the first year. The bill text specifies annual manufacture limits, not possession limits. So technically, over time one could make and house quite the surplus inventory as long as proper date labeling of all vessels was followed.

ozark_jake wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 1:23 pm Looks like it's 25 gallons for one person, 50 gallons for two or more in the household.

There's some confusion on the annual limits of manufacture. On the earlier HB 2972 the limits were listed as 25 and 50gal. (Click the html link to the right of BILL TEXT)

On the current HB 4793 the limits have been amended to 5, 10gal.

This may have been what has allowed it to get this far.

UPDATE : The bill landed on the governor's desk for signature on March 21st, 2024. He has 15 calendar days from the 21st to sign it. Verified through Governor's office. There was confusion if 15 calendar days excluded sundays so we should know something definite by either April 5th or April 8th. April 5th if it is NOT excluding sundays and April 8th if it IS excluding sundays. I am following the progress of this bill.

UPDATE: Governor Jim Justice find the home distillation bill and it becomes legal in the state of West Virginia to distill your own alcohol as of June 7th 2024.

Is there any registration or weird things?

For instance it's legal in AZ, BUT you have to register your still federally... but its federally illegal and cant register your still

Not in the bill as passed. Very straightforward. HB4793 is the bill number if you want to look it up.

rickyaifd wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2024 12:40 pm UPDATE: Governor Jim Justice find the home distillation bill and it becomes legal in the state of West Virginia to distill your own alcohol as of June 7th 2024.

So there should never be a shortage of Hand Sanitizer in WV ever again. Nice.