Home Distiller

I'm now five years or so since the Sheriff took a picture of my still after a break-in. He beat me to the crime scene and there it was in the kitchen. Gallon jugs in the window sill.

He saw it, I saw him see it, he saw me see him take pictures. I had three meetings with detectives after that about break-in. Never a word.

Maybe he just wanted to copy it. You ever see a pic of your setup you didn't take or post?

I know I'm late to the party and I haven't read everything in this thread but if you look at previous busts by the feds you will notice that if you have less than one gallon of distillate they will charge you with misdemeanor possession of untaxed alcohol. More than a gallon and they charge you with felony. I also believe that the state of Texas has some rather confusing laws about distilling some of which do state that distilling for personal consumption is in fact legal, others say it is not. Been a long time since I bothered looking that up so things may have changed or my memory may be failing me.

frodo wrote:
i disagree, the still itself is not illegal to own or possess as a water distilling device.

unles their was evidence in the open that it was not a water device

it is just like a coffee pot sitting on the table. legal and harmless

i am not a lawyer nor did i sleep at a holiday inn....just an opinion that can be wrong

not true in every state. (usa) research your home state if you are unsure of the still possession law.

Surely we've got some lawyers here... Is there a reason there is not a subgroup with individual threads on different localities? I haven't looked into it but might. My SOH has access to Jstor, etc.

gflower1 wrote:Surely we've got some lawyers here... Is there a reason there is not a subgroup with individual threads on different localities? I haven't looked into it but might. My SOH has access to Jstor, etc.

There have been topics on the subject over the years but laws do change over time... The best advice is to check with your local state government because anything posted could become aged and inaccurate, which could be misleading if not kept up to date... Doing real-time research when the need arises is the best practice...

Geez....I must of read the original post wrong.....I thought it was 40 gallons of wash not 40 gallons of distilled liquor.... Man that's a lot...that needs to go off site. But that's just me...

rad14701 wrote: There have been topics on the subject over the years but laws do change over time...

Ahhh true. I figured there was a reason. I keep dredging up posts from '13 or before and those could easily have changed by now if they were legal related.

cranky wrote:I know I'm late to the party and I haven't read everything in this thread but if you look at previous busts by the feds you will notice that if you have less than one gallon of distillate they will charge you with misdemeanor possession of untaxed alcohol. More than a gallon and they charge you with felony. I also believe that the state of Texas has some rather confusing laws about distilling some of which do state that distilling for personal consumption is in fact legal, others say it is not. Been a long time since I bothered looking that up so things may have changed or my memory may be failing me.

This^^^ I still haven't figured it out. Also a law saying any type of still used for distilling water that's under one gallon capacity is legal, and another that says any type of distillation device is against the law.
Jb-t

My personal opinion is hide...I mean sell everything for scrap and fill all the bottles with distilled water, you never know when clean water might be needed in an emergency. As long as nothing was tested they don't have proof it wasn't water.

i do wear shorts when i sleep nowadays, they dont give you time to dress.
some of the "water" was a little brown - cranky.

i did see somewhere online that moonshining was a misdemeanor a year in jail and $1000.00 fine in Texas
if its online its got to be true

jb-texshine wrote:

cranky wrote:I know I'm late to the party and I haven't read everything in this thread but if you look at previous busts by the feds you will notice that if you have less than one gallon of distillate they will charge you with misdemeanor possession of untaxed alcohol. More than a gallon and they charge you with felony. I also believe that the state of Texas has some rather confusing laws about distilling some of which do state that distilling for personal consumption is in fact legal, others say it is not. Been a long time since I bothered looking that up so things may have changed or my memory may be failing me.

This^^^ I still haven't figured it out. Also a law saying any type of still used for distilling water that's under one gallon capacity is legal, and another that says any type of distillation device is against the law.
Jb-t

here...
legal for a water still
legal for a fuel still with permit
for booze
illegal to possess any part of or still in whole

but you can buy them or parts on craigs list

goblin wrote:i do wear shorts when i sleep nowadays, they dont give you time to dress.
some of the "water" was a little brown - cranky.

i did see somewhere online that moonshining was a misdemeanor a year in jail and $1000.00 fine in Texas
if its online its got to be true

It ain't illegal to have brown water, that's all it was if they don't have proof otherwise, could have even been JD for all they know and I think at this point it is the feds you need to be concerned with not state.

Cranky's right, There's a post on here somewhere that explains how every State in the Union has a law on their books that says that hobby/home distilling is legal, but don't get your hopes up... because the Fed laws trump the State laws and they say it's illegal. AND the Administration attempted to have all State and local LEA's act as Federal agents, if the State doesn't comply then the Fed with holds funds.I know there was resistance to this, but I don't know how far they where able to go.... Be concerned about the Fed and be very wary of the local and State as well.

My Grandpa was referencing sex when he made the comment but it applies to stilling as well :"Some things ought to be done after dark and damned little said about them "..............

Any updates to this? I see goblin still logging in... Good news then or still early days?

all is well, i still have hooch to drink.

Lucky man!!

goblin wrote:all is well, i still have hooch to drink.

Hooray!

Did one of you grab the last gal jug from Farmboy's?
If ya did I could use some Empty or Full don't matter to me?

Truckinbutch wrote:My Grandpa was referencing sex when he made the comment but it applies to stilling as well :"Some things ought to be done after dark and damned little said about them "..............

I dunno, I really like a good nooner.