General Alcohol FAQs
Revised: 5/13/05
G1: Can I produce beer, wine or spirits for my personal or family use without paying Federal excise tax and filing Federal paperwork?
Beer
Production.
Removal of beer.
Wine
Wine for personal or family use.
Spirits
You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant. [See 26 U.S.C. 5601 & 5602 for some of the criminal penalties.] There are numerous requirements that must be met that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use. Some of these requirements are paying special tax, filing an extensive application, filing a bond, providing adequate equipment to measure spirits, providing suitable tanks and pipelines, providing a separate building (other than a dwelling) and maintaining detailed records, and filing reports. All of these requirements are listed in 27 CFR Part 19.
Spirits may be produced for non-beverage purposes for fuel use only without payment of tax, but you also must file an application, receive TTB's approval, and follow requirements, such as construction, use, records and reports.
The URL is: http://www.ttb.gov/alcohol/info/faq/genalcohol.htm#g1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Below is the section which is linked to the word, "application", in the last full paragraph above concerning "non-beverage purposes for fuel".
Sec. 19.910 Application for permit required.
Any person wishing to establish an alcohol fuel plant shall first make application for and obtain an alcohol fuel producer's permit. The application for a permit will be on Form 5110.74. The application, in duplicate, will be submitted to the regional director (compliance). The description of stills on the approved application constitutes registration of stills as required by 27 CFR 196.45. Alcohol fuel producers' permits are continuing unless automatically terminated under Sec. 19.920, suspended or revoked as provided in Sec. 19.950, or voluntarily surrendered. (Sec. 201, Pub. L. 85-859, 72 Stat. 1355, as amended (26 U.S.C. 5179); Sec. 232, Pub. L. 96-223, 94 Stat. 278 (26 U.S.C. 5181)) This was last updated on September 17, 1999
The application is five pages long and can be printed out at:
http://www.ttb.gov/forms/pdfs/5100/f511074.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
So sayeth the G-man
