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News & Current Events Apr 10, 2026 at 10:15 PM

US appeals court declares 158-year-old home distilling ban unconstitutional

Posted by kinisonkhan

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MistakenDad Apr 10, 2026 +1647
I get to tell my neighbor he can stop making moonshine in the shed now. Dale, thank you for being the reason ALDI's capped how much sugar you could buy.
1647
322throwaway1 Apr 10, 2026 +442
Costco dgaf though
442
CrazeRage Apr 10, 2026 +180
yeah going to the family grocer for bulk orders is silly lmao
180
yukichigai Apr 11, 2026 +119
At that point skip Costco and go to the restaurant supply store. They *definitely* don't care how much you buy and the prices are damn good.
119
CrazeRage Apr 11, 2026 +36
Is the prices comment pre or post knowledge that they got bought by sysco which immediately raised prices
36
yukichigai Apr 11, 2026 +38
Ironically the most popular restaurant supply store around here is owned by Sysco's competitor, US Foods. Their prices are worth it for the most part, though you wind up asking yourself questions like "what am I going to do with 50 pounds of potatoes?"
38
Murky-Relation481 Apr 11, 2026 +26
I used to buy massive bags of churros and put them in the freezer at work. No one ate them. They did eat the gummy worms though! Just pounds and pounds of gummy worms.
26
yukichigai Apr 11, 2026 +18
I've been picking up bags of Zots and dumping them in the snack tray in the break room. A bunch of people had no idea what Zots were. Now they know of Zots: Destroyer of Tongues.
18
Dwealdric Apr 11, 2026 +11
When I was distilling professionally, our supplier had a shortage, so we had to get skids of sugar from costco. That was a blast...
11
TheArmoredKitten Apr 11, 2026 +10
Hell, take the pallet. They f****** dare you.
10
ThankYouMrUppercut Apr 10, 2026 +1746
You're out there somewhere, Beer Baron, and I will find you.
1746
StaticR0ute Apr 10, 2026 +785
^no ^you ^won’t
785
ThankYouMrUppercut Apr 10, 2026 +450
Yes I will.
450
StaticR0ute Apr 10, 2026 +397
^won’t
397
101Alexander Apr 10, 2026 +27
*Annoyed grunt*
27
pak9rabid Apr 10, 2026 +54
well…you all know what laughter sounds like.
54
crabtabulous Apr 11, 2026 +77
Dateline: Springfield. The elusive beer baron continues to thumb his nose at the authorities. Swaggering about in a garish new hat, he seemed to say, "Look at me, Rex Banner! I have a new hat!"
77
PhamilyTrickster Apr 10, 2026 +7973
Huzzah! Let the golden era of homemade spirits officially begin! (As opposed to all the hobbyists working in "secret")
7973
elboltonero Apr 10, 2026 +2218
My local homebrew store selling stills for making "distilled water and essential oils"
2218
RainbowDarter Apr 10, 2026 +577
Vevor has entered the chat.
577
non-squitr Apr 10, 2026 +280
Vevor is in all the chats lol. They make f****** everything
280
english-23 Apr 10, 2026 +68
Yeah, anytime I see their name on a product I say "of course they do"
68
UncleCeiling Apr 10, 2026 +89
They actually don't make anything, they just rebrand and sell a lot of things.
89
airfryerfuntime Apr 11, 2026 +74
They actually manufacture a lot of their own stuff. They've become a *huge* company. One of their manufacturing plants is even experimenting with a new production method that could save a lot of time.
74
SmokeGSU Apr 11, 2026 +49
I've bought several Vevor items the past few years. I've found their quality to be just as good as Harbor Freight for most things. Haven't bought any duds yet.
49
upset_pachyderm Apr 11, 2026 +29
That's kind of a low bar, though. Edit: I guess they've improved in the couple of decades since I've used their products. Thanks for the info everyone, I'll have to check them out again!
29
onewilybobkat Apr 11, 2026 +26
Even when the statement is true, it was the perfect place to get a tool you knew you'd only ever use one time. It would be c****, by the time you were done it was broken so you didn't feel bad tossing it, but you did get the job done.
26
BickNlinko Apr 11, 2026 +33
>by the time you were done it was broken so you didn't feel bad tossing it That's the trick with Harbor Freight, if you use their shitty tool so much it breaks, you know that you have a good reason to spend the money on a nice one to replace it.
33
ExcelsAtMediocrity Apr 11, 2026 +29
Likely true as with anything from china but vevor is my go to “I only need to use this lightly or once” tool. Everything I’ve bought from them, which is a lot over the last decade or so, has been solid and I’m relatively sure I still have everything and it still works.
29
non-squitr Apr 11, 2026 +21
They're basically if harbor freight harnessing Amazons shipping power
21
robodrew Apr 10, 2026 +8
This is the first time I've heard of Vevor. This probably says more about me being fully disconnected from everything lol
8
JesusStarbox Apr 10, 2026 +43
I was getting Temu ads selling stills.
43
Khaldara Apr 10, 2026 +89
“You’ve had microplastics yes, but only Temu can provide you with immediate access to beverages containing macroplastics!”
89
Donny_Do_Nothing Apr 10, 2026 +43
Don't forget lead!
43
EvidenceBasedSwamp Apr 11, 2026 +11
Lead would be the main concern. There's been a lot of recalls of Indian cookware recently. Their smelters seem to be contaminated. Sadly they process and recycle a lot of metals/ships for us... edit: example link https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-issues-warning-about-imported-cookware-may-leach-lead-august-2025 here's a paper comparing lead content from various countries https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12069085/ stainless steel was safe, aluminum and brass bad
11
Vonplinkplonk Apr 11, 2026 +8
Lead in recycled metal was the cause behind a crane failure at CERN years ago and caused a huge delay in the project. It never occurred to me that lead would be in cookware too.
8
Michael_Gibb Apr 10, 2026 +19
And forever chemicals.
19
I_see_farts Apr 10, 2026 +11
"Tastes like PFAS!"
11
OneWholeSoul Apr 10, 2026 +21
"Shut up and drink your Tupperware."
21
periodicsheep Apr 10, 2026 +24
i mean my tabletop vape is for ‘dry herbs’.
24
backsideslash Apr 10, 2026 +23
I’ve been distilling corn based essential oils for quite some time 
23
HendrixChord12 Apr 10, 2026 +64
Just like I use to buy water pipes for tobacco
64
kungpowgoat Apr 10, 2026 +38
Right next to the mini scales for weighing jewelry.
38
Kaymorve Apr 11, 2026 +30
Don’t forget the grinder for my dried herbs
30
OddDot724 Apr 11, 2026 +21
And the tiny baggies for cocaine I mean jewelry.
21
Brndrll Apr 11, 2026 +11
And video head cleaner, for my VCR.
11
wetnessanthem Apr 11, 2026 +6
Oooh this is where the thread lost me. What’s that used for?
6
Regular_Custard_4483 Apr 10, 2026 +22
I blew up a pot still that I bought on Amazon like 10 years ago or something. Those are less well built than you'd think.
22
Sea-Queue Apr 10, 2026 +60
That sounds like it was exactly as well built as I thought
60
Regular_Custard_4483 Apr 11, 2026 +4
In that bootleg pot still's defense, it was partially due to stupidity.
4
Isenrath Apr 10, 2026 +18
Haha, that gives off the same vibe as smoke shops who used to sell glass pieces for "tobacco only".
18
thrownormanaway Apr 11, 2026 +9
The sign on the display that says “there is no “B” in waterpipe”
9
The_Bitter_Bear Apr 10, 2026 +142
Hey now.  It's just really convenient all of us that are really into brewing AND making distilled water at home can now make our own spirits.  We would have never dared before!
142
MyNameCannotBeSpoken Apr 11, 2026 +14
What do you do with all that distilled water?
14
The_Bitter_Bear Apr 11, 2026 +47
Use it to make coffee and beer. That way you can control the mineral content of the water precisely.  Also useful in humidifiers/misters. 
47
OutlyingPlasma Apr 11, 2026 +24
While you might be joking. There is a somewhat large market for people with CPAP sleep machines. You need to use distilled water in them and buying that much is stupid expensive. And if you can distill water, you might as well use it for the iron, the clothes steamer, the steam cleaner, the humidifier (assuming you have sonic one) and the coffee maker.
24
Lincolns_Revenge Apr 11, 2026 +9
So I'm supposed to be using distilled water in my clothes steamer? That explains a lot.
9
7Dayss Apr 11, 2026 +13
One liter of average tap water contains about half a gram of minerals. If you evaporate that water in your steam cleaner they get left behind. That stuff builds up rather quickly and then clogs pretty much everything inside.
13
AggressiveSkywriting Apr 11, 2026 +7
They're community resilience suppliers for local sleep apnea CPAP users
7
SpicyTangyRage Apr 10, 2026 +50
Years ago I was working for a homebrew shop and two state police came in asking if we had stills or six row barley. I told him about the grain but said I didn’t know about stills (which we didn’t have anyway). The next week they both came in out of uniform with two bottles of their own stuff.
50
Intros9 Apr 10, 2026 +21
Flashback to back when I home brewed, and the home distillers regularly wiped out all the six row at every LBS because they didn't bulk order ahead of time. Will probably take a bit of a ramp up in production and local stock to meet demand if this passes.
21
tepkel Apr 10, 2026 +434
I look forward to my inevitable bathtub gin blindness!!
434
Donnicton Apr 10, 2026 +133
Who wants a bathtub mint julep?
133
Zn_Saucier Apr 10, 2026 +72
Gone bowling. Not back, avenge death.
72
Richard-Gere-Museum Apr 10, 2026 +36
KABOOM BLAMO- Oh excuse me again dear
36
Zn_Saucier Apr 10, 2026 +20
Did you have a bean for dinner?
20
genericnewlurker Apr 10, 2026 +10
And he who shall violate this law... shall be punished by catapult.
10
Zn_Saucier Apr 10, 2026 +8
Send him back to mama, boys
8
beakrake Apr 10, 2026 +27
You laugh, but I've seen plenty of guys online buy bath water that wasn't even alcoholic.
27
ChadlyWax Apr 10, 2026 +14
Did Sydney Sweeney bathe in it?
14
lostroadrunner22 Apr 10, 2026 +11
Top 3 episode for me :)
11
darraghfenacin Apr 10, 2026 +74
You'll be glad to know that's pretty much impossible unless you add the methanol to it yourself. Brew away! 
74
LimpyDan Apr 10, 2026 +40
Antifreeze helps age the wine tho.
40
BeerForThought Apr 10, 2026 +46
Hé, monsieur. Tu dois m'aider. Ces deux gars me travaillent nuit et jour. Ils ne me nourrissent pas, ils me font dormir sur le sol. Ils ont mis de l'antigel dans le vin, et ils ont donné mon chapeau rouge à l'âne.
46
LimpyDan Apr 10, 2026 +15
I'm so happy this was picked up on immediately.
15
BeerForThought Apr 10, 2026 +14
That episode came out the year before I started taking French in the 5th grade. I used to say it all the time.
14
insanelygreat Apr 11, 2026 +6
Years after that episode of The Simsons aired, I learned of the inspiration: [1985 Austrian diethylene glycol wine scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Austrian_diethylene_glycol_wine_scandal)
6
Significant_Donut967 Apr 10, 2026 +22
As long as you don't let the government get a hold of it, that won't happen. You do realize that was from the government poisoning bootleg alcohol right?
22
lostroadrunner22 Apr 10, 2026 +8
Grandpappy with his moonshine still out in the woods would be so happy, or.. unhappy? He sold a lot of illegal.. I mean.. bathtub hooch.
8
FlyingRhenquest Apr 11, 2026 +8
Great Gamma used to talk about how Great Granpaw got arrested running booze and they'd take the baby down to jail to visit him. And they'd put moonshine in the baby bottle because the guards wouldn't check it and he'd stand there talking to them and drinking it with a straw. And that one time he came home drunk, hit her and then passed out so she heated up a pot of water to boiling and threw it on him. She survived him by like 50 years for some reason.
8
Fallouttgrrl Apr 10, 2026 +6
Gonna be a whole lot of miraculously aged two day old brews soon
6
blue_orange67 Apr 10, 2026 +820
[Who wants a bathtub Mint Julep?](https://youtu.be/EVsLaFcFxkY?si=cknl4c5ROR-oDYqj)
820
A-Halfpound Apr 10, 2026 +134
Only 3 weeks until the Kentucky Derby. Fire that tub up Jethro! 
134
LightningG8921 Apr 10, 2026 +189
first time i had a mint julep was a plantation tour (legit booze i think though). two makes you feel pretty good haha. Its interesting and terrifying how such a system works though. Disclaimer: IMO we should have hung the entire confederate government and rebel army leadership, and the fact that we didn't is probably a big reason we are where we're at. I'm amazed though that this is being allowed now after being one of the most prominent american crimes through history.
189
wufnu Apr 11, 2026 +20
> IMO we should have hung the entire confederate government and rebel army leadership, and the fact that we didn't is probably a big reason we are where we're at. Welcome to r/ShermanPosting/
20
Reddituser183 Apr 10, 2026 +10
I’ve seen that episode once probably 25 years ago and I remembered before clicking the link it was the simpsons. Insane how the brain works. That show was absolutely amazing.
10
Spirit_of_Hogwash Apr 10, 2026 +29
I thought they banned it after those hillbillies went blind.
29
Pesto_Nightmare Apr 10, 2026 +38
FWIW, the reason moonshine makes people go blind is because people will intentionally add methanol to their spirits. They do this because methanol gives a similar sensation of being drunk, but for much cheaper. It is cheaper to, let's say, water down your spirits by 50%, then add back some methanol. But then if people drink to much of it, they get methanol poisoning. It is difficult to intentionally get methanol out of something you fermented yourself.
38
Tuxedo_Muffin Apr 11, 2026 +20
All moonshine has a little. Generally you only take the hearts and maybe a small amount of heads and tails for those volatile flavors. Ethyl alcohol evaporates at a specific temperature range. Anything lower or higher takes up other alcohols. I could for sure believe that an unprofessional doofus distilled rot gut all wrong and wound up with potion of blindness. Thankfully, the cure for methanol poisoning is... ETOH. Regular ethyl alcohol. So just keep drinking!
20
CharlesP2009 Apr 10, 2026 +19
How long until someone's [homemade liquor explodes](https://youtu.be/nx_X038B2q0)?
19
foundadamnname Apr 10, 2026 +1629
Guess all those moonshiners were right all along. The Duke boys are vindicated.
1629
talex365 Apr 10, 2026 +580
Eh not really, it’s still illegal to sell your liquor without taxes involved, this was more specific to a law that supposedly made it illegal to distill in your home at all
580
DuMbAsS_lOsEr_6_7 Apr 10, 2026 +170
The IRS wants it's cut of the action!
170
junkyard_robot Apr 10, 2026 +145
Of course. Selling illegal drugs is it's own crime. But not paying taxes on your profits is a separate crime.
145
kickaguard Apr 10, 2026 +83
Not paying taxes on income from any criminal activity is a crime. I really don't know how it works if you fill it out, but it's hilarious that it is part of our tax forms to report illegal income. Edit: I looked it up and found a few articles that say the IRS keeps your information confidential and will not tell anybody unless law enforcement or other entities come to them with a court order or something similar. Turns out, the IRS doesn't snitch. They just want their money.
83
amidon1130 Apr 10, 2026 +46
As far as I know the IRS doesn't snitch
46
hallese Apr 10, 2026 +46
I believe they are now being heavily pressured to snitch.
46
timeslider Apr 11, 2026 +17
And as soon as they do, that income will dry up in a heartbeat
17
eljefino Apr 11, 2026 +10
And the census was supposed to be confidential too, but somehow I bet "Big Balls" made a backup of its info to cross-reference.
10
Realtrain Apr 11, 2026 +7
Which makes sense. They want people to report it. If they snitched *at all* nobody would declare that income.
7
sitefall Apr 11, 2026 +5
This seems like an urban legend to get drug dealers to report their income and then somehow an anonymous tip is called in and they're picked up 6 months later. I can't imagine anyone (with 2+ brain cells) conducting illegal business is going to report their income?
5
Slow_D-oh Apr 11, 2026 +5
Friend of mine escorted in college, she reported all her income. I think the IRS truly doesn’t give a f*** as long as you’re paying.
5
serious_sarcasm Apr 11, 2026 +12
You don’t have to tell them the source of the money. You just have to pay taxes on it.
12
flip314 Apr 11, 2026 +8
I pay my taxes, other people should pay theirs too.
8
ArmadilloBandito Apr 10, 2026 +8
My family had an apiary and my brother got into hobby mead making. I was curious about making brandy mead but the tax was a few thousands to own a still in Texas. Some states allow you to own them to distil essential oils, water, or as decore. But it also restricts entrepreneurship if you wanted to open a distillery, you'd have to pay a shit ton or moonshine just to get your recipes down.
8
jimjomamma Apr 11, 2026 +6
Just for your own benefit, I am also a hobby mead maker and I ended up distilling it in this thought experiment you just mentioned. Distilling it removes the fun flavors and notes of honey and just turns it into bland (and very expensive) brandy. Quite a major disappointment to be honest.
6
PrincessNakeyDance Apr 10, 2026 +25
I mean there’s also FDA approval.. or ATF or whichever department makes it so we don’t go blind drinking some micro distillery’s moonshine.
25
Akbeardman Apr 10, 2026 +35
The FDA is who I point to when people say we don't need regulation. Well burt I don't like poison in my cereal or tuberculosis in my milk.
35
Realtrain Apr 11, 2026 +15
*But companies will have to compete in the free market to be the safest!* /s
15
ThePrussianGrippe Apr 11, 2026 +8
People pay good money for tuberculosis milk these days, almost as much as they’ll pay for beef milk. It’s like almond milk, but from a cow.
8
Osiris32 Apr 10, 2026 +15
Verdict brought down by the 5th Circuit, which is Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Maybe Coy went off to college after Luke and Bo came home from NASCAR.
15
Gerreth_Gobulcoque Apr 10, 2026 +22
*them duke boys
22
Swordf1sh_ Apr 11, 2026 +413
Widespread gambling, homemade alcohol, robber barons controlling society, geopolitical instability that could lead to world war…what year is it again?
413
Nukemarine Apr 11, 2026 +249
It's the roaring 20's.
249
RazsterOxzine Apr 11, 2026 +74
Oh my god! He's right!
74
ollieollyoxandfree Apr 11, 2026 +56
Hello my baby Hello my honey Hello my ragtime gal.
56
IncredibleVelocity4 Apr 11, 2026 +24
This was “The Thong Song” of its era.
24
rW0HgFyxoJhYka Apr 11, 2026 +4
Yeah I donno. In a perfect society, people probably wouldn't bother with any of these activities because they would be educated way better and pursue more noble things. On the other hand, that shit aint ever happening so people gonna drug up.
4
yoursweetlord70 Apr 11, 2026 +4
Education has been severely underfunded and not prioritized at all (at least in the US). It's how we got here, and it's why we won't be getting out anytime soon
4
Luke95gamer Apr 10, 2026 +831
I don’t think it was widely implied that home distillation should be illegal. Selling it should be though because of regulations and safe-guarding against improper brewing.
831
SonovaVondruke Apr 10, 2026 +443
This more-or-less puts Distilling on equal footing as Brewing and Winemaking as something you can (legally) explore on a hobby scale. You still can't sell it without a ton of money to set up an approved facility and navigate the state and federal red tape, and you can still be brought up on charges if you poison someone or start a fire.
443
Gamebird8 Apr 10, 2026 +80
Yeah, Liquour Sales are highly regulated and the SCOTUS will almost certainly not overturn those controls.
80
jordansinn Apr 10, 2026 +42
Let us grow our own cannabis too, please. Edit: People are missing the point and commenting about how their state allows them to grow some limited number of plants.
42
MummysSpeshulGuy Apr 10, 2026 +37
Pretty sure you can in quite a few of the states where recreational use is legal
37
jordansinn Apr 10, 2026 +25
Let us all grow, bud.
25
MummysSpeshulGuy Apr 10, 2026 +14
I agree but unfortunately no ones put me in charge yet
14
FreeUsePolyDaddy Apr 10, 2026 +91
I dug into this a few years back because I was curious about what would be involved in legally making brandy. It was legal to own distillation equipment. It was legal to distill water, and to distill things like herbal tinctures. But distillation of alcohol, even for home use, was a $10,000 penalty and up to 5 years in jail. I was curious because Maine had a lot of craft beer, some wine, but very little distilled alcohol. I spoke with the owner of one place that produced pear brandy and he told me how difficult it was to get the legal approval to do it.
91
jordansinn Apr 10, 2026 +17
When I looked into it, there was a way to distill for your own fuel but you had to add a certain percentage of methanol or something to make it unsafe for drinking as well as there being a limit to the amount you could make.
17
malac0da13 Apr 10, 2026 +7
Denatured is the term commonly used. I think they still want you to get a permit to do it though…that could vary by state though
7
R_G_FOOZ Apr 10, 2026 +99
Now that you can’t afford a house, we’ll say it’s ok to make hootch in your house
99
rhinokick Apr 10, 2026 +221
There’s a lot of misinformation in this thread. Methanol isn’t some big hidden danger in normal home distillation. It mostly comes from pectin, which is found in fruit. If you’re making a grain or sugar wash (like whiskey, vodka, gin or rum), you’re producing basically negligible amounts. You’ll get more methanol from a glass of wine than from a bottle of properly made spirits. Even if you are making brandy, it's still really hard to get enough methanol in it to blind you. Also, methanol isn’t something you can just “cut out” with removing the for-shots. It’s present across the whole run. The early fractions have slightly more, but not in a way where a simple pot still can separte it out completely. The for-shots are tossed because they contain high amounts of Acetone, Acetaldehyde and Ethyl acetate, not methanol. Most of the horror stories (especially Prohibition) come from a totally different issue, industrial alcohol being deliberately denatured with methanol. People tried to redistill it, couldn’t remove the methanol, and got poisoned. Same thing with modern cases: it’s almost always contaminated or intentionally adulterated alcohol, not normal distillation.
221
Pesto_Nightmare Apr 10, 2026 +45
> It’s present across the whole run. The early fractions have slightly more, but not in a way where a simple pot still can separte it out completely. Apparently for some combinations of stills/mash, the concentration of methanol *increases* through the run, especially relative to the amount of ethanol. So the hearts of some runs will have relatively more methanol than ethanol.
45
SonovaVondruke Apr 11, 2026 +31
In a bourbon mash, it apparently peaks right around the start of the tails. Still not enough to worry a home distiller though.
31
dadbodsupreme Apr 11, 2026 +8
Explaining azeotropes to folks is fun.
8
theyseemewhalin Apr 10, 2026 +302
Turtle fact of the day: did you know that turtles can breathe out of their butts? f*** AI / LLMs, greedy tech bros suck
302
PluginAlong Apr 10, 2026 +42
In DC we can grow up to three mature plants per person up to a max of six per household for personal consumption. The growing of psychedelics is also legal for personal consumption.
42
themattcole Apr 10, 2026 +29
Mind blowing that this is the case in the capital but not the rest of the country.
29
MummysSpeshulGuy Apr 10, 2026 +20
I mean 50% of the states allow recreational use and as far as I know you can grow your own plants in almost all of them. You can even grow your own in most states where only medicinal use is legal
20
overthemountain Apr 11, 2026 +5
40% (20/50) of states plus DC allow it.  I am unfortunately in a medicinal state that does not allow growing it.
5
Salt_Law_251 Apr 10, 2026 +33
Thumbs up from Virginia.
33
AdmrlPoopyPantz Apr 10, 2026 +10
And New Jersey!
10
tun3man Apr 10, 2026 +8
Here in Brazil we have a joke for that: "Is it illegal?"
8
IvanTheAppealing Apr 10, 2026 +22
I was just thinking how weird it is that weed is still illegal at a federal level despite more and more states legalizing it, but out of nowhere suddenly homemade liquor is legal
22
Donny_Do_Nothing Apr 10, 2026 +31
They (federal government) are not gonna just give up one of their favorite ways to f*** with hippies and black people. They're just being sorta chill about it at the moment.
31
GoblinGurly Apr 10, 2026 +50
Idk how to prove it, but this is a war time indicator
50
Imadethosehitmanguns Apr 11, 2026 +13
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
13
Nono6768 Apr 10, 2026 +65
Kaboom! Must’ve been that bean I had for breakfast
65
SonicSingularity Apr 10, 2026 +9
You dont need to keep pretending you're making those noises... your homemade beer is exploding again
9
CostChange Apr 11, 2026 +11
I have a neat story! I used to work at a homebrew shop in Montana, and we thought about bringing in distillation equipment. We literally called the ATF, and asked about the legality of selling "stills" and do you know what their response was? I shit you not: "Thats not our department".
11
justthankyous Apr 10, 2026 +19
Well, there goes the rest of my liver
19
HajimeMatsuda3308 Apr 10, 2026 +20
And just like that the Great Depression is back!!
20
derekghs Apr 11, 2026 +9
Unfortunately my home isn't 158 years old, so I guess it's still banned for me, darn.
9
usernema Apr 11, 2026 +16
This depression is going to be wild.
16
L3ft2 Apr 11, 2026 +15
Sadly, A little too late for Popcorn Sutton.[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_Sutton)
15
SpikeRosered Apr 10, 2026 +8
I'll get you Beer Baron!
8
HighScorsese Apr 10, 2026 +6
No you won’t!
6
TheRoseMerlot Apr 11, 2026 +7
Wonder how many people will blow up their own home trying this one simple trick.
7
ApplicationQuirky376 Apr 11, 2026 +29
I've been working in alcohol production for 10 years. I hate being around stills because in the wrong hands they can turn into pipe bombs. I encourage people to do a lot of research before making this a hobby. If you're local distillery or community college offers courses please take some. People can be seriously injured or die operating stills.
29
guillermotor Apr 11, 2026 +13
I was thinking about this. There can be a new era of home explosions, fires and intoxication
13
idontcarethatmuch Apr 10, 2026 +7
Bathtub gin is back on the menu boys!
7
Fire2box Apr 11, 2026 +6
Let the 4077th MASH gin still projects COMMENCE.
6
Vindicare605 Apr 11, 2026 +5
Outright banning it was always silly and unconstitutional. But it should still be regulated, distilling can be very dangerous if you do it wrong. Exploding stills are not unheard of. There should at the very minimum be safety requirements for home stills.
5
BigDaddy850 Apr 11, 2026 +7
So does this mean the Moonshiners show is now just a show about a bunch of mountain men who make alcohol for a living and aren’t sneaking around?
7
Typical-Blackberry-3 Apr 10, 2026 +14
We get a moon flyby and moonshine in the same week!
14
rarescenarios Apr 11, 2026 +10
Cool! It was definitely the law that was stopping me from making moonshine before. 
10
DiscoChiligonBall Apr 10, 2026 +98
Gosh, all this time I was just distilling 99.99% ethanol in my garage from easily accessible sources for fuel purposes and then storing it in charred oak bourbon barrels until it was time to use it. Now I can actually make alcohol for consumption? What a treat.
98
reichrunner Apr 10, 2026 +125
Let me start by saying I am so sorry, but the pedant in me won't let it go lol >I was just distilling 99.99% ethanol in my garage No you weren't. Max possible at home is about 95% (maybe up to 97% with specialized equipment). Anything higher and it pulls more water out of the air than you can remove by distilling. You need laboratory equipment and storage to approach 100% Edit: wait, you blocked me? Not gonna lie, this might be the most benign post that I've ever been blocked for lol
125
SonOfMcGee Apr 10, 2026 +16
Yep, it’s called an “azeotrope”. At 95% the concentration in vapor phase is the same a liquid phase. So boiling doesn’t purify the ethanol any further. That’s why Everclear “pure distilled spirits” is still only 190-proof. But that’s just at standard atmospheric pressure. You can mess with the azeotrope by pulling a vacuum on the system, so “pressure swing distillation” can get ethanol close to 100% pure. But it’s way too expensive for making ethanol for consumption and also pointless. The only reason to get it up to 100% is if you’re using it as a reagent in chemical manufacturing or experimentation.
16
ImperfectRegulator Apr 10, 2026 +8
> Everclear “pure distilled spirits” is still only 190-proof. which as someone who's had 160-180 proof alcohol before, I don't really get why'd you would want anything that strong, it's awful, even mixed in with soda or other drinks only helps so much
8
reichrunner Apr 11, 2026 +8
I've used it to extract flavors, definitely not something you want to just drink lol
8
USERNAME_BUT_LOUDER Apr 11, 2026 +5
In my experience most people drink for the effects rather than taste, so more alcohol = more better
5
onebandonesound Apr 11, 2026 +5
To extract alcohol soluble flavors and compounds out of other ingredients. Homemade vanilla gets a much more nuanced flavor if you soak the vanilla beans in higher proof alcohol. "Green dragon" or "Rick Simpson oil" are relatively common THC tinctures made by soaking decarbed cannabis in the highest proof alcohol you can find, and their potency is dramatically improved by increasing the alcohol percentage.
5
brad1775 Apr 10, 2026 +10
nah, just meed some molecular seives and a vacum oven, which is a like $1000, cheaper than the still
10
Mitt_Romney_USA Apr 11, 2026 +5
I thought this was more well known. Two angstrom gang rise up.
5
Breath_Deep Apr 10, 2026 +31
Hey now, he might have a laboratory grade vacuum distillation setup for making anhydrous ethanol and a dessicated jar for storing it. That said it's VERY difficult to maintain that level of purity as the ethanol will just start stripping water out of the air....
31
Tubamajuba Apr 11, 2026 +9
> Edit: wait, you blocked me? Not gonna lie, this might be the most benign post that I've ever been blocked for lol Yikes... blocked for a friendly, informative comment? Talk about emotional fragility!
9
Podmoscovium Apr 10, 2026 +4
That's nice, unfortunately my home is nowhere near 158 years old.
4
capital_bj Apr 11, 2026 +5
Popcorn Sutton approves
5
thebeef24 Apr 11, 2026 +5
A lot of focus here on booze. I'm just fascinated by the crack in the enormous mountain of jurisprudence on the Commerce Clause this represents.
5
lmdrunk Apr 11, 2026 +5
Wow I’m actually wearing a Popcorn Sutton shirt today
5
XenonFyre Apr 11, 2026 +5
Big day for hillbillies
5
Blarghnog Apr 11, 2026 +6
Huge for biofuels. People don’t even know.
6
ProgressBartender Apr 11, 2026 +4
Backyard Bourbon here we come!
4
Poppa_Mo Apr 11, 2026 +4
This shit was only enforced if you fucked up somehow anyways lol.
4
TurgidOinker Apr 10, 2026 +9
You’re out there somewhere Beer Baron, and I’ll find you. ^(No, you won’t)
9
chrisfinazzo Apr 10, 2026 +5
Reference acknowledged 😉
5
Mispelt_Usenrame Apr 10, 2026 +20
From the UK here, can someone explain what was banned before then? I thought homebrewing was a biggish thing in USA, watched loads of YouTube videos on it when I got into the hobby years ago.
20
Arec_Barwin Apr 10, 2026 +78
One could brew limited amounts of beer, and wine for personal consumption. But distilling liquor was illegal.
78
dshookowsky Apr 10, 2026 +35
A local-ish homebrew shop sold devices for 'distilling essential oils'. They were set on the shelf conveniently next to oak casks.
35
The_Bitter_Bear Apr 10, 2026 +6
I like my distilled water to have a hint of oak. 
6
Mispelt_Usenrame Apr 10, 2026 +13
Ah cool! Well good for you guys then! A hobby where the phrase "this might explode on me" is part of the adventure.
13
ElfLordSpoon Apr 10, 2026 +5
I found out about 25 years ago there is a limit on how much you can make at home, and 55 gallons of it is way over the “personal” limit. It’s also a big fine and jail time if they really want to screw you.
5
spellfox Apr 10, 2026 +24
Brewing yes, distilling no
24
OSUBrewer Apr 10, 2026 +21
After prohibition in the US, home brewing and distilling were both illegal. Brewing and winemaking ended up getting a carve-out (something like 200gal per year), but distillation always required a license, which is incredibly difficult to get.
21
ceapaire Apr 10, 2026 +7
Beer/wine/cider brewing is what's been allowed in the US.  (Heat) Distilling is/was only allowed for fuel creation.  Anything for consumption required a tax, even for personal use.  I think freeze distilling is/was in a grey area.
7
The_Bitter_Bear Apr 10, 2026 +4
I don't think enough people were freeze jacking for anyone to really care.  There's a few subs where it's popular and quite a few stories of rough hangovers from it. Might as well just drink whatever you were going to freeze as is.
4
Canahedo Apr 10, 2026 +9
Home brewing (beer, mead, etc) is allowed. Distilling is not, and is a federal crime.
9
Negative_Gravitas Apr 10, 2026 +7
[Brewing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewing) and [distilling](https://vinepair.com/spirits-101/how-distilling-works/) are different things, and it was distillation that was banned. Actually home brewing was akso banned for a long time but that ban is pretty much gone in a lot of the US now. (Should point out though, that whiskey distillation kind of requires that you brew beer first.) And yes, home brewing is absolutely a big Hobby in the US
7
bandalooper Apr 11, 2026 +10
No jobs, legal gambling, and homemade hooch. The republicans are crafting their ideal electorate/ prison population.
10
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