Buying a Distiller
 

I've been thinking about buying a small distiller
for making alcoholic extractions of herbs, and
if anybody on RFC already does this I would
appreciate some advice. Among other uses, it
should be apparatus suitable for making absinthe
and extracting mint oil from mint leaves, if
it's possible to have one machine which can do
both things well. (I realize that might be
asking too much.)

On eBay I've seen glass distillers, Italian
copper distillers (advertised as fully functional
but for decorative use only, whatever the heck
that means), and numerous types of water
distillers. Some require adding a heat source,
such as a hot plate, while others have their own
heat source which might be dangerous or
uneconomical (such as a candle or alcohol lamp).

Some have rather complex mechanisms for recycling
watery fractions carried over into the distillate.
Based on my meager knowledge, these might actually
be the proper kind to get (as opposed to the
simpler kind which just condenses the vapors in
a copper coil and dumps the resulting liquids into
a container).

Before I blow $$$ buying a totally unsuitable
distiller, I'd like any worthwhile free advice
on the subject.

Buying a Distiller
 

In article >,
Mark Thorson > wrote:

> Before I blow $$$ buying a totally unsuitable
> distiller, I'd like any worthwhile free advice
> on the subject.

Best advice I can give is to join a more specific group for this, such
as:

rec.crafts.distilling
free.uk.distilling
alt.beer.home-brewing
alt.binaries.brewing
alt.brewing
alt.crafts.brewing
alt.homebrewing
free.uk.food+drink.home-brewing
free.uk.fooddrink.home-brewing
rec.crafts.brewing
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

Buying a Distiller
 

In article >,
"jacqui{JB}" > wrote:

> "Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > On eBay I've seen glass distillers, Italian
> > copper distillers (advertised as fully functional
> > but for decorative use only, whatever the heck
> > that means),
>
> They have to say that because it's generally illegal to distill your own
> spirits. It's a taxation issue.

No it's not.
You are allowed to brew a specific amount of alcohol per year for
personal consumption only. You just cannot legally sell it without a
liquor license.

http://www.happymountain.net/the%20law.html

Hope this helps?

>
> > Before I blow $$$ buying a totally unsuitable
> > distiller, I'd like any worthwhile free advice
> > on the subject.
>
> rec.crafts.distilling used to have some worthwhile traffic, but that looks a
> lot less hopeful today; ditto alt.alcohol and alt.alcohol.home-distillation.
> (Bummer.) But this site looks promising:
> http://www.homedistiller.org/ -- be sure to read the section on "legality."
>
> HTH.
> -j
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

Buying a Distiller
 

In article >,
Mark Thorson > wrote:

You could make your own:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ng+a+distiller
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

Buying a Distiller
 

"OmManiPadmeOmelet" > wrote in message
...
>> They have to say that because it's generally illegal to distill your own
>> spirits. It's a taxation issue.
>
> No it's not.
> You are allowed to brew a specific amount of alcohol per year for
> personal consumption only. You just cannot legally sell it without a
> liquor license.
>
> http://www.happymountain.net/the%20law.html

Sorry, Om - take a closer look at the page you cited.

The question is not "brewing" alcoholic beverages, or
even fermenting them in the home - both are legal, up to
a pretty generous total volume, for your own consumption.
What you cannot do, even for your own use, is to DISTILL
the resulting alcoholic beverage into a higher-alcohol-content
liquor, which was the point of the earlier comment. In
simpler terms, it's legal to make wine or beer at home.
You cannot make whisky, vodka, or other distilled
spirits.


Bob M.

Buying a Distiller
 

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> In article >,
> "jacqui{JB}" > wrote:
>
>> "Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> On eBay I've seen glass distillers, Italian
>>> copper distillers (advertised as fully functional
>>> but for decorative use only, whatever the heck
>>> that means),
>> They have to say that because it's generally illegal to distill your own
>> spirits. It's a taxation issue.
>
> No it's not.
> You are allowed to brew a specific amount of alcohol per year for
> personal consumption only. You just cannot legally sell it without a
> liquor license.
>

That is extremely wrong. The kind of wrong where revenuer (BATF)
snipers murder your wife and kids. (look up "Randy Weaver")

You are confusing beer and wine with distilled spirits. The former is
legal in the USA up to a rather high limit (IIRC it's 100 gallons per
adult in the household per year), and the latter is illegal just about
everywhere except New Zealand.

Best regards,
Bob

Buying a Distiller
 

In article >,
zxcvbob > wrote:

> OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> > In article >,
> > "jacqui{JB}" > wrote:
> >
> >> "Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >>
> >>> On eBay I've seen glass distillers, Italian
> >>> copper distillers (advertised as fully functional
> >>> but for decorative use only, whatever the heck
> >>> that means),
> >> They have to say that because it's generally illegal to distill your own
> >> spirits. It's a taxation issue.
> >
> > No it's not.
> > You are allowed to brew a specific amount of alcohol per year for
> > personal consumption only. You just cannot legally sell it without a
> > liquor license.
> >
>
> That is extremely wrong. The kind of wrong where revenuer (BATF)
> snipers murder your wife and kids. (look up "Randy Weaver")
>
> You are confusing beer and wine with distilled spirits. The former is
> legal in the USA up to a rather high limit (IIRC it's 100 gallons per
> adult in the household per year), and the latter is illegal just about
> everywhere except New Zealand.
>
> Best regards,
> Bob

Sorry, but that's why I posted the link.

To clarify it.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

Buying a Distiller
 

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> In article >,
> "jacqui{JB}" > wrote:
>
>
>>"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
...
>>
>>
>>>On eBay I've seen glass distillers, Italian
>>>copper distillers (advertised as fully functional
>>>but for decorative use only, whatever the heck
>>>that means),
>>
>>They have to say that because it's generally illegal to distill your own
>>spirits. It's a taxation issue.
>
>
> No it's not.
> You are allowed to brew a specific amount of alcohol per year for
> personal consumption only. You just cannot legally sell it without a
> liquor license.
>
> http://www.happymountain.net/the%20law.html
>
> Hope this helps?

No offense, but did you actually read the link you sent?
In the US, if you produce alcohol, even as a by-product of another
process (such as distilling essential oils) it's illegal, period.

You can homebrew beer and wine, but you can't distill it. You can
distill other things, however.

Some other countries, Austriala for one (I think, any Aussies here?),
you can distill small amounts of alcohol for personal use.


>
>
>>>Before I blow $$$ buying a totally unsuitable
>>>distiller, I'd like any worthwhile free advice
>>>on the subject.

What does the original poster want to distill? The answer to that will
tell you if it's legal or not.

>>
>>rec.crafts.distilling used to have some worthwhile traffic, but that looks a
>>lot less hopeful today; ditto alt.alcohol and alt.alcohol.home-distillation.
>>(Bummer.) But this site looks promising:
>>http://www.homedistiller.org/ -- be sure to read the section on "legality."
>>
>>HTH.
>>-j

Buying a Distiller
 

In article <Xkfxg.19404$_c1.16456@fed1read05>,
PastaLover > wrote:

> > No it's not.
> > You are allowed to brew a specific amount of alcohol per year for
> > personal consumption only. You just cannot legally sell it without a
> > liquor license.
> >
> > http://www.happymountain.net/the%20law.html
> >
> > Hope this helps?
>
> No offense, but did you actually read the link you sent?

I did, after the fact...
My bad.

Looks like only beer and wine are allowed.

That sucks!
Thanks for correcting me.


> In the US, if you produce alcohol, even as a by-product of another
> process (such as distilling essential oils) it's illegal, period.
>
> You can homebrew beer and wine, but you can't distill it. You can
> distill other things, however.
>
> Some other countries, Austriala for one (I think, any Aussies here?),
> you can distill small amounts of alcohol for personal use.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson