Free the ‘Shine! Why it’s Finally Time to Legalize Liquor
by Reason TVIf drinking makes us healthier and wealthier, why is America’s liquor policy so screwy?
Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing in 1978, and that newfound freedom fueled the craft beer movement that continues to lavish beer lovers with endless choices. But in many ways, laws that govern whiskey, gin, and other distilled spirits are stuck in the 1920s.
Federal agents still raid distilleries much like they did during Prohibition, and making any amount of moonshine at home is not only illegal, it’s a felony that can carry up to five years in prison. The result is a market dominated by a few big names, where would-be craftsmen are forced to hide their work.
And yet, despite the danger, America is in the midst of “moonshine renaissance,” in which a new wave of hipster hobbyists has joined with old-time ’shiners to flout the law and do what they love to do.
“Free the ‘Shine” is written and produced by Paul Detrick and Zach Weissmueller. Senior Producer: Ted Balaker; Additional Camera: Meredith Bragg, Josh Swain, and Alex Manning.
Approximately six minutes.
Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions of the video and subscribe to Reason.tv’s YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
89 Comments
Government is protecting the big money by preventing free market. Where is our freedom to hand create a legal beverage in our own home? How does the loss of this freedom make us safe from oursleves or fellow citizens? It does not.
The homebrew industry has not negatively impacted the beer industry. The same will be true for the liquer industry.
Just another example of BIG GOVERNMENT flexing it's muscle to consolidate mroe power over the people!!!!
Repeal prohibition!
Lets free the economy and remove the regulation that are restraining our economic growth. I know this would limit the power of the govt but that is why the Constitution has certain numerated powers vested to the govt from the people with all other rights and powers reserved for the people.
I never could understand why moonshiners can't do what they do best. Big deal. Leave the Baldwin ladies alone. I want the recipe.
good morn,
just another case where the govt is involved in a place they have zero business being involved. Is it not a great system were the govt gets to determine who and who can not have a distillery, kinda like them picking winners and losers in other industries. Here is novel idea, lets let the people determine who should win and who should lose through the right to chose what products they want to spend their money. I know most ignorant people will not be able to understand the power they have because they have been taught most of their lives that the govt is the only ones who can pick winners and losers.
And I thought that was the one thing Jimmy Carter did right, and know I learn he screwed that up as well.
One of the historical reasons for this (other than taxes, which if you're not selling it, doesn't apply) is people would use radiators with lead in them to do the dirty deed. Now I don't think that is much of an issue today. We can certainly make lead free moonshine, but the enviromentalists only let us mix it with gasoline…its a much better "home remedy" than car fuel.
It is time to criminalize liquor and make pot legal or just make pot legal. Pot prohibition is a huge waste of money; law enforcement, courts, jails, criminal records…let's go after real drugs and real criminals, why should the drunks and cocktail crowd dictate what is right and wrong.
Good Morning to you too. I agree! I think the government has a problem with anyone who makes money….that's the bottom line.
They have a problem with any one who is able to be self sufficient and not dependent on the govt to provide for them. I really hate to say this but I think the govt really hates independence
Can't say this is my biggest worry, considering what other things are being shoved down our throats, but it certainly falls in line with a do-good government run wild and taking away our freedoms.
Agreed
All of these laws take infrastructure to enforce, besides stripping us of freedom, the infrastructure to "enforce" criminal pot is absurd. And the hypocrisy of people who drink and are against pot is shocking.
" I really hate to say this but I think the govt really hates independence."
Man it sure looks that way. So the fix is, elect those of virtue. Men and women with integrity, common sense, and good judgment. Seek them out, pressure them to run. It is our only hope.
This is another example of crony capitalism. For the most part the mainstream distilled spirits in the USA are terrible. In Poland there are many craft vodkas. They are unbelievable good. All kinds of flavors. You dare not add any mix to these vodkas. Serve chilled and enjoy. Makes Grey Goose look like gut rot.
At issue here is, a community of small distillers will blow away the big boys in a heartbeat.
Geeez….Why didn't Jimmah just get rid of all the old restriction while he was at it in 1979…..?
In these horrific Days of Obama, we need all the booze we can get….
I agree……where's the Baldwin sistah's. ; )
Agreed
Maj.Gen. Jerry Curry : Obama's Eligibility Issue Moving Toward Critical Mass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TmTqvIhLig
Norweigh embraced a socialist economic model. Norweigh has the one of the highest alcoholism rates in the world. Makes you wonder if the two are related right? Talk to Norweigians and they will admit that they are related. Is that where we are headed?
I hear ya… it sounds like a double standard, but from my past as a far back, former toker one smoke and your bonkers and as an occasional drinker, one drink every hour, or so is much more manageable and functional.
Either way, drugs and alcohol have a heavy toll on our health, safety and well being. This can be argued effectively from both sides forever.
Here I am reading about my favorite subject…….since I make my own beer and grow my own hops, I call it
Slacker Beer………..Fox news alert just came on, another oil rig explosion off the coast of LA, near Grand Isle………not much info, yet.
I'll drink to that
(somebody had to say it)
Nolo,
Pass the jar, I'll have a slug too.
"why should the drunks and cocktail crowd dictate what is right and wrong."
Have you looked at the members of Congress? A lot of them ARE drunks, and almost all of them are of the cocktail crowd. I don't want a new prohibition on liquor, but I would support banning liquor for elected officials. If nothing else, it would be fun to watch them go through the DTs.
If we are do we not deserve the best liquor possible to drown out the pain of the govt?
I would say. But I do prefer sobriety so that I can fight with lucidity.
Think about it mijowi. The U.S. government is no longer in the business of facilitating it's people's freedom. They're about regulating our behavior through taxation or outright prohibition.
If distilling spirits were legal I'd start next week. I already home brew and have decided that a brewery will be my retirement career. I'd love to add distilling to my skills.
Make the Bush tax cuts permanent, lower corporate rates, and cut government spending. I bet the machine gets cranking in no time. It has worked before…
It will only be a last resort when all else has failed. Besides lucidity is much more entertaining.
LOL Yes it would, many two or more martini lunch's and cocktails. I don't want a ban either, I just like poking fun at the hypocrisy
When they can find away to out right ignore the Constitution they will regulate to death.
It was made that way because the process is illegal. If it becomes legal you'll see kits hit the market within 6 months. (My buddy and I would love a piece of that business.)
I think it's funny that the nation is beginning to legalize pot which is an illegal substance but won't allow it's citizens to make a legal product for home consumption. That's as stupid as telling someone they can't make their own salsa cause they make make it too hot.
PS. I think pot should be legal.
PPS. With the freedom granted to smoke pot and distill your own spirits should come the personal responsibility to deal with the consequences of that freedom.
This has only happened when there have been people in our govt that actually understand how we people do business in the real world. Personally I think the that there should be no corporate taxes and a simple flat or consumption tax for the people. I think this would bring manufacturing jobs back the country twice as fast as they left. I think this would also lower the cost of products for the consumer which in turn will cause demand to increase which will lead to more businesses needing a bigger labor force. We all know that when more people are working and paying lower taxes across the board the govt will actually increase the revenue through taxes because they have a broad tax base to pull from.
Amen! I would love to make some rum.
Haven't they been ignoring the Constitution whenever it suits their purposes for the last 100 years?
Former toker myself, and I would prefer stoned drivers verse drunk drivers, who usually think they are sober, any day. Stoned people at least know they are stoned. People can function stoned and no hangover the next day either. Not even close as to what one is more dangerous. Pot isn't addictive either.
I do think at first they were completely ignoring it as they do today, but yes this has been going on for at least 100 yrs.
It is all about volume. Supply and demand, consumer confidence. People aren't spending now because they are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Taxes are going to increase and business is hold on to assets as well.
I am a proponent of the Fair Tax. It would solve the problems and force the government to balance the budget.
It's kind of a fun thought, though. I keep getting this image of all these congressmen sobering up and asking who in the hell passed all this shit legislation? And, do you know where I parked my car?
What a coincidence. Two oil rig explosions happening in just five months time. I wonder if someone was about to win the fight to end the moratorium.
Government interfered to control quality of the product and to get their tax. Seems in the good old days "white lighting", depending on the professionalism of said moonshiner, could poison, blind, and even kill those willing to imbibe in the heady product. As to the tax, the govt just wanted its share of revenue from the sweat and labor of the entrepreneur – it's piece of the pie so to speak. Today there is legal moonshine. It only has to conform to certain standards of manufacture and pay tax.
Personally, I don't mind when the govt. steps in to control quality or product safety. I'm not a supporter of "caveat emptor." But I do oppose ceilings, floors, and subsidies being used to protect certain markets or products. If a business can not survive on its own, it deserves to fail. In fact, if govt were mandated to support itself, we would have far fewer problems with deficits and uncontrolled spending. It should be held to the same standards as any corporation or small business.
I think the country would be much better off if they were stoned instead of drunk, at least stoned they wouldn't be so aggressive and they might even develop a conscience. Or maybe they would just be to lazy to do anything and say to hell with it LOL
Ol' Jimmah was a teetotaler, I believe. The home brew legislation was a nod to his brother. Remember Billy Beer?
You think federal liquor laws are bad, come to Utah. There is no separation of church and state here, the LDS(mormons) run the state……………………and they don't drink.
Too bad they stopped at beer…
"Billy Bourbon"…"Billy Booze"…Have a good ring, also…
I thought for sure you'd go for the "OUZO"………
Silly me…
That was my first thought. They just reported that all the crew were rescued and that it was a production platform
that wasn't producing anything (?) and that it is in shallow water.
"and that it is in shallow water"
Well then, obama is just going to HAVE to extend the moratorium to shallow water drilling. It's just not SAFE to drill for oil. Except for the previous 40 years of safe operation, that is.
What do these things have in common?
obama
soros
oil rig explosions
petrobras
No no no. I take it back. It's not time to extend the drilling moratorium. obama is going to HAVE to NATIONALIZE the oil industry. We just can't trust these evil oil companies to keep us safe anymore.
Only oilbama can do that.
Ouzo is OK but I'm a rum man. These rules are kinda stupid. I've got a barleywine brew recipe that will yield 35-45% ABV. One of those will knock you on your can just like a decent spirit. It's expensive to make though. It'd be much cheaper to distill.
No need to criminalize liquor, and the government has no business controlling pot. I wouldn't smoke myself cause I kicked cigs 12 years ago and won't take the chance of getting hooked again but you should be free to light up in your own house. I even believe you should be allowed to grow your own on your own property.
I am a proponent of any tax system that makes sense to the average citizen. The current system is so far beyond the average citizens ability to understand that is has created its own industry just to manage our tax returns.
I don't know, as I understand it they have become much more relaxed in the laws in the past 5 years. They aren't so much different now than the liquor laws of some other states. I don't like Utah much, but my husband is from there, his family lives there, and we are both Latter-Day Saints (mormons). There is definitely separation of church and state, it is just that the population of the state has historically been overwhelmingly Mormon and they voted for restricive liquor laws or just never changed old laws that did not have much affect on them. This is changing as more people move into the state and people that live there see the advantage in tourism and other areas of relaxing the laws.
The Church leaders try to stay out of politics and in general do. We are told to support the laws of the land, vote according to how we feel on specific things, and to not teach in church that one political party or platform is superior to another. They will occasionally make a statement supporting or not supporting a specific law but this is extremely rare and I can only think of a couple of instances where this has happened and it usually deals with what they percieve as a threat to the free practice of our religion.
I do have a bias of course, though not to Utah (again expressing my dislike here). And I understand it is hard for people in the state who do not belong to the predominant religion to see the separation, but it isn't much different than some places in the South or smaller areas like towns that have similar laws that seem to suggest non-separation. It is just rare for a state to have such an overwhelmingly homogenous population (especially in terms of religion).
I see Cowboy and Wldbill talking about this on another thread……..both are instantly suspicious, too.
Just 86,000 pages of law is all. Not too hard to examine in a lifetime. LOL
So are you suggesting we put all these tax advisers out of business and drawing unemployment? It really sounds like a good Idea. Especially if we do away with most of the IRS.
Hey there triper, how ya been? Great idea, they can put those skills to better use. I know there would be better employment for them instead of seasonal highs. After all they are good with numbers and convoluted law interpretation. LOL
I will get right on that reading between my naps when I am not taking care of the boy, the wife, chores around the house, working to pay the taxes that are removed from my control without my permission, etc…. I should be able to working that into the schedule right after I am buried and dead for say 100yrs.
Wait a second, I did not consider that we would be adding people to the unemployment rolls I will need to convene a committee to study the effects of all these people being put out of a job.
I personally think that we should be able to set up a tax system that is collected through employers similar to the payroll taxes now. The difference being that the amount of the tax be clearly shown on the pay check for all to understand. The employers are already collecting the payroll taxes so that have the capability of continuing. All other taxes would then be eliminated so that there are no more hidden taxes like the gas tax. I also think that all tax money that is collected should be sent to the states first and then on to the fed govt once the state taken there share for the states responsibility, which would remove one state paying extra for the bad decisions of another state.
We are all instantly suspicious, and rightfully so. How many "accidents" have there been in the last 50 years? A few I'm sure, but this seems ridiculous…
More rationing in our future?
Of all the oil platforms in the world, that particular area does seem to be a bit accident prone lately.
That sure would boost those subsidized "Volt" sales. No?
Well, I no longer can completely hate Jimmy Carter – joking aside, why is moonshine illegal?
practicing my over the shoulder index finger thumb curl jug hold as i type
I am a homebrewer, and wholeheartedly support the sentiment of this article. That said, I caution people who are inclined to distill, to do so with care. Besides the legal consequences, the claim that moonshine can be dangerous to consume is true, and it goes beyond the old bromides of using radiators as condensers (antifreeze and lead). Along with concentrating ethanol, distillation also concentrates so-called fusel oils or "higher alcohols," produced during fermentation. In homebrew, these can be responsible for headaches (a beer a friend made sent me into a full-blown migraine). In spirits, these higher-alcohols can cause permanent nerve damage, tremors, blindness, and brain damage. The key to reducing the presence of higher alcohols to safe levels is careful control of the distillation process.
L'Chaim!
I like the idea of the states getting what they need, and the fed getting what's left over.
Your PPS is fantastic.
Once again, why does everyone keep saying this is a free country?
I brew as well and if an average Joe can learn about water chemistry, zymology (enzymes) and microbiology (yeast) than an average Joe can read a book and make safe whiskey. Besides, bungee jumping is legal isn't it? That can cause permanent nerve damage, tremors, blindness, and brain damage if done improperly also.
I'll drink to that
If the government we have now was transported back in time to 1778, George Washington would be in prison! He had the largest distilery in North America.
It's a free as your government allows!
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying people shouldn't do it. People should just put in the research, just as you say.
Seems to me to be the type of thing you'd take up after learning to brew beer because all of us home brewers started with a pre-hopped 15 minute boil kit and moved on from there. Seems like distilling would start with an all grain mash so it probably can't be broken down to the truly idiot proof stage like beer. I guess they could make a mash kit but by the time you invest your time and money in the still it wouldn't make much sense. Anyway, I'm not an expert on distilling, but I would think if you're doing it wrong you'd notice before serious brain damage set in.
btw. I just tapped a keg of my own Roggenbier. Good luck finding one of those in the store!
I had to google Roggenbier. That sounds great!
I'm reminded of Papazian's caution about making Apple Jack using freeze distillation, which really concentrates the fusels. Steam distillation can be less hazardous, I suppose. I've been out of practice for a while, and was really surprised to find at the local store plenty of material obviously dedicated to distillation precursors, such as extremely aggressive yeasts and nutrients so that they can thrive on corn sugar. For liquors which get there character from oak aging, I imagine such a mundane feedstock would be acceptable. For the patient craftsman, making bourbon in a charred oak barrel, then committing the same barrel to scotch whisky, would be an incredibly rewarding experience.
Doing just fine. Voted in the FL primaries, Can't wait till Nov. Been reading and trying to keep up with all the stupidity that is happening. Do not comment as much as I used to, but still read a lot of the unhinged posters. Does it seem to you that they are getting desperate?
I'm too old to wait 8 years for my whiskey to mature and I'm not much of a gin fan, so I don't intend to take it up if they do make it legal. Unless I convince myself I'll live to 100. Hmmm…that would be rewarding…
I never really thought of the explosion of craft breweries and brew pubs being a result of Jimmy's making home brew legal. However, I just took a look at Charlie P's book and in 1984 he mentioned that rye is "seldom used in brewing". Now you can get chocolate rye, crystal rye, and every little home brew store has a ready supply of it all. If you'd like a sample, next time your recipe calls for crystal malt, try crystal rye in it's place. This one's an all grain rye and it is TASTY. So anyway, tomato gin sounds kind of intriguing and I bet I'll never taste it as long as the government is there to announce, "Nein! Das ist verboten!"
I'll never bad mouth Jimmy Carter again.
Well, maybe not for a week or so…
AMEN Brother!
I prefer the jug.
Honestly I am VERY ionterested in making my own "craft" shine strictly for personal consumption. I thought they had loosened the ruls up similar to home brew.
Fair Tax won't work.
http://www.devvy.com/new_site/fair_tax_080910.htm...
Let them make meth at home too. But then, where does it stop? I advocate doing what you want, only prosecuting when it harms another. But then if you are a meth-head and need government help, that harms me by way of taxes. It is a complex problem.
What makes it complex is comparing meth to pot, that isn't an honest comparison, let's try to use some common sense.
Both are illegal, and both make you out of your head. I take it pot is your elixer of choice? Who's to say what you are able to ingest? That's not freedom. You've come to think of pot as a harmless drug. But I know many potheads who no longer can think lucidly. Every substance that you put into your system to alter your reality is harmful including alcohol and pot.
You the expert, and no, I don't smoke pot or drink or do meth or any drugs–not that it is your business and not that it has any relevancy to the discussion, maybe you would like to know if I am white or black also, would that help you make your argument…although I might smoke pot on occasion if it was legal to buy.
As for no longer thinking lucidly–sounds like the war on pot isn't working out, thank you for making my point for me. Many people are killed in auto accidents every year talking on cell phones–not lucid thinking either, are they all stoned.
I agree, it's not working out. I think it all should be legal. You should be able to do as you please as long as no one else is hurt. But if you do drugs (including alcohol) and it hurts someone else then the book ought to be thrown at you. I just don't get it when people want to legalize pot and not all the other junk. if you can use cocaine responsibly, why not allow you to do it?
The ONLY reason for government intrustion into private distillation of ethanol is tax. When the government realized that it could tax what people regularly did—make moonshine from the excess production of corn, cane, and other products—it passed Alexander Hamilton's Whiskey Tax in 1791. It was later abandoned because folks rebelled, and later re-instituted.
There are kits on the market now for the distillation of whiskey, and also concentraates that you can use to make different types of whiskey.
The Kennedy Trust Fund must be protected!
All other considerations are secondary.
I was under the impression you were allowed to distill up to 50 gallons a year for your own use. You only run into legal trouble if you try to sell it or transport it. Is this correct, or was I misinformed?
hey nutty girl,
thanks for replying but I find it necessary to beg to differ with you. The liquor laws here are STILL archaic. Essentially the law they changed last year put an end to the dopey law that required you to buy a membership in order to go into a bar to have a drink.
How about the law that liquor cannot be scene in a bar/restaurant? You go to a Chilis, Applebys or similar restaurant. There is a nice U-shaped bar with a big screen TV but no liqour or beer to be scene. Order a drink and the bartender has to go in the back behind closed doors to get your drink. It's totally absurd.
And Oh, last night I went to the Utah Vs Pitt football game. On the way home we stopped at Chilis. It was 11:03PM. "Sorry sir, it's too late(past 11:00PM) I can't serve you, but you can have a soda or order food if you want". Are you kiddin' me. They(LDS) don't drink. Fine, I have no problem with that, but why does it bother you that a non-morman might enjoy a drink or two………………..after 11:00PM. It's none of your business. The LDS think of all of Utah as their private little commune.
You must be logged in to post a comment.