Interested in Distilling

[Flip]

I am going to either build a reflux system or buy. I have been looking online, but am not having much luck. A buddy of mine has a Turbo 500, but they look to be about $500, I was hoping to do better than that. Anyone have any designs or ideas on pricing?

[GuingesRock]

Home distilling is not legal, and NSLC monitors these sites. But! we do have some professional distillers on the site. I'd really like to find the time to visit a distillery and see how it's done.

[mr x]

http://homedistiller.org/equip/photos-alex" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.amphora-society.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RossBee]

Home distilling is not legal, and NSLC monitors these sites. But! we do have some professional distillers on the site. I'd really like to find the time to visit a distillery and see how it's done.

Funny that, Mark, there's an awful lot of confusion as to what is and what is not legal when it comes to distilling. Some officials point out that owning a still is illegal, whilsts others point out the act of distilling is illegal, some say both. Being in the business since 1991, having gone through many, and I mean many inspectors, I make a point of asking this very question. The answer always starts out the same way: "Ahhhhh, mmmhhhh, according to my interpretation, the act says ........." I still don't know which is which. We carry four different licenses for the production and storage of alcohol, some are for different areas depending on which room/building the spirt is kept in, whether it is bulk, bottled or has a label on it.

Furthermore, distilling is more of a Federal than Provincial thing. Revenue Canada will be on you before the Provincial guys, that's the tax structure, Spirit remittance is Federal, HST and bottle deposit is Provincial. The Provincial guys will flex their muscles in your warehouse, but really have not much to do with spirits.

Distilling is the easy part, the crap associated with selling it is the hard part.

[GuingesRock]

Home distilling is not legal, and NSLC monitors these sites. But! we do have some professional distillers on the site. I'd really like to find the time to visit a distillery and see how it's done.

Funny that, Mark, there's an awful lot of confusion as to what is and what is not legal when it comes to distilling. Some officials point out that owning a still is illegal, whilsts others point out the act of distilling is illegal, some say both. Being in the business since 1991, having gone through many, and I mean many inspectors, I make a point of asking this very question. The answer always starts out the same way: "Ahhhhh, mmmhhhh, according to my interpretation, the act says ........." I still don't know which is which. We carry four different licenses for the production and storage of alcohol, some are for different areas depending on which room/building the spirt is kept in, whether it is bulk, bottled or has a label on it.

Furthermore, distilling is more of a Federal than Provincial thing. Revenue Canada will be on you before the Provincial guys, that's the tax structure, Spirit remittance is Federal, HST and bottle deposit is Provincial. The Provincial guys will flex their muscles in your warehouse, but really have not much to do with spirits.

Distilling is the easy part, the crap associated with selling it is the hard part.

That's very interesting Steffen.

I wonder how much home brewing was going on before it became legal in Canada? When was that? Everyone talks about Carter legalizing home brewing in the states in 1978, and that event marking the start of the current craft beer revolution, with the first ever APA being produced experimentally by Sierra Nevada in November 1980, and the finished version distributed in March 1981.

People often become brewers at home and then open breweries. How do people learn distilling before they start a distillery?

The penalties for distilling at home can be up to 1 year prison, $100,000 fine. http://learntomoonshine.com/is-it-illeg ... -in-canada" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. If I did that and was caught, even if I was only fined $10, I would lose my licence to work in my field, which wouldn't be so good. I hear having a criminal record can make travelling a bit of a bugger also.

[IanWatson]

If you're interested in reading about a design (hey I'm not saying you should actually build it...) search Google for "Making Gin and Vodka" by John Stone. It's a free eBook.

[evanisnor]

Thanks to this thread I spend a good portion of my weekend researching home distillation and speaking with people about it. The practice is illegal and as I understand it, even owning a still is illegal without a license. I've heard it's possible to get a license if you're making perfume or whatever, but seriously if you've got the gear to make hooch you're probably going to try it. In regards to getting caught, I suppose it is up to the discretion of the law enforcer who happens to be swinging by. You might get a new guy who is freshly trained to take these things seriously, you might get someone who doesn't give a shit.

Also I guess doing spirit runs will take an entire day and you have to watch it like a hawk. It looks like a fascinating hobby but the risk and time investment are ridiculous. Maybe someday it'll be legal and I'll get to try it out.

[naes100]

Sure evanisor. Wink Wink