# How do you get a home distillation license? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233 "2008-08-25T20:00:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/1 "2008-08-25T20:00:56Z")
What’s the script for getting a license to distill alcohol around your way? The legal process seems to vary considerably between countries, going from absolutely no problem to absolutely no way. I’m in the UK, and I’d like to try my hand at home distillation. My granddaddy was a poteen-maker, and I’m a chemist, so it runs in the family from a certain perspective. Can this be done legal and above board? Interested to hear from people who have gone through the application process. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/2 "2008-08-25T20:05:42Z")
Are you sure a license is required? I know you’re on the other side of the water, but over here you don’t have to worry about it unless you make more that a certain volume, 250 gallons I believe, or are planning to sell it. Probably your best source would be whatever agency regulates alcohol products though. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/3 "2008-08-25T20:09:51Z")
[QUOTE=Projammer] Are you sure a license is required? I know you’re on the other side of the water, but over here you don’t have to worry about it unless you make more that a certain volume, 250 gallons I believe, or are planning to sell it. [/QUOTE] Is that the case for liquor (which I thought was illegal to distill on your own)? I thought the 250 gallons was for brewing beer at home. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/4 "2008-08-25T20:20:30Z")
[QUOTE=Projammer] Are you sure a license is required? I know you’re on the other side of the water, but over here you don’t have to worry about it unless you make more that a certain volume, 250 gallons I believe, or are planning to sell it. [/QUOTE] For the US, that’s incorrect: > [@](#): > > 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 excise 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. From [here.](http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/genalcohol.shtml#g1) Beer and wine are limited to 100 gallons per household for one adult, or 200 gallons for two or more adults living in the same household. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/5 "2008-08-25T20:45:34Z")
I don’t think that you need a license in Ireland anyway. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/6 "2008-08-25T21:21:23Z")
[QUOTE=Laudenum] I don’t think that you need a license in Ireland anyway. [/QUOTE] Which would be relevant were the OP asking about Irish law. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/7 "2008-08-25T21:37:20Z")
[QUOTE=Laudenum] I don’t think that you need a license in Ireland anyway. [/QUOTE] I’d be surprised if that was true **Laudenum** - happy to be corrected, mind. There are too many Health & Safety / taxation issues to just let people go ahead and distill, although a google search says that is exactly what you can do in New Zealand. My question was more along the lines of ‘_given a license is needed to distill alcohol, how easy is it to get hold of in your neck of the woods?_.’ ie Are the authorities happy to let responsible hobbyists make their own whiskey, _a la_ beer, or is it not something that is condoned. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/8 "2008-08-26T01:13:45Z")
I stand corrected. Ignorance fought. Thanks Ducks out back to throw a tarp over the still. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/9 "2008-08-26T02:45:29Z")
The [Wiki article on beer homebrewing legality](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrewing#Legality) asserts that home distillation is simply illegal in the UK. Unfortunately I see no citations for that statement or anything about licensing. I found a website for a [homebrewer’s association in the UK](http://www.craftbrewing.org.uk/); they might be able to point you in the right direction for distillation info. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/10 "2008-08-26T03:37:11Z")
> [@](#): > > You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant. Of course you can - I have a friend who regularly obtains ample quantities of excellent “white lightning”. It’s illegal, of course, but no less tasty for that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/11 "2008-08-26T03:43:22Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] Of course you can - I have a friend who regularly obtains ample quantities of excellent “white lightning”. It’s illegal, of course, but no less tasty for that. [/QUOTE] That’s from a US Government website. Of course you _can_ do it but, as you said, it’s illegal. I would have assumed the “legally” is obviously implied on a web page of the legal codes surrounding the production of alcoholic beverages. Perhaps _may_ would have been more precise. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/12 "2008-08-26T23:20:59Z")
Distilling is definitely not legal in the U.K. Make wine, beer, dicer, perry, mead, what-have-you as long as you do not sell it, but distilling is right out. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/13 "2008-08-26T23:26:38Z")
[QUOTE=Celyn] Distilling is definitely not legal in the U.K. Make wine, beer, dicer, perry, mead, what-have-you as long as you do not sell it, but distilling is right out. [/QUOTE] What’s “dicer” and “perry”? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/14 "2008-08-26T23:28:02Z")
Don’t know about Canada; my friend’s parents have a still for some random reason (farmer grandparents, and they never throw anything away), and they apparently have to fill out some licence thing every few years even though they never use it. I was looking for the Canadian regulations, and came across [this Yahoo](http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080410210757AAvsN53) question re: UK which may or may not be relevent. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/15 "2008-08-26T23:57:49Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] What’s “dicer” and “perry”? [/QUOTE] Here’s [perry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry). Dicer stumps me (and Google, it seems). ---
**Author:** ![EruditeCelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a4c791/32.png) [@EruditeCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EruditeCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/16 "2012-10-31T22:08:33Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > What’s the script for getting a license to distill alcohol around your way? The legal process seems to vary considerably between countries, going from absolutely no problem to absolutely no way. > > I’m in the UK, and I’d like to try my hand at home distillation. My granddaddy was a poteen-maker, and I’m a chemist, so it runs in the family from a certain perspective. Can this be done legal and above board? Interested to hear from people who have gone through the application process. I’ve been trying for two years to obtain a distillers licence in the UK with no success. The granting of a licence for a small (under 1800 hectolitre still) but commercial still is purely down to the whim of HM Customs & Excise. If you want to produce something moderately strong like a 74% proof _ **Irish** _ oat _ **Whiskey** _i.e _ **Poteen** _,the duty does not roughly double as you might expect as from a conventional and taste and character destroying 40% spirit. You will in fact be expected to pay **SIX TIMES AS MUCH DUTY** on a 70cl bottle of 74% proof. Osborne’s new amendments to UK Tax and Duty on Spirit production have made it virtually impossible for a resident UK citizen to establish a artisan distillery here. If I cant get my product licensed in the next 12 months I will take my business to the Republic of Ireland and let them benefit from the taxes and jobs. ---
**Author:** ![EruditeCelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a4c791/32.png) [@EruditeCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EruditeCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/17 "2012-10-31T22:43:10Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > I’d be surprised if that was true **Laudenum** - happy to be corrected, mind. There are too many Health & Safety / taxation issues to just let people go ahead and distill, although a google search says that is exactly what you can do in New Zealand. > > My question was more along the lines of ‘_given a license is needed to distill alcohol, how easy is it to get hold of in your neck of the woods?_.’ ie Are the authorities happy to let responsible hobbyists make their own whiskey, _a la_ beer, or is it not something that is condoned. You do need a licence in Ireland to produce spirits. The laws and attitudes between the North of Ireland (UK) and the Republic are however different. Home preparation of spirits i.e Poteen in small quantities (5 gallon still) in rural areas is tolerated in the Republic as long as it is for ones own use. If you want to become legal and sell your product you can in the Republic apply to a local Magistrate for a licence if your still is less than 400 gallons, if it is larger than 400 gallons you must apply to the Revenue Service for a licence which is much the same as the UK system You are of course liable for duty on all alcohol you produce. ---
**Author:** ![RearEchelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RearEchelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RearEchelon)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-a-home-distillation-license/461233/18 "2012-10-31T23:02:54Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Here’s [perry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry). > > Dicer stumps me (and Google, it seems). Maybe s/he meant ‘cider.’