# When DIY goes too far... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497 "2013-04-23T15:30:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OldnCrinkly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@OldnCrinkly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldnCrinkly)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/1 "2013-04-23T15:30:50Z")
also, yuck. [http://http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/banana-brandy-moonshine-operation-leads-to-2-washington-county-arrests-684658/](http://http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/banana-brandy-moonshine-operation-leads-to-2-washington-county-arrests-684658/)Banana brandy, I never even heard of such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/2 "2013-04-23T15:40:31Z")
I’ve made banana wine, and it was excellent after a couple years of aging. I made it when banana prices were low, and bought a whole cart full of bananas. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, I also bought a box of cereal at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/3 "2013-04-23T17:50:46Z")
Link no workie. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/4 "2013-04-23T18:01:54Z")
[Link fixed.](http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/banana-brandy-moonshine-operation-leads-to-2-washington-county-arrests-684658/) So what’s the problem, a couple guys making their own hootch out of bananas is illegal? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/5 "2013-04-23T18:22:27Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > [Link fixed.](http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/banana-brandy-moonshine-operation-leads-to-2-washington-county-arrests-684658/) > > So what’s the problem, a couple guys making their own hootch out of bananas is illegal? Fermentation (like making wine) is no big deal. Distillation, however, is. > [@](#): > > When police investigated Monday, they found an ethanol moonshine distillery made from two beer kegs and copper pipes, ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/6 "2013-04-23T18:26:07Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Fermentation (like making wine) is no big deal. Distillation, however, is. That is archaic. Alcohol is alcohol, beer or wine or whiskey. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/7 "2013-04-23T18:32:17Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > [Link fixed.](http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/banana-brandy-moonshine-operation-leads-to-2-washington-county-arrests-684658/) > > So what’s the problem, a couple guys making their own hootch out of bananas is illegal? It’s not the fermenting, it’s the distilling that is illegal. The Feds really like their alcohol taxes, so long ago they highly regulated it. That being said, those guys must be a couple of total knuckleheads if they actually got caught. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/8 "2013-04-23T18:47:24Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > That is archaic. Alcohol is alcohol, beer or wine or whiskey. Tell it to the federal government. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/9 "2013-04-23T19:01:39Z")
Home Beer making is legal. Theres even a White House beer now. Obama bought it himself for the kitchen. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/09/01/ale-chief-white-house-beer-recipe](http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/09/01/ale-chief-white-house-beer-recipe) > [@](#): > > There’s been a lot of buzz online recently about the recipe for the White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter, including a popular petition on We the People, the White House’s online petition platform. > > With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it. > > Inspired by home brewers from across the country, last year President Obama bought a home brewing kit for the kitchen. After the few first drafts we landed on some great recipes that came from a local brew shop. We received some tips from a couple of home brewers who work in the White House who helped us amend it and make it our own. To be honest, we were surprised that the beer turned out so well since none of us had brewed beer before. ---
**Author:** ![OldnCrinkly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@OldnCrinkly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldnCrinkly)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-diy-goes-too-far/656497/10 "2013-04-24T15:32:21Z")
Well I must agree that arresting them seems a bit much. I guess thats all about the taxes. I’m all for making some wine, or beer, thats great. I grew up in a “little Italy”, and have enjoyed many a bottle of “dago red”. But making wine out of bananas sounds disgusting. To then try to distill it into brandy? Yuck x2. YMMV