Hobby Distilling Continues to Make the News

NPR recently ran a story that caught my attention entitled “Getting Your ‘Shine On Is Becoming Increasingly Legal.” The “increasingly legal” part in the title threw me for a loop because I couldn’t find much in the article to back that claim up. Although the introduction and conclusion focus on legal distilleries, the meat of the article discusses how it’s illegal to distill your own whiskey if you don’t have a license.

There’s even a troubling quote from a spokesman for the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board: “Those who have secret stills ‘are breaking the law and they have to be caught and punished.’” Then the article mentions that Alabama created a moonshine task force last year comprised of 6 full-time agents that people call “Still Team Six.” They destroyed 27 stills in their first year.

I wonder how many of those destroyed stills belonged to hobbyists who had no intention of selling for profit. I also wonder how much it costs the local government to employ the 6 full-time agents of their moonshine task force.

However, what I like about this article is that it’s drawing more attention to the fact that distilling your own alcohol is still illegal. We can use opportunities like this to spread the word about our efforts and reach a wider audience. This article is also a good one as it discusses the legality and mentions how distilling liquor is becoming a trendy hobby. Anything that keeps this issue in the public eye can be useful to us right now.

Share these articles with your friends and keep spreading the word about our organization. Write about us on your personal blog or contact your local news station. Buy a membership so we can continue to pay our lobbyist. Let’s get ready to start the new year with a bang and hopefully make 2015 a year to go down in the history books.