Is It Legal To Make Your Own Liquor At Home In New York State?
If you love to imbibe, you may have considered making your own special, one-of-a-kind liquor. Something that is made exactly to your tastes. But, is it legal in New York State? I was watching Underworld, Inc., (one of my favorite docuseries) and they had an episode on illegal alcohol, which included moonshiners, of course. The people they featured lived in the south and went up to the Appalachian Mountains to make their illegal brews. Their stills were out in the wilderness, where animals and insects were able to get into to product. So I completely understand why it's illegal. Seeing the unsanitary conditions and chemicals that are used in the moonshine illegal moonshine process will make anyone in their right mind think twice about taking a swig.
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So, what about making liquor in your house?
New York State law is pretty clear about distilling alcohol in your home. Without a license, you could get into legal trouble,
Any person who shall manufacture any illicit alcoholic beverage or who, not being duly licensed as a distiller under the provisions of the alcoholic beverage control law, shall own, operate, possesses or have under his control any still or distilling apparatus is guilty of a felony.
Unfortunately, NYS does not allow you to legally use a still to make liquor at home. Now, if you are creative and can make spirits using another method, you may be able to find a loophole.
But be careful because the state law also says that a person without a license cannot sell liquor without a license,
No person shall manufacture for sale or sell at wholesale or retail any alcoholic beverage within the state without obtaining the appropriate license therefor required by this chapter.
The bottom line is, that it's best to leave the liquor-making up to the professionals.