why is moonshine illegal?

It is not illegal to make moonshine due to health concerns or impurity problems. The only reason it is illegal is because the government does not get paid their excise taxes. The slang word ‘moonshine’ means any distilled liquor that the taxes have not been paid on, whether straight grain alcohol, whiskey, rum, etc.

There are several brands of legal ‘moonshine’ on the market, which are made by companies that have filed for a distiller’s permit, and paid the excise taxes on the finished product.

Why Is Moonshine Illegal

The reason is tax, tax, tax! A bottle of spirits for a liqueur store is taxed over 300% in Australia and the government wants that money. This is the main reason not health. In New Zealand it is legal to make your own distilled alcohol and there have been very few, if any, reported cases of health problems caused by it (compared to those coursed by store bought alcohol).

The stories of moonshine or home made alcohol causing blindness comes from prohibition times when people would distil rubbing alcohol, mouthwash or something of that nature that had a high alcohol content and could be bough legally, but often contained the wrong type (and poisonous) alcohol (methanol, isopropyl, chlorhexidine, etc not ethanol). They did this because it was faster as they did not need to ferment a mash or wash, which meant they were less likely to get caught. By making it illegal for people to make home made spirits you are increasing the chances of people making these mistakes and limiting access to proper equipment and knowledge to do it safely.

As far as it not being “decent alcohol”, it is like cooking. Some people are better cooks than others and it takes time to learn a skill but a good recipe helps. I have been making my own spirits for about 15 years now and I (and most of my friends) choose to drink it over commercial alcohol. Unlike commercial alcohol I am not trying to make a profit, I can take longer to produce it and I am not producing it on a large scale, which means I am a lot more generous with what I discard and the quality of my ingredients. I find that my home made alcohol give far less of a hang over and tastes a lot better than most commercially available stuff.

So making wine is a fermented drink is leagal, soured mash which whisky is made is also fermented, then cooked. Now if you take corn on the cob and boil it and let it set

and ferment, is this considered mash?, I totally understand the ramifcations of what

the law states about “Moonshine”, distilled spirits, but people grow Marijuna in there

basement and use it for there own consumption, and this is illeagal as well, There are

so many other drugs out there, “Cigarettes” which kills more people every day then

these two combined!, The only differnce is, the Government has control of the tobacco

companys….

Tax & regulation is a very big issue with distilled spirits, which is why running a still can get you into very serious trouble, especially if you sell your product.

On the other hand, I had the opportunity to sample moonshine that came from an illicit still in Mississippi that had been running since the days of prohibition. It was super potent, but was also the very best whiskey I have ever had. The flavor could not be beat by any commercial product.

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RE:

why is moonshine illegal?

Because the tax is so high on 80 proof liquor so people sell it behind closed doors to avoid the tax. So Uncle Sam made it illegal to make it without a license so they can collect the tax money. It’s wrong, it’s stealing, and rediculous I know but that’s how Uncle Sam works. Freaking feds

The tax answer is correct the government does not get taxes from illegal moonshine, on the other hand it is legal to make ethanol and you can get a license from the ATF to make ethanol. Ethanol is made the exact same way as moonshine, so technically you can make moonshine legally as long as you call it Ethanol.

how can moonshine cause damage for eye seeing I don’t get that part

It’s not. “Moonshine” usually refers to homemade liquor. That’s why it’s usually illegal. It’s illegal to make liquor without a license, unlike beer and wine.

You can legally buy moonshine at a liquor store, if they sell it. We have a regional liquor called “Mountaineer Moonshine” sold in liquor stores, locally.