[Jacquerie]

Uh oh. Its illegal to distill one’s own ‘shine?

[chrisser]

See here: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/faq.shtml#s7

"You may not 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 also make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use. Some of these requirements are paying special 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."

That said, it's most likely that local LEOs will be the ones who get involved. As long as you aren't selling/distributing it, you're unlikely to warrant their attention as long as you aren't too obvious about it. Most have better things to do.

[BipolarBob]

It is illegal unless one obtains a distillery license which is a daunting and expensive process. The courts sometimes have difficulty getting a “guilty” verdict from a jury of their peers, so they go for the much easier IRS “failure to pay taxes” slam dunk. Good luck getting a non-existent appeal on that one.

[tomkat]

(we won't tell  ;-)

[Lurker]

Laws vary from state to state.