A U.S. appeals court on Friday declared unconstitutional a nearly 158-year-old federal ban on home distilling, calling it an unnecessary and improper means for Congress to exercise its power to tax.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of the nonprofit Hobby Distillers Association and four of its 1,300 members.
They argued that people should be free to distill spirits at home, whether as a hobby or for personal consumption including, in one instance, to create an apple-pie-vodka recipe.
The ban was part of a law passed during Reconstruction in July 1868, in part to thwart liquor tax evasion, and subjected violators to up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
For those pearl-clutching about fire and explosion safety, you don’t need anything more than a bucket and a really cold few days to distill alcohol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_freezing
Things like ice beer and applejack are made this way and were presumably banned as well
Now you can resume pearl-clutching about methanol and fusel alcohols