[ocimbote]

Distillation, when done improperly, can result in very toxic substances. It requires care and craft and since alcohol is not only a drug but a transformed product (like LSD or meth), it is perfectly fine that some state-level supervision apply: anything ranging from plain interdiction to controlled production. Note that the level of control usually depends on potential health issues and culture, it is not usually strictly bound to the product itself, since we can observe variations from region to region.

[fc417fc802]

By that logic it would be acceptable for the state to regulate all sorts of common culinary techniques. Note that those are regulated in a commercial setting. I'd have no objection to similar regulations pertaining to restaurants that wanted to serve alcohol that was distilled, brewed, or otherwise prepared on site. In that context it's equivalent to the regulations pertaining to the handling of raw meat.

Similarly, perhaps the state ought to regulate the use of refrigerators in a residential setting since various failure modes there can easily land you in the hospital.

Enough people have contracted botulism poisoning by storing chopped garlic under oil in their fridge that the FDA has a warning about it on their website. So I suppose that would also be acceptable to regulate? Or perhaps just cooking oil in general? After all, it's quite flammable and people commonly start house fires when frying things.

While we're at it, perhaps canning things at home ought to require a permit?

The standard that "thing could pose a hazard therefore regulation is acceptable" is far too broad a criteria as it applies to approximately everything that exists and entirely disregards individual freedoms.

> It requires care and craft

A fine whiskey? Sure. The equivalent of vodka? Don't be ridiculous.

> alcohol is not only a drug but a transformed product

It most certainly is not. Distillation concentrates something that is already there.

Alternatively, fried eggs are a transformed product but at that point the term as used is so absurdly broad as to be rendered entirely useless.

[lo_zamoyski]

> A fine whiskey? Sure. The equivalent of vodka? Don't be ridiculous.

Given the variability of quality and flavor among vodkas, this is not quite true. Water mineralization, number of distillations, type of filtration, terroir and remaining "impurities" from the specific mash used. All of these affect the character of the vodka just as they do any spirit. That's why no one takes vodka distilled a million times seriously, if you can even call it vodka.

(And that excludes things like barrel-aged vodkas, like the venerable starka, or a well-made bimber which cannot be accused of lacking character.)

[kopadudl]

The pure process of Distillation does the concentration of something that is already there. But is it always pure when amateurs do it? Can you guarrantee that nothing goes wrong, that the product is tested for contaminations every time?

[fc417fc802]

Do you swab your pan fried chicken and culture to test for salmonella after cooking it? Or do you just follow the recipe and basic food safety guidelines? Perhaps you judge doneness by a combination of fillet thickness and cook time? Or perhaps you go to the trouble of using a digital thermometer just to be safe?

[btreecat]

> But is it always pure when amateurs do it?

Yes. Arguably, because amateurs are not cost bound, they tend to make a less "containinated" product due to the way the collection and blending works.

You discard the foul flavors and harse volatiles that commercial folks keep for cost.

>Can you guarrantee that nothing goes wrong, that the product is tested for contaminations every time?

Life isn't about that kind of guarantee. You don't practice the same level of food safety at home as you're required to maintain in a professional environment.

Life, is about risk acceptance.

[denkmoon]

Why does that matter if it is not for commercial distribution?

[btreecat]

> Distillation, when done improperly, can result in very toxic substances.

You're talking methanol right? That's a byproduct of fermentation of fruit.

>It requires care and craft

It really doesn't, it's a very basic process.

>and since alcohol is not only a drug but a transformed product (like LSD or meth),

Not sure what that means, could you clarify?

>it is perfectly fine that some state-level supervision apply: anything ranging from plain interdiction to controlled production.

It's really no different than brewing beer or wine, then discarding the water. For personal consumption it shouldn't be an issue.

[drob518]

Let’s be honest, what the government really cares about are the excise taxes on whiskey.

[jajko]

People frequently get blind or just die from home made booze when distilling and not checking for methyl alcohol. Quite common on poor parts of the world but also ie eastern Europe and russia.

[fc417fc802]

Misinformation. Unless you happen to own a GCMS you don't check for methanol. Rather you discard the heads and the tails from a fractioning still because that's where stuff that isn't ethanol comes out. In the modern era you'd use a digital thermometer for this task.

Someone suffering methanol poisoning from DIY distillation is equivalent to someone landing in the hospital after failing to cook his chicken all the way through. It's simple incompetence, likely due either to blatant disregard for safety or else to attempting to wing something based on only the most topical of knowledge.

[genewitch]

Isn't the remedy for methanol ingestion... Ethanol? Just keep drinking?

I have two distillers and I've never distilled alcohol. I do distill water in my eletric one. I turn it on and leave the condenser part off until bubbles form, I blow the steam off to ensure it steams again, place the top on, set the timer for 3 hours and shut it off then. The pre-boil ostensibly let's the petroleum and the like escape, and the stopping before dry prevents anything with a higher phase temp than water from distilling.

I use it for coffee machine, kettle, and ice machine, just to cut down on maintenance.

Ten years ago I bought 3 copper five gallon distillers, and gave two to my in-laws and kept one for myself. I tried to distill water in it but it was not coming out clean, so I packed it away till I had time to use it outside on a propane burner after purging it with alcohol or some non-copper eating acid.

[btreecat]

> Rather you discard the heads and the tails from a fractioning still because that's where stuff that isn't ethanol comes out.

This is also incorrect. It comes out throughout the distillation process, with a higher % concentration in the tails, but an over all reduced volume due to lower % distillate.

> Someone suffering methanol poisoning from DIY distillation is equivalent to someone landing in the hospital after failing to cook his chicken all the way through.

It's more like taking raw packs of chicken and rubbing your eyes. That has to be intentional.

[margalabargala]

This gets repeated a lot but doesn't actually stand up to any scrutiny.

If you go and look, you will find that cases of blindness are caused not by "improper" distillation, but rather by the adulteration of the finished product- that is, extra methanol being added after the fact.

If you can find a verifiable case of a person going blind from home distillation, I would be interested to see it.