[ale] linux / moonshine project query

Mon Jan 1 16:37:03 EST 2007

For some reason this reminds me of an old song where a trucker speeds
after being egged on by a guy with the CB Handle "White Knight".  At the
end it turns out "White Knight" is actually a police officer who pulls
over the trucker for speeding.  Rather a humorous song albeit a dirty
trick.

It seems based on all the input here the best place to ask the question
about legality and actual use of the permit would be with the ATF.   The
comment about not monitoring whether it gets denatured after it is made
sure makes it sound like its supposed to be denatured.  Of course even
if the ATF has no problem you'd still want to check with the State to
make sure it had no problem with it then make sure your locality
(municipality/county) also have no restrictions - this is after all the
Bible Belt.

To me the comment about not monitoring is similar to saying the cops
don't have sobriety check points near me.  This doesn't mean it's legal
to drive drunk - just that they're not checking to see if I am at
random.  If they find out (e.g. I'm in an accident and they smell liquor
on my breath or they see me weaving) I'd learn fairly quickly if I
didn't know before that it is indeed illegal.

P.S.  What you originally posted was a technical question so wouldn't be
an abuse from that standpoint.  Also as shown by a recent ummm...
discussion thread many people on the list don't feel it should be
restricted to technical questions anyway so I think you're fine.

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
To: ale at ale.org
Christopher Bergeron
Sent: Monday, January 01, 2007 2:39 PM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] linux / moonshine project query

James, the application for a small fuel production license is a 2 page 
document.  It's simpler to fill out than some tax forms.  As for the 
moonshine aspect, it is up to the producer to denature the alcohol, but 
as far as I know, they don't monitor it.  I just got a call about the 
status of my license from the ATF last week, so I have yet to find out 
the status from them.

Here's a link with more information about getting a license:
http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com/id10.html

Unfortunately, the ATF application link is broken, but it's easy to find

on the web.

Kind regards,
Chris Bergeron

James P. Kinney III wrote:
> On Sun, 2006-12-31 at 08:41 -0500, Philip James Smith wrote:
>   
>> Hi Ale-ers
>>
>> I am planning to make some moonshine. This is no joke. In the state
of 
>> Georgia, it is legal to make a small amount at home.
>>     
>
> That will land you in jail. There is no provision for making _ANY_
> distilled spirits in _ANY_ quantity. Even if you are investigating a
> potential start-up commercial venture and just want to test a few
recipe
> ideas you are required to have a federal license from BATF and more
from
> Georgia. (I investigated doing just this about 6 months ago. The
> application paperwork stack from BATF is about 1/2" thick. Once I read
> through that, I decided against pursuing it further with Georgia.).
>
> At the current time, it is also illegal to distill any quantity of
> alcohol for making fuel with out a license and inspection that the
> distillation process creates denatured spirits.
>
> This is a line you do NOT want to cross.
>
> BATF has a long history of violence against illegal distilleries.
>   
>> In order to make moonshine, I need to distill a mash (a fermented 
>> corn/water/yeast mix), and to raise it to certain temperatures and to

>> maintain the mash at those to separate the "unsafe" alcohols from the

>> "safe" alcohols.
>>
>> It is pretty hard to maintain temp "by hand." How could I use linux
to 
>> monitor and maintain temperature?
>>     
>
> The engineering of temperature control is well within the realm of a
> Linux application. You will need a thorough understanding of
> thermodynamics, specific heat capacities of all the proposed
ingredients
> and a sizable collection of temperature monitoring devices.
>
> In my beer brewing (which _IS_ legal in small quantities - 200 gallons
> per year per adult in the household) I have been investigating using
> steam to maintain temperature. This will allow the transfer of heat to
> the mash tun without burning the bottom or adding much water (direct
> steam injection method). An alternate method I am also looking at in
> indirect steam injection. This method uses steam as the heat source
but
> the steam  (and resulting condensate) are mechanically isolated from
the
> mash tun contents. This allows for a constant water volume but
requires
> either a pump to remove the condensate or a carefully crafted design
to
> collect the liquid for post-mash removal.
>
> The calculations use only first order differential equations and a
> simple first order Taylor series approximation is plenty sufficient
> (HEY! I'm making beer here.  It's not rocket science :) for a looping
> calculation.
>
> But then, stirring a pot by hand and checking the temp every 2 minutes
> with a hand-held thermometer is much easier than building the rig ...
>   
>> All the best,
>> Phil Smith
>> Duluth, GA
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ale mailing list
>> Ale at ale.org
>> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>     
>>
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>>
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