In 1933 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the 21st Amendment ending 13 years of Prohibition, he was not primarily motivated by the hysteria around organized crime, nor the tragedy of the thousands who died ingesting toxic denatured alcohol. It was the Great Depression and the U.S. government needed money.
Railean Distillers uses the tall hybrid column reflux-pot still that has seven separate trays to distill a variety of spirits. On display to the left is an antique pot still and a basic column still hobbyists would use at home. , Morris narrates the process for novice hobbyists, starting from how to “keep our little yeast friends happy,” through its aerobic respiration, fermentation, and sedimentation process used to produce beer or wine, and then to converting that into spirits.
But Morris said that after pushback from large distillers, such as the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, the bill died in committee. The next year, a similar bill passed but without the provision exempting home distillers. “We were trying to do it the proper way by trying to get the laws changed. But the Kentucky Distillers’ Association and others are larger and more powerful than we could ever be,” Morris said, adding that hobbyist distillers were left to “hone their craft in the shadows.
In addition, the plaintiffs assert that home distillation produces no revenue, and therefore, does not interfere with federal tax collection. that home distillers would still have to abide by federal and state laws, obtain permits, and follow other regulations. “But if successful, they would be able to legally distill at home. … It would mean that the federal government would realize that this was not really a constitutional provision and would just stop enforcing it,” Watkins said.
But home distillers say their struggle to practice their craft at home isn’t an attempt to evade taxes or sidestep the law. They are willing to pay excise taxes, if necessary, the lawsuit says. Nor do the members of the Hobby Distiller’s Association profess all the same goals as those of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Since 1937, the Supreme Court has ruled against the federal government’s power to regulate commerce only three times, Segall said. While he doesn’t believe a win for the plaintiffs would damage the Commerce Clause doctrine, Segall says it would be a symbolic political victory for right-wing libertarians.
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