license for home brewing

chris2286

ok i read everything i could find on home brewing i know beer, cider and wine are ok to make. But they say i need a license for spirits.
Where do I go to get a license?
I don't want to sell what i make and i don't want to spend 200-300 euro on a still if i cant use it and the still i saw was a 4 litre on an irish webpage so surely someone can help me.

mathepac

Yes you need a licence to distill liquor. The Revenue Commissioners will help with information if you are based in Ireland, otherwise contact you local tax authority.

chris2286

mathepac wrote: »

Yes you need a licence to distill liquor. The Revenue Commissioners will help with information if you are based in Ireland, otherwise contact you local tax authority.

thank you and yes im based in ireland

rubadub

There is a minimum size restriction on still sizes here, they have to be massive. This dates back to try to detect small illegal setups.

You can legally buy these small stills, but it is illegal to use them for alcohol, just like you can freely buy rizla cigarette papers in tesco when everybody knows most of them are being used for illegal activity.

You can even get tiny commercial stills on amazon that look like household coffee machines. Meant/marketed for distilling water.

Some of the companies are taking the piss and walking a fine line of legality -e.g. selling stills along with yeast etc. This type of selling has got companies in trouble before for other illegal activities. It can be seen as conspiracy to enable illegal activity or some similar wording.

sharingan

Look through some of the threads here, back a month or so.

There was a good discussion that covered how to obtain a license and where to go for it.

chris2286

rubadub wrote: »

There is a minimum size restriction on still sizes here, they have to be massive. This dates back to try to detect small illegal setups.

You can legally buy these small stills, but it is illegal to use them for alcohol, just like you can freely buy rizla cigarette papers in tesco when everybody knows most of them are being used for illegal activity.

You can even get tiny commercial stills on amazon that look like household coffee machines. Meant/marketed for distilling water.

Some of the companies are taking the piss and walking a fine line of legality -e.g. selling stills along with yeast etc. This type of selling has got companies in trouble before for other illegal activities. It can be seen as conspiracy to enable illegal activity or some similar wording.

What u said here is why i posted the thread i seen on homebrew west an irish website and found 4 litre smartstill for purifying water and in the details it said it can used for beer and wine aswell as spirits but you need a license for the spirits so i was thinking why mention that fact for that small still.

chris2286

sharingan wrote: »

Look through some of the threads here, back a month or so.

There was a good discussion that covered how to obtain a license and where to go for it.

thank you ill do that now

rubadub

chris2286 wrote: »

why mention that fact for that small still.

They want to make it seemingly clear that you & they know the law, and that they are not encouraging illegal activity. Just like headshops would tell you not to consume their 'bathsalts' or headshops selling bongs/waterpipes might have a sign up saying "our products are for use only with tobacco". Might keep the gardai off their back a little.

They are probably ignorant of the min still size law too.

chris2286

rubadub wrote: »

They want to make it seemingly clear that you & they know the law, and that they are not encouraging illegal activity. Just like headshops would tell you not to consume their 'bathsalts' or headshops selling bongs/waterpipes might have a sign up saying "our products are for use only with tobacco". Might keep the gardai off their back a little.

They are probably ignorant of the min still size law too.

I see thanks for clarifying that for me i think so im just better off sticking with making wine beer and cider ah well thanks again