Is bathtub gin soon to be offered at your crafty neighbor’s next dinner party? Despite a new ruling allowing some home distillation, it’s doubtful we’ll see backyard hooch encroaching on bottle sales. Two weeks ago, a federal judge ruled in Texas that the 156-year-old U.S. law banning home distilling was unconstitutional. The decision came after a Texas-based group, Hobby Distiller’s Association (HDA), had pushed for the legalization of home distillation for over a decade— now it has won a lawsuit filed against the federal government in 2023. “That is outstanding news for our fight, and all of you who would like to distill legally,” read a Facebook post from the group, which counts over 1,000 members. But, does that mean Americans can distill liquor at home now? The judge’s July 10 decision said the ban exceeds Congress’s constitutional authority but gave the federal government until yesterday to appeal. Once the stay expires, HDA members will be protected from prosecution federally, however that doesn’t exempt home distillers from state laws. “States under the 21st amendment really have a very significant role, if not the most significant role, in defining alcohol within their own borders,” said McDermott Will & Emery Alcohol Practice head, Alva Mather. Texas, for example, doesn't allow home distilling, although a few other states do. The HDA said on Facebook that state laws “will be round two,” but even if the federal decision is appealed and upheld, the legal arguments that were persuasive to the federal court were solely based on principles of federal law, not principles of state law, said Mather. Apart from the legal talk, while I’m not against people tinkering in their kitchens, we also don’t need homemade booze like we used to. When Jimmy Carter made small amounts of home winemaking and brewing legal in 1978, that set off new experimentation that blossomed into the craft beer movement. It’s hard to argue that the laws against home distilling have stymied innovation or hopeful distillers: the craft spirits movement emerged decades ago when the number of legal and illegal distilleries were at an all-time low, and now spirit lovers have access to a dizzying amount of craft labels from 2,753 distillers in the U.S. alone. The decriminalization of informal food and drink, like, say, street vending, can be a huge plus for creating jobs, economic ladders, and bringing culturally diverse offerings into the mainstream— I’m all for seeing more of that in the spirits industry. However, we still have a lot of work to do in the current commercial spirits landscape to correct disparities in access to resources, capital, and visibility so that we can foster a more inclusive and dynamic industry. |
