You can brew up to 200 gallons of wine, and since 1978 you can brew beer as well. It is still against federal law preventing the making of moonshine, or any liquor, at home. You can get a permit to make alcohol for use as fuel, but that requires a permit. It is all about money. Taxes on whiskey are MUCH higher than on beer and wine. Very few states have laws allowing for the making of distiled spirits. Alaska, Missouri, and Nevada are the only ones that allow for it, and even then the law is a little fuzzy. Check
http://www.coppermoonshinestills.com/id8.html for some more info if interested.
This is from
http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/faq.shtml#s7 which governs the production of alcohol.
You may not produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant. [See 26 U.S.C.
5601 &
5602 for some of the criminal penalties.] There are numerous requirements that must be met that also make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use. Some of these requirements are paying
special tax, filing an extensive
application, filing a
bond, providing adequate
equipment to measure spirits, providing suitable
tanks and
pipelines, providing a
separate building (other than a dwelling) and maintaining detailed
records, and filing
reports. All of these requirements are listed in
27 CFR Part 19.
Spirits may be produced for non-beverage purposes for fuel use only without payment of tax, but you also must file an
application, receive TTB's
approval, and follow requirements, such as
construction,
use, records and
reports.