Moonshining: Between Romance and Crime

Where the Romance of Moonshining Comes From

The hut in the woods, the still in the cellar, the neighbor who drops off an unlabeled bottle once a year: moonshining has a reputation somewhere between adventure story and folksy film. That reputation has historical roots. For centuries, distilling was a right granted—or withheld—by the authorities. In the Renchtal near Oberkirch, for instance, farmers were permitted to distill their surplus fruit starting in 1726, a right granted by the Bishop of Strasbourg. Anyone without such a right distilled in secret, and the real opponent was often the taxman.

In Germany, distilling fell under the state's spirits monopoly for roughly a century. For fruit distillers, that monopoly ended on December 31, 2017; since then, the Alcohol Tax Act has applied. What remains unchanged is the basic principle that alcohol may only be produced with a license. The romance of secret distilling conveniently overlooks the fact that nothing about this has changed.

Is Moonshining a Crime? What the Law Says

Under the Alcohol Tax Act, alcohol may generally only be produced in a bonded distillery under tax supervision. Exceptions exist only for licensed small-scale distilleries (Abfindungsbrennereien) and for fruit owners who have their own fruit distilled at such a distillery. There is no tax-free allowance for personal use. The oft-cited two liters refers only to the requirement to register the purchase of distilling equipment—it is not a license to distill.

Anyone distilling without a license is evading alcohol tax. The customs office will demand the unpaid tax, and criminal proceedings for tax evasion are a real risk. Buyers aren't automatically in the clear either: Germany's Federal Fiscal Court has ruled that someone who buys moonshine can be held liable for the tax as a receiver of untaxed goods. In Austria, private moonshining is likewise banned; in Switzerland, distilling falls under the supervision of the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security.

Is Homemade Purer? The Health Question

A popular argument holds that homemade spirits are more natural than anything bought in a shop. The opposite can just as easily be true. A licensed distiller works with proper equipment, knows the legal limits for methanol and hydrogen cyanide, and must stay within them. With a moonshine still, no one is measuring anything—the distiller's gut feeling is the only control there is.

The risks are real. Methanol forms in every fruit mash, and cutting off the foreshots only partially reduces it. Crushed stone-fruit pits release hydrogen cyanide, which, under light exposure, can form the suspected carcinogen ethyl carbamate. Unsuitable equipment can introduce additional contaminants into the distillate. No home setup replaces the lab testing that licensed distilleries and food safety authorities use to check spirits.

Anyone distilling in secret also can't ask for help openly. They can't send samples to a lab or discuss their mistakes with experienced distillers. Licensed distilleries, by contrast, operate under oversight, and many submit their brandies for blind judging at competitions. For Zuger Kirsch, a commission even reviews the brandies every single year. That openness is the real difference between a good farmhouse brandy and moonshine: one submits itself to scrutiny, the other hides from it.

Legally Making Your Own Brandy: Fruit Owners and Distillery Visits

Anyone with their own fruit who wants a brandy made from it doesn't need a still in the cellar. In Germany, as a fruit owner (Stoffbesitzer), you can have your own fruit distilled at a licensed small-scale distillery, up to 50 liters of pure alcohol per year, one person per household. The distillery handles the actual distilling, the process is registered with customs, and the result is a brandy made from your own fruit.

Anyone wanting to understand how distilling actually works will find open distilleries, distillery trails, and tastings in many distilling regions. There, you can examine the still up close without breaking any law. A how-to guide for home distilling has no place on this journey, and for good reason. The romance of moonshining is best left where it does no harm: in the movies.