so what sets aside brewing beer at home to making whiskey at home? never quite figured it out. I have been curious in trying both but as far as I know, making whiskey your self is illegal haha
Are you planning to give it a go?
Most likely illegal because of the feds and laws specific to your state. But it has been years since I took a look at the law. We have a maker here in Utah, but he is a commercial concern.
What sets it apart is the process. Beer can be made with homemade tools and readily available and cheap materials. It is also legal in your state, most likely.
Whiskey takes lots of specialized equipment, time, patience, and the like.
Trust me on this, making it is really tough. The best stuff is aged, so it will be years, perhaps, before you reap the benefits and in many cases, what you wait two or more years to enjoy turns out to be vile.
Sometimes, it turns out lethal as well. There are dangers lurking in every batch of homemade whiskey; the same dangers do not exist when you make beer. Just the danger of bad beer which is likely a hanging offence.
You need the ingredients, a clean place to work, as well as various tubs, storage containers, wood barrels and a still. You also need knowledge and skills. Good whiskey is a joy and it is the product of lots of knowledge.
I suggest you surf the web and see what concoctions you can make at home. Whiskey is not the only potent potable you can experiment with.
If you have a still, you can create straight grain alcohol from almost anything. That said, mind the laws and forget the enterprise. Try getting your feet wet with beer, root beer, mead and the like.