Saturday night at 8pm, Machine Project will demo artist Alison Weise's corn whiskey making still.

Secret Still #2 – Alison Wiese

Opening 8pm, artist talk 9pm Saturday February 11th

Machine Project
1200 D North Alvarado Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026

213 483 8761

A functioning fractionating still (located in our secret gallery) made from household plumbing supplies distills corn whiskey. Celebrating improvisational authority (the space of the sub-suburban yard fort, and the do-it-yourself zine) Alison Weise shares strategies of re-use and field-expedient substitution with tinkerers and amateur hobbyists.

Starting at 8pm we are going to stand around, stare at the still, and sample the whisky. At 9pm Ms Wiese will talk about her project, covering a tiny-weeny bit of historical context, a cursory description of the process, and an attempt to try to address the top 3 questions folks seem to ask about distilling: Can you go blind from drinking this stuff? Will the still blow up? Is this legal?

Positive ID required at the door.

Link

Saturday night at 8pm, Machine Project will demo artist Alison Weise's corn whiskey making still.

Secret Still #2 – Alison Wiese

Opening 8pm, artist talk 9pm Saturday February 11th

Machine Project
1200 D North Alvarado Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026

213 483 8761

A functioning fractionating still (located in our secret gallery) made from household plumbing supplies distills corn whiskey. Celebrating improvisational authority (the space of the sub-suburban yard fort, and the do-it-yourself zine) Alison Weise shares strategies of re-use and field-expedient substitution with tinkerers and amateur hobbyists.

Starting at 8pm we are going to stand around, stare at the still, and sample the whisky. At 9pm Ms Wiese will talk about her project, covering a tiny-weeny bit of historical context, a cursory description of the process, and an attempt to try to address the top 3 questions folks seem to ask about distilling: Can you go blind from drinking this stuff? Will the still blow up? Is this legal?

Positive ID required at the door.

Link

Reader comment: Joe says: "As a sometimes home brewer and an oftentimes home drinker (not to mention a chemical engineer), I've long wished to make my own hard liquor. Though I never got around to building the thing, I found some great step-by-step plans for a homemade still here: http://www.moonshine-still.com/

"The plans look pretty sound, but one problem with building the thing is the fact that distilling your own vodka/whisky/moonshine is pretty illegal here in the US, so it's not particularly practical if you're renting."

Reader comment: Will says:

This is a link describing 'the basics' for what hoops you have to jump through to legally distill in the US, including paying proper taxes, etc. You can brew your own wine or beer in reasonable amounts, but you can't distill it without paying taxes, etc. You can get a cheaper no-tax permit from the BATF for an 'alcohol fuel plant,' but that requires proof of denaturing — thus making the alcohol unfit/dangerous/deadly to drink."