Uncategorized
Meeting with Texas Rep. Capriglione
Aug
Never one to sit around and wait for things to happen, Dawn and I met with our Texas State Representative, Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, yesterday to discuss our federal success and hope for state legalization of home hobby distilling. While the Texas State Legislature is not currently in session at the moment, we felt that it would be a good time to start work on this, as there is a short calendar that many state legislatures, including Texas, are in session.
Rep. Capriglione and his assistant were extremely receptive to our goal, and spent time going through the existing law with us as well as discussing his own interest in the subject. Being raised in a traditional Italian family he knew the winemaking traditions, and shared our enthusiasm for seeing distilling become legal for the hobbyist.
There were two specific points that he continued to be noticeably bothered by in the current laws. First was at the federal level, which, while he cannot do anything about as a state representative, still weighed on him. That is, that even under the current ruling regarding distilling at home, one still must pay tax on the spirits being produced. He likened it to having to pay tax on the coffee you make at home because you are not purchasing it at a coffee shop, where you would pay sales tax. While we agree whole-heartedly, we are still extremely happy over the ruling, as it does at least give a path to legally distill at home, even if there are still a few considerations (you must be a member of the HDA, you must get a permit and file monthly paperwork, and you must pay a small excise tax on what you produce). This is still a huge win for the HDA and home distilling enthusiasts in the US!
The second piece that Rep. Capriglione was upset by is in the Texas home brewing / winemaking exemption (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, Title 4, Chapter 109, Subsection B, Sec. 109.21). As it is written, not only can a person not distill a drop even for personal or family consumption, but one cannot increase the alcohol content of any legally produced homemade beer or wine. This means no port, even if you were to fortify with a store-bought brandy. He also pointed out that, if he were to brew a stout and wanted to have a Black and Tan, but the pale beer was of higher alcohol content, that would increase the alcohol content of his stout and actually break the law. There is also no allowance for fermenting honey, so no homemade mead for all you mead lovers!
The meeting concluded with Rep. Capriglione and his assistant agreeing that the law needed to be updated and opened up more for the hobbyist. We felt that he sincerely agreed with our goal, and is not just willing, but interested in doing what he can to help. We look forward to having more news about our progress in the coming months. Hopefully, we will soon be able to add one more state to the list of those that allow for free, legal home distilling for the hobbyist!
That’s awesome. No mead?! That has to change.
Agreed! And, we’re working on it. 🙂
Do you have resources about which laws in Texas would have to change to make home distillation legal? Something I could use to prepare for a meeting with my own state reps?
We do have the information that we took to our representative. If you can e-mail me directly (best to use the contact form) then I will send you the information that we used and explain it. 🙂
Please send the information you mentioned, that you gave to your State rep. I am a multi decade winemaker that is interested.
Hi Glenn. I have responded to your e-mail on the subject.