Prohibition may have ended on December 5, 1933, but Prohibition of home distilling never did. That, however, like the ice age, is slowly beginning to thaw as more and more states begin to warm up to the idea of home distilling. Governor Jim Justice from the mountain state of West Virginia signed House Bill 4793 making home distilling legal for a limited (very limited), volume of distilled spirits.
It’s interesting to see how different states approach bills. For this bill, it explains all the bad news, before it gets to the good news. To begin with, if a person unlawfully owns and operates a still to manufacture distilled spirits they will be fined “not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than five years.”
Ok, now for the good part. Notwithstanding the above, a person 21 or older can make distilled spirits for personal use but, not much. If there are two or more persons over 21 that household can make up to 10 gallons per calendar year or 5 gallons if there is just one person over 21. And of course, those 5-10 gallons can only be for personal consumption and cannot be sold.
That’s not much but, on the bright side, it’s a start.
West Virginia House Bill 4793 passed March 9, 2024, and will automatically go in effect ninety days from its passage.
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Here is the full text of HB 4793.
West Virginia House Bill 4793
WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2024 REGULAR SESSION
ENROLLED
House Bill 4793
By Delegates Smith, Hornby, Zatezalo, Riley, Hardy, Phillips, McGeehan, Chiarelli, Fehrenbacher, Bridges, and Westfall
[Passed March 9, 2024; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §60-6-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to allowing a person to manufacture a stated amount of alcoholic liquor for personal consumption.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
§60-6-10. Unlawful operation of plant manufacturing distilled spirits; exception for personal consumption.
(a) A person who unlawfully owns, operates, or maintains a plant for the manufacture of distilled spirits, or aids or abets in the operation or maintenance of such a plant shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than five years.
(b) Notwithstanding the restriction of subsection (a) of this section, a person at least 21 years of age may manufacture alcoholic liquor for personal or family use. The aggregate amount of alcoholic liquor manufactured per household may not exceed 10 gallons per calendar year, if there are two or more persons over the age of 21 years, or 5 gallons per calendar year, if there is only one person over the age of 21 years in the household. Any alcoholic liquor manufactured under this section may not be sold or offered for sale.
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