Legalities of owning a still?

[Listo]

G'day,
I've got a firearms audit coming up & am wondering how my brew area will go when it happens?
Cheers
Listo

[crow]

I think it would be wise to pack your still up and have it stored away during the audit. I'm guessing they will have no reason to check anyway except what concerned your fire arms and if that's all in order you should be golden but personally I wouldn't be comfortable having distilling gear laying around.

[Dyno]

At an educated guess prolly not so good. Dismantle what needs to be dismantled, spread it around a bit maybe. If it’s beer brewing gear lying around you’ll be fine

[bluc]

Definately put anything distilling related out of sight :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Wineleader]

A colleague distiller has a neighbour who is a policeman and nice guy. He never puts him in a position where he sees the equipment therefore not compromising his position.
Best to pull it down so everyone is protected. Good luck

[Sam.]

The legality is you can own a still of up to 5 litre capacity for the purpose of distilling water or essential oils. Anything bigger than that is illegal.

Distilling alcohol without a license is illegal. Period.

Would not be leaving anything set up.

[Listo]

Thanks lads, I might try to organise it for Wednesday instead of tomorrow. There's a few full brew buckets to move too

[woodduck]

So you got pre warning of an audit? Is that normal or can they just pop in whenever they like? Is it a normal come have a look or is it something special for a particular reason? I've had a check up by the local once but he mainly came round to sign over a couple of guns. What experiences have others had?

[crow]

yep notification and an audit, checked out how they were stored what guns and that the storage complied. Long as ya doing the right thing as far as the regs go its no big deal. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Listo]

That's about it Crow. It's not hard to do the right thing either, bolt your safe down & keep your bolts separate.

[woodduck]

I'm doing the right thing when it comes to guns. It would just make me more comfortable knowing I've got a bit of time to put all my stilln stuff away before they get there. Even if it was just a day :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Sam.]

They always give notice.

If they are coming to kick your door in they know your fucked before they even get there.

Probably been enough firearm related threads for a home distillation forum for a while :-B

[TasSpirits]

I just chuck a sheet over mine, they are only inspecting guns and storage, they are not allowed to look at anything else. I've got one coming up soon, requirements have changed. Maybe the small town cops just don't care that much, I've never dismantled anything and had 3 in the last few years, every time we add to the collection they come knocking. :handgestures-thumbupleft: