Googe's video

[Icefever]

Those of you who have tried Googe kale wash, or know of him from the stilling sites can get to see him on a vid he's loaded up on youtube. Having moved to NZ where stilling is legal he's having a poke at the establishment in places where it's not....Link

[Benoit]

It was Googe that pm'd me on the HD forums telling me I'd get more sensible answers from this beautiful place, I guess I'd still be getting shot down & shouted at by some less than happy people without him! Amazes me how relaxed Aussies sound, I've always thought they needed winding up!
Glad to see him happy, it's not nice knowing your door could be swinging open any time with Johnny Law on the other side of it. Even if it's only something in the back of your mind I'd much rather be without it, it would be nice to be able to share our produce without fear. I don't want any money for it, just to be able to go "tell me what you think" without vetting people first!

[Mash]

Good tunes in the background !!

[googe]

Lol icefever, was going to post it here today, thanks. Aussies are relaxed Benoit lol, I think it's more of a don't give a shit about much attitude lol. Didn't realize the music was that loud mash!, kind of interrupts it!.

[Mr Four Square]

Ah lovely Googe well done well said

[Icefever]

Oops sorry Googe didn't mean to steal your thunder matey..

Wasn't sure if you would be over here to post..I popped in the Aussie site and caught it, so thought the guys this side the world may like to watch it.

[Anavrin]

Big +1 from me Googe, this is a great hobby, in fact it's more of a craft than a hobby, in my mind it's the pinochle of alcoholic beverage making, to be able to make somthing so pure, so tasteful or tasteless if that's your aim.

The majority of people don't realise that the art of craft distillation of alcohol is all about creating a clean, safe and purer drink with far less nasties than any fermented beverage, be it wines, ales, lagers etc, they all contain harmful substances that are removed during the distilation process to create a safer, purer drink.

Governments hide behind lies about personal safety but we all know what there real fear is,,, Loss of tax revenues!!!

[Easydrinker]

OK, in a chilled/relaxed sort of way, high five to Googe and Anavrin.
Nicely stated.

Robert.

[Anavrin]

Lol, that was my drunken rant for the week! I started to struggle to seen my screen and run out of things to say, sleep got the better of me!

We just need the Discovery Channel to make Moonshiners UK to get the debate started

[Benoit]

Moonshiners UK, what a great idea! We should all get starring roles, be called by our StillSmart screen names & wear mash bags on our heads to retain anonymity!
I felt like a moonshiner yesterday, car full of gear, bucket of wash in the passenger footwell, heading out to a farm to get some welding finished & to do a cleaning run. I'll be honest, at one point I had a rozzer behind me & I was nervous!

[Anavrin]

I sent the idea to Dicovery UK and got the following response

Dear XXXX

Thank you for contacting Discovery.

We regret we are only able to accept proposals from established production companies. If you are an individual with a programme idea or are interested in being on a programme, we suggest you do some research into production companies and contact them directly. If you are a producer and wish to submit a programme, please visit http://producers.discovery.com

Kind regards,

Robert | Discovery Viewer Services | discoveryuk.com

[Easydrinker]

I sent the idea to Dicovery UK and got the following response

Dear XXXX

Thank you for contacting Discovery.

We regret we are only able to accept proposals from established production companies. If you are an individual with a programme idea or are interested in being on a programme, we suggest you do some research into production companies and contact them directly. If you are a producer and wish to submit a programme, please visit http://producers.discovery.com

Kind regards,

Robert | Discovery Viewer Services | discoveryuk.com

Just want to point out that is nothing to do with me!
Similar name is all.

Robert.

[Seagull]

Big +1 from me Googe, this is a great hobby, in fact it's more of a craft than a hobby, in my mind it's the pinochle of alcoholic beverage making, to be able to make somthing so pure, so tasteful or tasteless if that's your aim.

The majority of people don't realise that the art of craft distillation of alcohol is all about creating a clean, safe and purer drink with far less nasties than any fermented beverage, be it wines, ales, lagers etc, they all contain harmful substances that are removed during the distilation process to create a safer, purer drink.

Governments hide behind lies about personal safety but we all know what there real fear is,,, Loss of tax revenues!!!

If that was a tweet, I'd retweet and favourite it.

[Mr Four Square]

I don't think its about the money. What money do they make out of you now? That's what they do because that's what they have always done.

When it became legal here in New Zealand it wasn't because we debated it logically. It wasn't because a mass movement lobbied . It happened because the Customs Department were convinced to go to the government and tell them ... we can save millions each year if we stop chasing people and make it legal. That's why the law changed. Because they saw a chance to lay off a few excise men. Sounds like the UK governments in that frame of mind right now. Go and have a word with the chancellor.

[Phantom]

Googe asks about why wine, beer, cider etc are legal and spirits not.

I can't say for elsewhere (other than the various governments wanting to be control freaks of course), but here it's about the numbers a.k.a. money.

Currently (since 23/3/15) it's rated at £27.66 per litre of pure alcohol (looks like they've changed the wording and format that quotes the duty rate, as it used to be written as £ X.XX per 1% alcohol by volume per 100 litres/hectolitre - but this seems to be the same thing, just takes a bit more working out with the grey matter).

I think I'm correct, in that if you make 100 litres @40% ABV, then it's 40 x £27.66 you owe "them" £1106.40 - which explains why "the big boys" (one in particular) now sell their brands at 37.5% ABV, because for every 100 litres, it's a saving of about £90

Don't forget, while alcoholic beverages come under the food regulations (most food is 0% VAT/sales tax), it's rated as "luxury" food, so attracts a VAT charge at 20% on top of everything else.

As you can see, here at least, it's about the numbers - very, very big numbers...........