怀俄明州机械师兼业余酿酒师吉诺·斯泰克斯（Geno Stecks，66岁）自豪地介绍了他在两居室住宅中为在家蒸馏酒精所做的改造。
Geno Stecks Geno Stecks, 66, of Wyoming, began making homemade moonshine two years ago Ana Faguy Sheila Flynn Senior US reporter 7 minutes ago Wyoming mechanic and amateur moonshiner Geno Stecks proudly details the modifications he's made at his two-bedroom home to facilitate his hobby of distilling liquor in his own home.
“我把餐厅变成了我的酿酒间，”这位留着胡须的66岁老人夸耀道，他用固定在碗上的电钻来混合部分配方。
"I turned my dining room into my shining room," boasted the bearded 66-year-old, who uses a power drill fixed to a bowl to mix some of his recipe.
两年前，他开始摸索在家生产烈酒的配方。这项业余爱好让他学到了新技能，并拥有了可以与朋友和邻居分享的招牌产品——“咖啡味烈酒”。但根据美国法律，这恰好是违法的。“你知道，保持安静——不要做广告或什么的，”斯泰克斯说。
Two years ago, he began tinkering with recipes for home-producing spirits. The pastime has taught him new skills and given him a signature product to share with friends and neighbors - "coffee-flavoured shine". It also happens to be illegal under US law. "You know, keep quiet - don't make commercials or nothing," Stecks said.
但一些家庭酿酒师希望他们不必再长期将爱好保密。本周，最高法院宣布将重新审视1868年禁止该做法的立法，业余酿酒师希望他们的烈酒很快能像啤酒和葡萄酒一样，在全国范围内合法在家酿造。
But some home distillers hope they won't have to keep their hobby a secret for longer. The Supreme Court announced this week that it would reconsider the 1868 legislation forbidding the practice, and hobby distillers hope that their spirits will soon be treated like beer and wine, which are both legal to brew at home across the country.
提起诉讼的原告称，国会在重建时期出于税收目的限制蒸馏行为，超越了其权力。他们希望该国最高法官同意这一观点。
Plaintiffs who brought the cases say Congress overstepped its powers in restricting distilling for tax purposes during the Reconstruction era. They want the highest judges in the country to agree.
但政府律师辩称，国会的措施是合法的，并且是防止生产者逃税所必需的。
But lawyers for the government argue that Congress's measure was lawful, and necessary to stop producers from avoiding taxes.
一个下级法院认定这项近160年的禁令违宪，但在另一起类似案件中，另一个下级法院得出了相反的结论。最高法院将于明年初审理此案，并可能在2027年夏季作出裁决。
One lower court found the almost 160-year-old ban unconstitutional, but in a separate and similar case, another lower court came to the opposite conclusion. The Supreme Court will hear the case early next year and could make a ruling in the summer of 2027.
目前，在私人住宅中蒸馏酒精将面临最高五年监禁、1万美元（约合7460英镑）罚款或两者并罚。
Currently, distilling alcohol in a private home carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a $10,000 (£7,460) fine or both.
“此处涉及的特定法律既荒谬又违宪，”代表原告的律师罗伯特·奥尔特说。“值得注意的是，这是一项和苹果派一样美国的爱好——而且历史肯定更悠久。”奥尔特、斯特克斯以及许多变革的支持者指出，乔治·华盛顿本人就在家中蒸馏烈酒。历史学家丹尼尔·皮尔斯告诉BBC，家庭蒸馏最初是为了税收目的而被定为犯罪，要求任何生产烈酒的人都要缴税。
"The particular law in question here is both absurd and unconstitutional," said lawyer Robert Alt, representing the plaintiffs. "It's interesting to note that this is a hobby which is as American as apple pie - and certainly a lot older." Alt, Stecks and many proponents of the change point out that George Washington himself distilled spirits at home. Historian Daniel Pierce told the BBC that home distilling was first criminalised for revenue purposes, requiring anyone making spirits to pay a tax.
当联邦特工开始执行该法律时，那些兼职蒸馏以赚取额外收入或进行以物易物的小农户几乎没有选择。
When federal agents began enforcing the law, small farmers who were distilling on the side as a way to make some extra money or to barter were left with few options.
“如果你是大型蒸馏商之类的，可能负担得起[缴税]，但对大多数人来说，这根本不可能，”皮尔斯说。
"If you're a large distiller or something, you could afford to [pay the tax], but for most people, it was out of the question," Pierce said.
当美国实施禁酒令——即1930年至1933年间全国范围内禁止生产和销售酒精饮料——时，这为非法蒸馏者创造了全新的市场，尤其是私酒贩子，皮尔斯说。
When the US implemented Prohibition - the nationwide ban on the production and sale of alcohol between 1930 and 1933 - it created a whole new market for illegal distillers, particularly moonshiner, Pierce said.
赛车运动NASCAR源于走私者过去用来运输非法酒类并逃避执法的高速改装车。
NASCAR, the racing sport, was born out of the high-speed, modified cars that bootleggers once used to transport illicit liquor and outrun the law.
俄亥俄州工程师兼原告约翰·里姆，40岁，搭建酿酒设备。图片由约翰·里姆和俄亥俄州“眼光研究所”提供。许多人的非法蒸馏在禁令结束后仍在继续，常常在秘密中（或至少是在紧密团结的圈子里）将家族配方代代相传。
Courtesy of John Ream and the Buckeye Institute Ohio engineer and plaintiff John Ream, 40, sets up brewing equipment Many continued their illegal distilling after Prohibition's end, often passing on family recipes in secret (or, at least, in tightly-knit circles) for generations.
他说，私酒和家庭蒸馏在2000年代初期迎来了新的复兴，这要归功于《私酒贩子》等真人秀节目、互联网和大众文化。“你开始看到家庭蒸馏领域出现相当戏剧性的复兴，”皮尔斯说。
Then moonshine and home distilling enjoyed a new renaissance in the early 2000s, he said, thanks to reality TV shows like Moonshiners, the internet and popular culture. "You start to get this pretty dramatic revival…. in terms of home distilling," Pierce said.
Rick Morris是爱好者蒸馏协会的创始人兼总裁，他是在得克萨斯州提起诉讼以改变法律的挑战者之一。他最初从事苏打水机和瓶装水行业，随后与妻子一起成为业余家庭啤酒和葡萄酒酿造爱好者。
Rick Morris, the founder and president of the Hobby Distillers Association, was one of the challengers who sued in Texas to change the law. He first entered the drinks industry working with soda machines and bottled water, then became a hobbyist home brewer of beer and wine with his wife.
当他们试图迈出“下一步”进入蒸馏领域时，做了一个令人沮丧的发现。
They made a frustrating discovery when they tried to take the "next step" into distilling.
“这讲不通，”他说。“我可以合法酿造啤酒，也可以合法酿造葡萄酒……但我无法在已合法酿造的基础上再迈出一步，尝试制作波本威士忌或白兰地，这让人沮丧。” Morris和许多其他爱好者表示，吸引他们的在于该过程背后的原理与创新。
"It didn't make sense," he said. "I could make beer, I could make wine, both perfectly legally … and it was frustrating that I couldn't take what I had already legally made and do one more step to it, to start to try to make a bourbon or a brandy." The allure for Morris and many other hobbyists, they say, is the mechanics and innovation behind the process.
“其中有大量科学原理和细节需要理清，但其中仍蕴含着巨大的创造性艺术空间——调配风味与香气等等，”来自俄亥俄州的挑战者John Bream说，他的本职工作是航空航天工程师。
"There is a lot of science and details to get straightened out, but there is still a big vein of creativity in the art that goes into it - blending flavours and aromas and all that," said Ohio challenger John Bream, an aerospace engineer by trade.
大约17年前，妻子送给他一套家庭酿造工具包，他由此开始接触这项爱好。他在厨房里搭建了操作台，但“弄得太乱，被赶到了车库里”。
He first took up the hobby when his wife gave him a home-brewing kit around 17 years ago. He set up his operations in their kitchen but "made too many messes and got kicked out into the garage".
“通过家庭酿造，我意识到进阶到蒸馏层面是违法的……所以我一直避而远之，”他说。
"Through homebrewing, I became aware that going to the next level of distilling was illegal … so I stayed away from it," he said.
但他意识到，通过参与针对这项陈旧法律的法律挑战，他可以成为“推动善举的力量之一”。
But he realised he could be "part of the force for good" by joining legal challenges to the archaic law.
美国蒸馏酒委员会首席法律官Courtney Armour告诉BBC，并非所有人都支持这一举措。她担心家庭生产带来的挑战与危险。
Not everyone is on board with the move, Courtney Armour, chief legal officer at The Distilled Spirits Council of the US, told the BBC. She worries about the challenges and dangers that come with home producing.
“蒸馏过程可能相当危险，包括爆炸、烧伤、火灾等风险，”阿默说。“烈酒行业明确专注于安全和流程管理以规避这些风险，但即便在如此谨慎的环境中，仍会发生事故、伤亡甚至死亡。”此外，如果酒精生产不当，还会引发健康问题。
"The distillation process can be quite dangerous, including risk of explosion, burns, fires, and more," Armour said. "The spirits industry has a clear focus on safety and process management to mitigate these risks, but even in that careful environment there are still accidents, injuries and even fatalities." And then there are health concerns that can arise when alcohol has not been produced properly.
“在家庭蒸馏环境中，这些危险不仅会局限于从事生产的个人，还会波及周边地区的邻居，”阿默说。
"In a home-distilling setting, these dangers would not just be limited to the individuals engaging in the production but also their neighbors in the surrounding area," Armour said.
由里克·莫里斯和巴克艾研究所提供 业余蒸馏者协会创始人兼主席里克·莫里斯及其妻子唐恩希望从酿造啤酒和葡萄酒“更进一步”转向蒸馏烈酒 尽管家庭蒸馏在联邦层面仍被禁止，但密苏里州和新罕布什尔州等州已通过立法，允许居民在家生产一定数量的烈酒供个人饮用。
Courtesy of Rick Morris and the Buckeye Institute Rick Morris, founder ad president of the Hobby Distillers Association, and his wife, Dawn, want to take the 'next step' from brewing beer and wine to spirits While home distilling remains federally banned, states like Missouri and New Hampshire have passed legislation allowing the production of certain amounts at home for personal consumption.
阿尔特律师指出：“传统上，酒精一直是各州监管的领域……因此，州权与联邦权力的界限问题确实是本案的核心所在。”
Attorney Alt pointed out that "alcohol, traditionally, has been an area of state regulation … so this question of state versus federal authority is really at the very heart of this case".
阿尔特还表示，这起法律挑战涉及联邦当局对家庭活动拥有何种监管权。
Alt also said the legal challenge addresses what oversight federal authorities have on home activities.
他说：“该巡回法院表示，看，如果联邦政府在这个问题上是对的，那么以征税之名，他们几乎可以无限制地禁止家庭中的任何活动。”
"This circuit court said, look, if the federal government is right on this, there's almost no limits to what they could ban at home in the name of taxation," he said.
蒸馏厂主、前密苏里州众议员唐·戈森表示，他曾参与制定该州1995年的法律，允许居民每人每年在家蒸馏100加仑烈酒——或每户200加仑。
Distillery owner and former Missouri state representative Don Gosen said he helped shape the state's 1995 law allowing residents to distill 100 gallons of spirits at home per year per person - or 200 gallons per household.
“我从未见过联邦政府因这事上门罚款任何人，因为这属于‘小打小闹’……所以我认为很多人仍在私下进行，就像过去一样，”戈森说。
"I've never seen the federal government come and fine anybody for doing it, because it's kind of small potatoes … and so a lot of people, I believe, still do it, kind of behind the scenes like in the old days," Gosen said.
多年来，许多人来找他咨询建议，却不知晓联邦法律的存在。他说，有些人会带着自己酿造的酒瓶来征求他的意见。
Many people have come to him for advice over the years, not knowing about the federal law. Some bring him their homemade bottles and ask his opinion, he said.
“我会尝一尝，味道糟糕透顶，”戈森笑着说。“然后我会挤出一副高兴的样子说：‘哦，太棒了’——因为是他们酿的。他们自己爱喝。”
"I'll taste it, and it'll be terrible," Gosen laughed. "And I'll throw on a happy face and say, 'Oh, it's wonderful' - because they made it. They love it."
吉诺·斯泰克斯把餐厅改成了“蒸馏室”，摆放着蒸馏设备。戈森、莫里斯以及业内其他人士认为，合法化家庭蒸馏只会促进该行业发展。
Geno Stecks has converted his dining room to a "shining room" with still equipment Gosen, Morris and others within the industry believe legally allowing home distilling will only help it grow.
“家庭爱好者通常会变成更好的消费者、更懂行的消费者、更有品位的消费者，也就是花钱更多的消费者，”戈森说。“会出现像我这样的人，敞开大门迎接家庭蒸馏者，为他们开设课程、提供帮助。”
"Home interest generally turns into a better consumer, a more educated consumer, a more sophisticated consumer, just a consumer that spends more," Gosen said. "You're going to have people like myself that are going to start opening our doors to home distillers and have classes for them and help them out."
回到怀俄明州，私酿者兼修车工斯泰克斯也同意，如果不面临处罚和坐牢的风险，会有更多人开始家庭蒸馏——他只看到合法化带来的增长和好处。“那只会让事情变得更好，”他说。美国
Back in Wyoming, moonshiner mechanic Stecks agrees that more people will start home distilling if they don't risk penalties and prison - and sees only growth and good things coming from legalisation. "That'd just make it better," he said. United States