The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to the Reconstruction-era ban on distilling alcohol in private homes.

Why it matters: Americans can legally brew beer or make wine at home, but making whiskey, vodka or other spirits can land them in federal prison. The Supreme Court could change that.

Driving the booze: SCOTUS will review Department of Justice v. McNutt, an April ruling by the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found the nearly 160-year-old home-distilling ban unconstitutional and an overreach of Congress' taxing power.

Distilling in your home carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.

The 6th Circuit reached the opposite conclusion in a separate April ruling for Ream v.…