Denatured just means it's been made undrinkable by additives. You still have to get licensed by BATF (or whatever it's called these days). I think the article you posted may be a ruse for a plain old booze still. And a good still can be made for much less than 10k.

Here's the law

Quote:

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Federal law prohibits the manufacture or production of distilled
spirits in the United States at other than a registered DSP that has
received a permit from

[[Page 26201]]

TTB. While Federal law allows for the limited home production of wine
and beer, no such exemption exists for distilled spirits.

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From here. You might could get your plant registered- in fact you likely could, but ethanol from food crops or from crops grown where food could be grown is an inefficient use of resources- you are much better off just making booze.