I came across this story last week about a man being prosecuted for making moonshine, which got me to thinking; do people still make moonshine? It turns out the “business” is still in practice, breaking the bank all the way. However, instead of the three-toothed man cooking up a batch of apple hash behind his house, todays bootleggers practically work in factories. They have huge stills that produce anywhere from 20 to 40 gallons of alcohol a batch and sell it to “moonshine houses” along the East Coast. The appeal is that the drinks don’t have the federal alcohol tax. Investigators estimate that between 1992 and 2000, 1.4 million gallons of moonshine were produced, costing the government $19.6 million in potential taxes. There may be a legal comeback for moonshiners, though, as the distilling process (see diagrams here) is similar to the process needed to create ethanol.
Other tidbits about moonshine I picked up in research:
- The practice of making hooch dates back to the late 1700s, when the government imposed an excise tax on whiskey. This prompted the Scots-Irish settlers (who else?) to revolt in 1794.
- During the prohibition era, bootleggers started tricking out their cars with better engines and handling to escape the police. They started racing the cars informally and eventually these evolved into the stock car races we know today.
- The XXX symbol on moonshine bottles doesn’t come from how much bootleggers like Vin Diesel. Rather, each X indicates how many times it was processed in the still.
- Henry Ford was responsible for one of the nation’s first Prohibition laws, the Damon Act of 1917 in Michigan. He advocated having a sober workforce and thought this was the best solution. Unbeknownst to him, the Detroit River region became a hotbed for moonshine because of its easy access to Canada or Ohio.
- Disney experienced backlash against the 1977 adventure yarn The Rescuers because of a scene where the titular characters drink moonshine with their swamp buddies.
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Early in the history of Kentucky, moonshine was extremely cost-effective because of transportation problems. Your corn crop could be moved over the mountains much easier after being distilled!
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-3-2007 at 7:16 am
I have first hand experience with the stuff. It’s really too bad that it isn’t easy to get ahold of. If it’s well made, it has a taste like no other.
posted by Tru on 7-3-2007 at 7:20 am
Oh yeah, good moonshine is smooth as silk, almost tasteless going down, but with a slight hint of Karo (corn) syrup in the aftertaste.
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-3-2007 at 7:29 am
Disney also changed their Pirates of the Caribbean attraction to play down the drunken pirates chasing the wenches. Now it’s the other way around.
Drinking moonshine to save taxes is pretty stupid. Do these people roll their own cigarettes too?
posted by GoingLikeSixty on 7-3-2007 at 7:38 am
Are sweeping generalisations about the Scots and Irish acceptable in the US?
posted by haribo on 7-3-2007 at 7:50 am
also, the term “bootlegger” comes from smugglers who wore thigh-high leather boots into which they could slide several flasks of the the stuff for easier transport.
posted by mri on 7-3-2007 at 7:55 am
I believe you mean “still,” not “sill” (in both instances), unless of course we’re discussing “disilling.”
posted by B on 7-3-2007 at 8:01 am
In my area (rural South Carolina), moonshine is still an established business. I get mine from an old Black family that has oak kegs that date back to before the War for Independence. Theirs is aged in barrels, not on the truck delivering it.
The Feds have tried repeatedly to shut them down. The moonshiners move the stills (or build new ones) whenever the Revenoors are closing in. Reminds me of the marihuana trade. Government wants to impose taxes. That’s OK I suppose, but do it in the open, not with black-masked commandos busting into peoples’ houses in the middle of the night. We’re not terrorists, we just oppose the Fed’s intrusion into other peoples’ lives where nobody is being harmed. They have no business sticking their noses in it.
Ever heard of the “Whiskey Rebellion” that George Washington sent Federal troops to quell? Between that and Andy Jackson’s Federalism, we have the roots of the currently developing police state.
Rant *off*
Doc
posted by Doc on 7-3-2007 at 8:41 am
good moonshine is some amazing stuff. I had a roommate who would go down to Georgia and pick up a gallon jug of his granny’s homemade ‘shine to share with us. Excellent taste, and can knock you on your butt so fast!
posted by Jenny on 7-3-2007 at 9:34 am
Growing up in rural eastern KY I have had more than a few experiences with moonshine. When I was a child there were still numerous small time moonshiners that operated single stills in the middle of the woods. You’ve got to be careful, however, as these morons will often artificially “flavor” shine with ingredients such as anti freeze. Yum, yum.
posted by hunter on 7-3-2007 at 9:46 am
Please see Western NC/Eastern TN’s loveable old moonshine maker “Popcorn” Sutton. All you need do is Google the name. Writer of the nonfiction work Me and My Likker, Popcorn is a local hero of sorts. I hear tell he recently got married, again.
posted by Leahpet on 7-3-2007 at 10:35 am
There may be a legal comeback for moonshiners, though, as the distilling process (see diagrams here) is similar to the process needed to create ethanol.
Uh, Jason, ethanol=alcohol.
posted by Dave on 7-3-2007 at 12:30 pm
I’m with you, Doc
posted by ac on 7-3-2007 at 12:31 pm
A former math teacher makes biofuels here in WNC and he’s explained to me before the similarities between making biodiesel/ethanol and moonshine. He might be one of the few that figured things out backwards: biofuel first, then moonshine.
posted by Edward on 7-3-2007 at 8:21 pm
You can buy legal moonshine “Virginia Lightning” at Virginia’s ABC stores.
posted by mark on 10-26-2007 at 12:30 pm
I work in a bar, and while alot of people try to make their own wine, moonshine is rare. You would be suprised to know however, that at least a quarter of our regular customers now roll their own ciggarettes at least part of the time since they are close to 6$ a pack
posted by kelly on 10-27-2007 at 3:01 pm
A favoured method in India is to wrap hooch-filled rubber cycle tubes around the torso under the shirt to get into those states which have Prohibition. Very handy dispensers too.
posted by JD on 10-29-2007 at 5:14 am
Ethanol, when produced in an ethanol plant, actually has 10 or 15% petrol based fuel added to it (can’t remember if it’s diesel or regular) , which they call ‘denaturing’. Without this step, the ethanol would be consumable, and therefore subject to liquor taxes.
posted by EV on 9-10-2008 at 7:36 am
Karo corn syrup, some yeast, water and a teakettle still with ice on the cooling tube, run it twice and bam, u got some dam good shine.
www. dangerouslaboratories. org
posted by country boy on 1-28-2009 at 12:24 pm
everyone native to kentucky has a relative who made it at one point in time.For some its just a connection to the past.
posted by hooch maker on 8-15-2010 at 3:49 am