WFB:
The first time I tried moonshine was in the 1990s at a Fourth of July party in Washington, D.C. Someone handed me a mason jar filled with a clear liquid. The mere whiff of it made me wince—it smelled like paint thinner. But since everyone was giving it a try, I agreed to take a swig. It was awful, and I quickly returned to my vodka-soda while nodding to the beat of Third Eye Blind. (Did I mention this party was in the 1990s?)
So who on earth would drink this stuff? As Kevin Kosar writes in Moonshine: A Global History, it turns out lots of people do and for all sorts of reasons (many of them not good). “To the denizens of a slum in Nigeria, Philadelphia or Manchester, it is a cheap, quick buzz that helps blot out the misery of existence.” College kids drink it to “prove one’s audacity and wildness to peers.” For the libertarian, “moonshine is a declaration of freedom and revolt against government.” And for the “foodie” (I’ll say “hipster”), “licit or illicit moonshine provides the opportunity to enjoy ‘authentic’ liquor.”
unless you are paying taxes when you make spirits, your product can’t possible be safe to drink. After all, people who drink moonshine all eventually die.
Best thing that ever came out of Moonshine is NASCAR. And NASCAR screwed that up.
Ironically the people that run NASCARs last name are FRANCE. Can you beleive this shit?
first time I ever tasted ‘shine’ was back in the early ’70’s
& it must have made me go blind ’cause I don’t remember seeing a thing from the trip home from manassas, va to greenbelt, md … about 50 miles of stone-cold blindness
& yes … it was honey-dew vine water! as Jimmy Buffett said, I was ‘God’s Own Drunk’ & a fearless man. I was in love for the first time, with everything that moved. animate, inanimate … it didn’t matter … I was God’s Own Drunk!
Tried it once. Woke up about 3 hours later. Phuck that.
Rye moonshine is SHAT!
The process of making ‘distilled liquor’ is merely, (in the simplest form), to evaporate and collect those evaporates from the common, legal process of making beer.
In other words, make beer…… then distill it, (evaporate and collect) the alcohol from the beer batch which results in so called ‘hard liquor’.
Another way to say it is; purify the beer and you have spirits. Unfortunately, the government doesn’t like that because they want to collect taxes.
Ain’t it a shame how the government gets so pissed about NOT collecting taxes on what makes the plebes able to cope with life, such as; sex, drugs, alcohol or any other vice the commoner may wish to indulge himself??
Just be damn sure you don’t speak out against THEIR vices which include carnality/debaucher/indecency/depravity or the likes thereof because they are WAY above the commoner and we are subservient to them.
Dream on liberal…….your day is coming.
Moonshine is ethanol. If you use clean water, pure source materials, i.e. corn or other grain, active yeast. Fermented in a clean environment, distilled with the correct equipment that doesn’t leach harmful compounds into the distillate. Throw out the first 250-300 milliliters as that is methanol plus other volatile compounds. You get ‘shine’. And if you age it in oak for a proper period of time, you get a delightful experience. It’s a lot of work. But most shiners are in it for the quick buck. some otoh, find it to be a fun hobby.
Never had moonshine but I drank Everclear one night. Would hate to see a video of that debacle.
The ‘shiners near the lake would mix up what they called a “scal’ cat” – half moonshine and half kerosene, hot enough to “scald a cat,” hence the moniker. I wouldn’t partake of any tax-free spirits, prefer to stick with Junior Johnson’s brand made just with corn, branch, and no added sugar. Good moonshine is smooth.
I drank it once. It made me 10 feet tall and bullet proof. And gave me one hell of a headache.
Danville, VA. used to produce some good shine.
And, of course, St. Mary’s County, MD.
One of the Bowles boys (moonshiners from way back) told me it was more expensive to make, than to buy – which was why they got out of the business.
Don’t know if it’s true or if he was just shinin me on, but there it is.
izlamo delenda est …
Take a mason jar of home canned peaches, pour off half the syrup, replace with shine. Add cloves, cinnamon stick, other possibilities; then let sit in a cool dry place for a couple weeks. Enjoy!
What we’re missing here is Vievet. I see many puns available left unsaid.
Hope he’s alright.
The best documentary I’ve seen about “shine”;
https://youtu.be/glQjCKAI4gA .
No kidding. Really good.