I understand that discussions of illegal controlled substances are somewhat frowned upon here, so please don’t tell me how to make it or where to get it (though I’d like to imagine it would fairly amusing, like “turn left at the ol’ holler and shout for Jim-Bob”).
I’d like to know what it’s like, and how prevalent it is. Is it common in the American South, or is this an outdated stereotype? Are there other regions of the country where it’s easy to find? I sort of assume it approximates the taste of bourbon, or is this untrue? Are there types of moonshine made in the style of vodka, gin, rye, etc? Is moonshine ever “good”, or is it just rotgut made for the purpose of tying on a cheap drunk?
Mods, if you think this thread belongs somewhere other than GQ, please accept my apologies and move it where you think best.
Moonshine whiskey can be quite good, depending on how it’s made (if you can find a copy of The Foxfire Book, there’s a very good discussion). Basically you take a grain – usually corn – let it ferment, and then distill it. Quality varies, of course, depending on who’s making it.
I’ve had it a few times. It varies, really. I’ve had your basic White Lightning, which is like pure grain alcohol. I’ve also had whiskey that looked and tasted pretty much like Jack Daniels. I’ve also had corn whiskey that was a very pale caramel color that tasted kind of like Canadian blended whiskey.
I’ve had it a few times and trust me, it’s NOTHING like bourbon. It’s clear (at least the stuff I had), very potent and more like a vodka with a somewhat unpleasant aftertaste. I probably didn’t have the “good stuff”, though.
White Lighnin’
Corn Squeezin’s
Hooch
Many other synonyms
Hill country people seem to have had the best run of producing it longer than most other types, though that may just be folklore.
The South gets quite a bit of credit for it whether that’s deserved or not. As with so many other things.
It may be worth noting that many of the legit distilleries are in the same region of the country. Jack Daniels, Lem Motlow, George Dickel, etc. Must be something to the idea that Southerners have a knack for making it.
I have personally never tasted any to know it. Nor have I had anybody I know of with any. But then I have led a sheltered life.
My buddies grandfather lives in Vancouver Canada. He has a east Indian neighbor who makes moonshine.
I’ve had it a few times, I would hazard a guess that it is 150-180 proof (I’m drank my fair share of Bacardi 151).
The funny thing is, the guys wife doesn’t like him drinking the shine, so he burries it in his back yard to hide it from his wife.
But he forgets where he burries it, so he’ll randomly dig-up his backyard looking for his stash. So if he digs up a bottle it can be anywhere from a month to 3-5 years old!
I used to live in the hills of Tennessee, and drank my share of 'shine while there. As is the case with just about any beverage, the quality of the moonshine depends heavily on the quality of the water used to make it. Fortunately the area I lived in had many limestone springs, which makes for great water.
Another thing I learned. McDeath is correct that the proof is in the neighborhood of 150, therefore the stuff is flammable. The way to test moonshine is to pour some of it out and set it on fire in front of a black surface. You should see a pure blue flame. Yellow in the flame indicates impurities. You don’t want to drink anything that burns with a yellow flame. (Of course, there are those who would say you should drink anything you can set on fire, period!)
My father worked as an engineer for the Tennessee Valley Authority back in the thirties. One day one of the locals came to him and asked if he could look at their still, seems there was a problem that they were having trouble resolving. As he told it, he ended up re-designing and re-building much of it. Well before long he had a thriving business going on the side producing hardware for the local market. I can’t help wondering how many of his products may still be in use. (lame pun intended)
Had it a few times, and helped make it a couple. Sometimes it was good, and sometimes it was pretty nasty. Although I think the good stuff was simply good because it wasn’t the nasty stuff. It’s always strong though:) No real or at least quality flavor to it though in general. You can buy quality moonshine in many stores. It is called Potcheen. It is basically Irish moonshine and many people claim that it is the original stuff. Careful drinking it cuz it will sneak up on you.
It may not even be illegal. In the US, each adult is allowed to distill a certain amount per year for their own non-commercial, personal use, tax free. And it’s a fairly substantial amount (200 gallons, I believe).
I suppose it does become illegal if you go beyond the “non-commercial” part – if you sell any of it. But if you keep it for use by yourself, your family, & friends, you can make your very own moonshine – legally.
I have heard that some moonshine whiskey can be lethal! If the distiller uses a pure coppertube to condense the alky, you are OK, id he uses an old car radiator 9containing lead solder) you are apt to be drinking some pretty toxic garbage-beware!
To answer the OP’s question about how prevalent moonshine is, the answer is “not very.”
The only reason to make the stuff these days is nostalgia, since legal booze is easy to come by. In days of yore, corn likker stills were big business in the days of Prohibition (the 20’s). After Prohibition was repealed, most Southern counties remained “dry” meaning you couldn’t buy alcohol there. This meant there was still a good market for moonshine in the South, and the business lingered on into the 70’s.
In recent decades, though, most Southern jurisdictions have modified their laws to allow purchase of beer and wine, and in many counties, liquor. This means the profit motive for moonshine stills has been undercut. (In theory, they might still be profitable, to the extent the liquor produced is untaxed, but most folks don’t mind paying a couple extra bucks and just buying booze at the liquor store.)
These days, the same sort of folks who used to run moonshine stills in the hollers of Appalachia are now running meth labs or growing pot. (You have to adapt to the marketplace…) There are still a few stills around, but like I said, it’s mostly for nostalgic reasons.
If you can find them, there is an old series of 78s from the 1920’s by Gid Tanner and the Skillet Likkers, entitled “A Corn Likker Still in Georgia” with skits based around a Georgia moonshine operation interspersed with pre-Bluegrass string band music. Gives you a light-hearted inside look at the business in the Prohibition era. I believe these 78’s have been collected on CD somewhere.