You used to be able to get a gallon in the Bronx for about 45 dollars, but I think it’s sugar cane based. The people I’ve seen do that though, halve the bottle, fill each bottle with dried fruits/candies/other liquor for flavor, and fill the last quarter up with water. To let whatever’s been added seep in properly, they’d wait awhile before drinking it.
The Big Book of Vice states that Virginia moonshiners are still producing over half a million gallon a years of the stuff, so somebody’s drinking it.
I’ve tried some legal moonshine. One of the larger liquor stores here sold a product called Georgia Moon, which is thirty-day-old corn whiskey bottled in a canning jar. One of the most disgusting things I’ve ever tasted.
In europe, that’s called a Rumtopf; often 151 Bacardi is used as a substitute. Usually a nice china/ceramic container, with a clever lid design is used, so water can be poured over the top for a perfect airtight seal. Then, the whole shebang is allowed to steep until the holidays, or whatever.
Back in my brewing days, somebody gave me a small, homemade still. So I distilled some hard cider to make a product apparently known as “screech”. I don’t know how strong it was, but it could hold a flame, so it was definitely overproof.
It tasted like arse, and was a waste of good cider. Got yer pissed as a newt, but.
I think part of the appeal may be the notion that some illicit distiller may somehow be putting out something as good as Maker’s Mark or Knob Creek, without all the corporate marketing bull, for a fraction of the price.
I don’t think methanol and other poisons are usually much to worry about, since the average moonshiner probably would rather his customers come back, not die.
In the hills of western Virginia there was a moonshiner who got to be friendly with a group of engineers and chemists from a local University. They fixed him up with solar reflectors, glass tubing, and a nice little hydraulic ram to move spring water.
Moonshiners get caught by smoke spotters, and sniffers. A laboratory set up using a solar reflector gets around both. The quality of the moonshine is very much increased by the changes, too. I doubt if the old man is still out there making “sunshine” as he laughingly called it, since he was grey haired and fairly venerable back in the sixties. But, I see no reason that the technology might not still be out there in the woods.
Sunshine tasted like Vodka. I don’t much care for Vodka. As far as I know, the old man did not add squirrels or raccoons, and the glass means no lead. Back in the sixties Ball Mason jars were the standard, and Quart was the general size.
Tris
I’ve always supposed Jack Daniels started out illegal but that’s just me. Personally no shine maker I’ve ever met seemed very interested in giving the Revenooers anything at all. Principal/Tradition.
What’s the justification for taxing that particular product so much? Just because the legislators see a cash cow? Wish they could bring back prohibition, but this is as close as they can get? To punish people for having a good time?
And just where does the tax money go? To the general fund, or something specific?
All of the above, I imagine. You’ll get better answers in Great Debates, but you can read some commentary here (pdf).
It’s general revenue.
Interesting read, but appears to be strongly biased towards a desire to increase taxes by a large amount without justification except for widely-defined “social costs” that exceed tax income.
I’ve tasted poitín (Irish moonshine) and was really disappointed. It just tasted like vodka to me.
So what do people know about homemade “beers” and the like without microbrewery? I’ve read about inmates creating an alcohol called “pruno”. What is that about?
The process of creating beer is brewery, no matter if it’s done in a fancy 6 gallon carboy, or in a milk-jug with a straw stuck through a cork. When I was in college, we used to make beer using a hot-pot, preground grains, brewers yeast, and corn syrup instead of maltose. Like most attempts at making homemade booze, it tasted foul but did the job.
When I later moved into an apartment with a kitchen, and had the cash to buy home-brewing equipment and reasonable ingredients, the results were a lot better tasting but never as potent as the dorm-closet booze made with corn-syrup.
Pruno is another animal entirely. Technically, I believe, it counts as a wine, because it’s made by fermenting “fruit” juices, instead of grains. Although I’ve stayed out of prison, I have seen it made before, and it smelled far worse than any homemade beer, wine or moonshine I could imagine. Here’s a site that will show you all the steps to making one version of the stuff, but I don’t think the culinary world has established a formal recipe for it.
I would like to also add that some moonshine can taste absolutely dandy, as like vodka, it can be easily flavored to mask the burn. I’ve never seen Aristocrat, (or any other cut-rate liquor company) make flavored liquors, and it’s a lot cheaper for a mason jar of peach 'shine than it is for a bottle of DeKuyper’s schnapps.
Consider that your average liquor is only 40 proof or so, so it’s only paying 40% of that per gallon.