Can you even imagine a time when moonshine was illegal?

[Mayne]

seems crazy now

 

[Mayne]

is it illegal?

 

[Mayne]

its that turkey time and forget all about it on black friday in the states again.

 

[bbhaag]

I believe moonshine is illegal in Canada. Of course the illegal production and distribution of any alcohol is prohibited in most North American and European countries. Perhaps you should do some research into what moonshine is and why it is illegal.

 

[Darwin333]

Why yes, yes I can.

 

[John Connor]

They sell genuine moonshine at the local liquor store. My Bro has bought it, but I want touch it. My Bro is into beer and wine making stuff and he informs me that if you don't craft moonshine right you can go blind.

 

[RLGL]

Years ago I knew a truck driver from Tn. I asked if he could bring some moon to Mn. He said it was very risky. About 4 months later he brought a quart in a mason jar. Wow that shit was potent. 2 shots was the most I could handle, I was 30 at the time.

 

[lxskllr]

if you don't craft moonshine right you can go blind.

Distillation is straight forward and safe if you use proper materials. IOW, don't use lead in your still, and don't cut your liquor with methanol to save money(do people even do that anymore?)

 

[gill77]

Distillation for the purpose of consumption without a permit is still illegal.

It's a tax revenue thing.

 

[allisolm]

I can only assume Mayne was, yet again, drunk when he posted this thread.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Because moonshine means it's made in the woods under light of the moon and not regulated or taxed by the government, by definition it will always be illegal. It's part of American culture and will hopefully continue to be passed down.

You can buy spirits in the store that are made using the recipes from moonshiners, but that's just imitating the process, not living it. Just like when weed is legal to buy at 7/11 there will be plenty of folks growing their own like they would their tomatoes.

Interesting sides of the story from this article: https://talesofthecocktail.com/in-depth/moonshine-really-moonshine-if-its-legal

The act of referring to a legal product as “moonshine” has caused some folks, especially rural Southerners with ties to the libation, to question whether or not store-bought liquor can really be called moonshine—a product whose very name references the roots of its illegal production (as it was made in the woods by the light of the moon to avoid detection).

“Moonshine, by definition, is any high proof spirit that’s illegally distilled,” says Nicole Pearlman of Ole Smoky Distillery in Gatlinburg, Tennessee — the first legal moonshine distillery in a state known for its history of moonshine production. “It’s a term that’s generally applied to any alcohol that was made illegally. When you break it down, moonshine is really just a high-proof spirit. What sets us apart from illegally produced moonshine made by individuals is that it’s made in a very regimented way, based on a 200-year-old family recipe; it stays true to roots. It’s just moonshine.”

According to a 71-year-old veteran moonshiner from Wilkes County, North Carolina (once known as the moonshine capital of the world) who agreed to speak with me on the condition of anonymity, commercial moonshine is not authentic moonshine. “I don’t care how standardized things are,” he said. “That’s part of what makes moonshine ‘moonshine.’ Each batch varies. Plus, you make it with the purest, coldest mountain water you can find,” he continues, “not water you buy from the store. No real moonshiner accepts store-bought as the real thing.”

Even the distillers recognize it's missing the cultural component.

 

[MtnMan]

It was not that it was "moonshine" a.k.a. corn liquor, but that the government was not getting any tax revenue from it. Corn liquor was just easier and cheaper to make than other hard liquors.

OBTW, it is still illegal to sell any spirits that the government doesn't get to tax.

 

[BoomerD]

"Real moonshine, as in cooked in y'alls grandaddy's still out in the woods, bootleg moonshine WITHOUT the nearly impossible to acquire federal permit..." is still illegal.

https://www.ttb.gov/spirits/home-distilling.shtml

The stuff sold in grocery and liquor stores might be distilled corn liquor that is more-or-less legal moonshine...just ain't the same. (but SOME of it's pretty damned good regardless)

 

[Thebobo]

That the problem when you make something legal that can be made or grown at home. Seriously why are there limits and sale bans on beer wine or booze you make at home? Big distilleries and brewers write the laws. That's the same concern I have with weed.

 

[IronWing]

That the problem when you make something legal that can be made or grown at home. Seriously why are there limits and sale bans on beer wine or booze you make at home? Big distilleries and brewers write the laws. That's the same concern I have with weed.

The government wants a piece of the action. With prohibition the government figured out that folks were willing to pay a lot for booze so they knew they could tax the heck out of it and it would still sell. If home brewers/distillers pay the squeeze, I see no reason the government should treat them any different than the big pushers.

 

[KMFJD]

That the problem when you make something legal that can be made or grown at home. Seriously why are there limits and sale bans on beer wine or booze you make at home? Big distilleries and brewers write the laws. That's the same concern I have with weed.

We will have legal recreational weed in a couple of months here, and to no surprise it will be a provincial monopoly for most provinces, some are even trying to ban growing at home.

 

[Anubis]

You mean like right now as it's currently illegal


Yes u can imagine that

 

[Mayne]

for weed even that matter.

 

[Mayne]

I can imagine, its a fucking joke.

 

[John Connor]

Problem with weed in the states is that it's still illegal federally. So banks won't do business with you.

 

[BoomerD]

We will have legal recreational weed in a couple of months here, and to no surprise it will be a provincial monopoly for most provinces, some are even trying to ban growing at home.

I'm in WA, and while recreational pot is legal here...and pot stores are on almost every corner, (ok, not quite that bad, but there are a LOT of them) it's still illegal to grow it without a medical prescription.

 

[OutHouse]

They sell genuine moonshine at the local liquor store. My Bro has bought it, but I want touch it. My Bro is into beer and wine making stuff and he informs me that if you don't craft moonshine right you can go blind.

I make it and as long as you dont jar the heads and tails its safe

 

[NoTine42]

If moonshine was always legal, NASCAR may have never been started... and we wouldn’t know how to make left turns.
https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR

Stock car racing in the United States has its origins in bootlegging during Prohibition, when drivers ran bootleg whiskey made primarily in the Appalachian region of the United States. Bootleggers needed to distribute their illicit products, and they typically used small, fast vehicles to better evade the police. Many of the drivers would modify their cars for speed and handling, as well as increased cargo capacity, and some of them came to love the fast-paced driving down twisty mountain roads.

The repeal of Prohibition in 1933 dried up some of their business, but by then Southerners had developed a taste for moonshine, and a number of the drivers continued "runnin' shine", this time evading the "revenuers" who were attempting to tax their operations.[2] The cars continued to improve, and by the late 1940s, races featuring these cars were being run for pride and profit. These races were popular entertainment in the rural Southern United States, and they are most closely associated with the Wilkes County region of North Carolina. Most races in those days were of modified cars. Street vehicles were lightened and reinforced.[14]

 

[John Connor]

And they probably ran off what they were running.