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ussfletcher said:
That show makes me want to try the moonshine my brother got in backwoods Kentucky. Though I do not understand why anyone would buy it as anything more than a souvenir either.
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I want to actually try making it, a small batch if it's possible. I have a lot of the equipment already, and could probably build the rest. I need to make sure I'm monitoring those hydrometer readings closely, don't want to go blind 😀

It's just like brew masters got me back into brewing, this show might actually get me into moonshinin' lol.
 
C'mon in...sit a spell. Have a glass of my apple pie.

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Wyndru said:
Why down south do people buy moonshine, instead of going to a liquor store?
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There are two reasons. One is that it really is different from anything the stores sell, it has a different flavor because it is so fresh off the still. The other is the idea that what you are doing is risky and something not everyone is doing, the 'sticking it to the government ' angle.

The show has already stated that they dilute it in the proofing barrel down to 80 proof, which is basically what you get even from the low shelf liquors. But it's made in the woods with swamp water. Is it really amazing tasting?
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The thing to understand about proofing is the 80 proof you get in one type of alcohol is going to be a different drinking experience from 80 proof in another. For example , 80 proof scotch will taste different than an 80 proof malt . The water is going to really change the flavor and like anything there is those who know what they are doing and those that don't. The people who really make the good stuff are not people that are doing it in the woods. These are people that have barns or buildings in out of the way areas that use quality stuff like stainless steel piping and boilers. They even charcoal filter it. Some do it as a hobby just to play around with the ingredients because there are so many variations. One of the best I ever tasted used molasses instead of sugar and corn mixed with apples .



One guy was mixing it with apple juice and fruit in a mason jar and still selling them
for $50 a jar.
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The prices they show are inflated hugely. People I know sell for about $15-25.00 per 16 oz.

Also, why does the government care about busting moonshiners, it can't be that much money being lost from tax revenue, not compared to drugs that are sold nationwide. Why even bother combating it? They spend all of this time and money to bust people that make 100k a year. It doesn't make sense to me.
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It isn't so much that there is a huge amount of money lost currently it is the threat that if they did not control it at all then everyone would start doing it and then it would be a serious loss. I don't know of anyone who does it as their sole income, more as a hobby with the sales going toward funding the hobby. You can't do that under tax laws currently, liquor making is a gov controlled hobby 🙁
 
I got quite addicted to the show when I was last in the states. It appears these people from the South view moonshining as part of their history and past and still feel strongly about the whole succession antigovernment thing.

I also considered the leaglity of the show and do think it's real. The producers have most likely worked a deal with the feds and what not to offer these people some sort of immunity. The main guy kept banging on about needing money to go legit, so I reckon the show will probably set him up pretty nicely when the show is finished.

All in all I'm pretty positive all the questions one might have about the show can be found through google, but i like having my own theories.
 
I live in TN and anymore moonshine seems to be more of a novelty. Yes you can still buy it. I've seen a couple "flavors" at parties (thrown by people with tons of cash so it wasn't an attempt to save money by buying it) but didn't drink any, not a liquor kind of guy. Not sure on the prices but doubt anyone gets $50 for a quart mason jar. They make Jack Daniels about 2hrs away, it also starts out as "shine" basically before they modify the proof and age in barrels.
 
Ichinisan said:
you can't just make a reality show that depicts supposedly-illegal on-going activity.
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You certainly can make a documentary of illegal activities. If they script anything illegal, that would probably net them a conspiracy rap, but filming is perfectly fine. But that's not to say the people on this show are doing anything illegal or that they're showing anything illegal. I've only watched like 10 minutes of one show and only saw them putting jugs in a SUV for transport, and I have no idea what the law is regarding anything regarding liquor.
 
Moonshining has its roots deep in American history -- from George Washington through to the good 'ol boys who predated NASCAR.

The Whiskey Rebellion, or Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States in 1789, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who sold their corn in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they strongly resented. The tax was a part of treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton's program to pay off the national debt.

On the western frontier, protesters used violence and intimidation to prevent federal officials from collecting the tax. Resistance came to a climax in July 1794, when a U.S. marshal arrived in western Pennsylvania to serve writs to distillers who had not paid the excise. The alarm was raised, and more than 500 armed men attacked the fortified home of tax inspector General John Neville. Washington responded by sending peace commissioners to western Pennsylvania to negotiate with the rebels, while at the same time calling on governors to send a militia force to suppress the violence. With 15,000 militia provided by the governors of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Washington rode at the head of an army to suppress the insurgency. The rebels all went home before the arrival of the army, and there was no confrontation. About 20 men were arrested, but all were later acquitted or pardoned.
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NASCAR. Stock car racing dates all the way back to Prohibition, when rum runners and bootleggers used modified street cars, or “stock” cars, to transport whiskey and if not to outfox, then to out run authorities. But it’s worth noting that even before then, the Belgians had been using automobiles to break land speed records. In the United States, after Prohibition, bootleggers became moonshiners, now running deliveries of home-brewed spirits that produced income that would never show up on anyone’s tax return.

Drivers were to avoid or just plain outrun Revenuers—government agents trying to enforce the tax code by uncovering illicit income, or “revenues.”

So it had to happen. Some of these drivers had so much fun outrunning the law that they began to run against each other in organized races. Throngs of fans began to congregate. But there was a problem: tracks ranged from the makeshift to the adequate and the rules of racing changed from venue to venue. So in December, 1947, Bill France Sr. and others formed the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. Today NASCAR represents one of the most popular, if not the most popular, spectator sports in the world.
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As has been noted, much of the deep South is Bozo Bible Belt dry counties. The only liquor you can easily get is illegal liquor.

The tradition of home distilling, which dates back to before we were the United States of American, also plays a part.

Finally REVENUE (tax money) has always played a strong part. That's WHY the Federal agents who try to bust these stills have always been called "Revnooers!"

There are, to this day, relatively steep federal and state excise taxes on liquor!

The history of your own country, bitches. Learn it or remain perplexed. 😛

Why do you think we have a separate federal agency called the ATF, the The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives? Traditional American products, all! 😀

Did you know that Elliot Ness and several of his "Untouchables" were transferred to the predecessor ATU after the repeal of Prohibition?
 
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DominionSeraph said:
You certainly can make a documentary of illegal activities. If they script anything illegal, that would probably net them a conspiracy rap, but filming is perfectly fine. But that's not to say the people on this show are doing anything illegal or that they're showing anything illegal. I've only watched like 10 minutes of one show and only saw them putting jugs in a SUV for transport, and I have no idea what the law is regarding anything regarding liquor.
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Well they just arrest the people. Use the tape as evidence and suphoena the camera crew as witnesses.
 
Wyndru said:
I want to actually try making it, a small batch if it's possible. I have a lot of the equipment already, and could probably build the rest. I need to make sure I'm monitoring those hydrometer readings closely, don't want to go blind 😀

It's just like brew masters got me back into brewing, this show might actually get me into moonshinin' lol.
Click to expand...

You go blind from adulterated product, not distilling in general. Ethyl alcohol was cut with industrial methanol back in the day to increase yield, and the result was blindness. You gotta wonder about the logic behind that. Killing, and blinding your customers is crappy for future business. I guess if it's a one-off sale by a foreigner you can get away with it, but it's still lame.
 
I bought a jar of corn whiskey from some guy in a double-wide in the middle of the TN woods once. He probably brewed it in his bath tub because he certainly wasn't using it to clean himself. The jar was $20 and the whiskey was lethal. So much so I forgot why I was in TN in the first place.
 
Wyndru said:
You're gonna have to love moonshiners.

I'm into this show, but I don't understand a couple of things.

Why down south do people buy moonshine, instead of going to a liquor store? The show has already stated that they dilute it in the proofing barrel down to 80 proof, which is basically what you get even from the low shelf liquors. But it's made in the woods with swamp water. Is it really amazing tasting? One guy was mixing it with apple juice and fruit in a mason jar and still selling them
for $50 a jar.

Also, why does the government care about busting moonshiners, it can't be that much money being lost from tax revenue, not compared to drugs that are sold nationwide. Why even bother combating it? They spend all of this time and money to bust people that make 100k a year. It doesn't make sense to me.
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If someone wants to distill their own alcohol for personal usage, let them do it. If they want want to sell it to make money they should be regulated and taxed. Chances are quite high that if you drink that shit on regular basis you might die of alcohol poisoning if methyl alcohol gets mixed in the liquor. Decent quality booze is already cheap for weekend occasional drinker. Not talking about having drinks in the bar. But if someone is a drunkard then its a problem.
 
Wyndru said:
You're gonna have to love moonshiners.

I'm into this show, but I don't understand a couple of things.

Why down south do people buy moonshine, instead of going to a liquor store? The show has already stated that they dilute it in the proofing barrel down to 80 proof, which is basically what you get even from the low shelf liquors. But it's made in the woods with swamp water. Is it really amazing tasting? One guy was mixing it with apple juice and fruit in a mason jar and still selling them
for $50 a jar.

Also, why does the government care about busting moonshiners, it can't be that much money being lost from tax revenue, not compared to drugs that are sold nationwide. Why even bother combating it? They spend all of this time and money to bust people that make 100k a year. It doesn't make sense to me.
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swamp water? are you serious?

the only real moonshine comes from pure mountain springs.

Get thee to Western NC, the birthplace of bootlegging and Nascar (unfortunately--but they come hand-in-hand), where only the best hooch is born.
 
yoyomamama said:
If someone wants to distill their own alcohol for personal usage, let them do it. If they want want to sell it to make money they should be regulated and taxed. Chances are quite high that if you drink that shit on regular basis you might die of alcohol poisoning if methyl alcohol gets mixed in the liquor. Decent quality booze is already cheap for weekend occasional drinker. Not talking about having drinks in the bar. But if someone is a drunkard then its a problem.
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Federal law allows each household to distill or brew an annual maximum of liquor, beer, wine. I believe you can even sell within that limit.

You only have to be licensed when you distill, sell, and distribute beyond that limit.
 
zinfamous said:
Federal law allows each household to distill or brew an annual maximum of liquor, beer, wine. I believe you can even sell within that limit.

You only have to be licensed when you distill, sell, and distribute beyond that limit.
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What about selling in distributing near certain places. Here by us you cant do any of those or open a liquor store a certain amount of yards from a church, school, police station etc etc
 
zinfamous said:
Federal law allows each household to distill or brew an annual maximum of liquor, beer, wine. I believe you can even sell within that limit.

You only have to be licensed when you distill, sell, and distribute beyond that limit.
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I think distillation is verboten, regardless of quantity. I never looked it up. Arbitrary laws don't particularly interest me.
 
I've had moonshine from Kentucky, and it certainly wasn't 80 proof. I think it was straight off the still. Really rough drinking, but an interesting experience.
 
The moonshine part of the show isn't really moonshine, but the cop part is real. My wife found an article about it last week and totally rained on my parade.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk
 
lxskllr said:
You go blind from adulterated product, not distilling in general. Ethyl alcohol was cut with industrial methanol back in the day to increase yield, and the result was blindness. You gotta wonder about the logic behind that. Killing, and blinding your customers is crappy for future business. I guess if it's a one-off sale by a foreigner you can get away with it, but it's still lame.
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Oh, I don't know much about the process other than what they explained on the show, which basically said that the first vapor to come out of the still is the stuff that can kill you, and that the best product comes from the middle of the batch, I don't know how they determine that.

zinfamous said:
swamp water? are you serious?
the only real moonshine comes from pure mountain springs.
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On the show they do look for flowing water, but some the water they pour into the still is basically brown/green. I guess it really doesn't matter much, since it gets filtered later with a pillow cover lol.
 
Wyndru said:
Oh, I don't know much about the process other than what they explained on the show, which basically said that the first vapor to come out of the still is the stuff that can kill you, and that the best product comes from the middle of the batch, I don't know how they determine that.
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I don't know about killing you, but it isn't good spirit. You want the middle cut when running a still. The first shot, and the last aren't good. It's somewhere in the middle that gives you the good whisky. For all intents and purposes, whisky is just beer with the alcohol condensed. It starts off as beer, then gets cooked in a still, and the alcohol is removed. That's for scotch, and I imagine bourbon type is the same, except you're starting with a corn heavy, grain beer.
 
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