How is moonshine made

Please read our complete legal summary for more information on the legalities of distillation. To reiterate what we said at the beginning of the article, making the mash recipe below and then distilling it would be illegal pretty much anywhere in the United States without the proper commercial distillers permits. So, absolutely do not try this at home. However, if you're a commercial distiller, read on.

This recipe would be considered gold standard as far as classic, all-grain, corn whiskey recipes go because the ingredients used should lend to a pleasant aroma rich flavor and a smooth finish, with the corn coming through loud and clear. In fact, the flavor of the corn will likely mask how strong this drink really is, which makes this stuff dangerous. Below is a video of an all-grain mash made with a bit of malted barley to initiate starch conversion. Unfortunately, we don't have a distillers permit so we start the video by explaining the all-grain corn whiskey mash recipe, but then adding sugar to turn it into a fuel alcohol recipe.

Making the mash described above is legal but distilling it is not. Read more about the legalities of distilling below. The full procedure illustrated in the video above, with the inclusion of the sugar addition, actually more accurately describes the process of making a thin mash.

Essentially, thin mash is part grain and part granulated sugar. But why? Corn is somewhat difficult to work with during the mashing process because it gets extremely thick before starch begins to break down into sugar. However, if making a mash for fuel alcohol, as is what we actually did in the video, starting alcohol percentage can and should be fairly high to maximize the yield. By adding granulated sugar after the mash we were able to increase starting alcohol content.

To make thin mash, we followed steps above then simply added granulated sugar before moving on to step 7. Remember, making this mash is legal. However, distilling it is not. Below is a table illustrating ABV increases caused by the addition of sugar. We use the term "sugar mash" loosely here. It essentially describes high proof alcohol made with only granulated sugar and zero grain.

It doesn't require a mash to convert starch to sugar and the procedure for making it is very simple. It is made by dissolving white table sugar into water, heating to pasteurize optional , adding yeast nutrient very important and adding yeast.

As we've said several times in this article and hundreds of times on this site, distilling alcohol without the proper permits is illegal. Don't do it unless you're properly licensed and permitted. Moonshine was once an important financial aspect of the Appalachian economy, providing a source of income in bad economic times and in areas where poverty was rampant.

Like any good produced in the U. Moonshine experienced a deep lull when the U. In recent years, moonshine seems to have had a resurgence. Now with the trend for higher prices at the liquor store, especially for imported spirits, moonshining has hit the spotlight again. In , a BBC investigation into moonshining in the United States found that as many as a million Americans were breaking the law by making moonshine.

In the same year, Tennessee started selling legal hooch in big box stores like Walmart and Sam's Club. On the internet, several websites offer stills made of all copper for sale, ranging from 1-gallon personal models to gallon commercial outfits.

One seller claimed the demand for his copper stills doubled in recent years and that he had shipped stills to every state in the U. Illegal moonshine remains dangerous because it is mostly brewed in makeshift stills. It can be dangerous on two levels, both during the distilling process and when consuming it. The distilling process itself produces alcohol vapors, which are highly flammable. The flammable vapors are one major reason why moonshine stills are almost always located outside, although it makes them easier to be spotted by law enforcement.

The threat of vaporous explosions is too great if confined inside. In terms of consuming the liquid, if the final product is over proof, the moonshine itself is also extremely flammable and can be very dangerous. While the flammability of the distilling process and the product itself is a danger, more people have died from drinking moonshine than have died by explosions of stills due to the toxins in the brew.

Although many of the stills in operation today are the all-copper variety, there are plenty of the old handmade stills still around. Old stills use vehicle radiators in the distilling process, and they are apt to contain lead soldering, which can contaminate the moonshine. The old radiators could also contain remnants of antifreeze glycol products which could also add toxins to the brew. In larger batches of distilled moonshine, tainting with methanol can also occur.

Because methanol vaporizes at a lower temperature than alcohol, the first liquid produced by the distillation process can contain methanol. The larger the batch, the more methanol. Most moonshine makers today know to pour off those first drippings from the condenser, also known as the foreshot, but not all of them know or do it. Methanol is highly poisonous and can cause blindness and even death.

In a study, Dr. Christopher Holstege, a physician with the University of Virginia Health System, tested 48 samples of moonshine obtained by law enforcement from different stills. The doctor found lead contamination in 43 of the samples.

Folklore tells us one way to test the purity of moonshine is to pour some in a metal spoon and set it on fire. But the spoon burning method is not completely reliable. This test does not detect other toxins that might be in the brew, like methanol, which burns with a light blue flame that is hard to see.

With millions of gallons of moonshine being produced each year in the United States, chances are some of it is going to be tainted.

Health officials are concerned that moonshine toxicity in ailing patients might be overlooked because most healthcare providers consider it a tradition of the past.

As far as historians can tell, brewing alcohol has been around since the beginning of mankind. Moonshine, specifically, is believed to have been introduced in the southern Appalachian region of the U. Operators of illegal whiskey stills conducted their business at night to avoid detection of legal authorities, because of this they became known as "Moonshiners". Bootleggers were the people that Moonshiners hired to transport the illegal alcohol to their buyers.

The term bootlegger comes from colonial times when the smugglers rode on horseback with the alcohol concealed in their tall riding boots. Bootleggers traded their horses for cars in the 's, 40's, and 50's. These later bootleggers developed superb mechanical skills as they modified their cars with heavier springs to support the weight of the alcohol and more horsepower to help them outrun the law. Rumrunners are basically the same as bootleggers, however, they smuggle their goods by sea, using fast vessels with hidden cargo holds.

Making alcohol revolves around two processes: fermentation and distillation.