Making the Moonshine

By:

Christian Listoe

Jordan Money

Tyler Myers

Agenda

• What it is

• Recipes

• Stills & Proofing

• Flavor & Prices

• Influential People & Places

• Why its made

• “Slang” terms

("Google Image“)

What is Moonshine

Moonshine-British term Moonshiners &

Bootleggers Rumrunners Appalachian Mountains

“Moonshine is any kind of alcohol, usually whisky or rum, that is made in secret to avoid high taxes or outright bans on alcoholic drinks…”

(Grabianowski)

("Google Image“)

("Google Image“)

Recipes & Ingredients

55-Gallon Barrel (1980’s)

•50 lbs. plain white cornmeal

•25 lbs. rye meal

•12.5 lbs. ground barley malt

•25 lbs. sugar

•2 packages yeast.

Popcorn Suttons Recipe

• 25 lbs. coarse ground white corn meal,

• 50 lbs. sugar

• 1 gallon of malt • (Corn, barley, rye or

combination)

(Popcorn Sutton's Moonshine)

• Rubbing alcohol

• Wood

• Paint thinner

• Bleach

• Formaldehyde

“Extra "ingredients

“Alcohol can actually be distilled from almost any kind of grain (the earliest American moonshiners used rye or barley)…” (Grabianowski)

How to Mix Ingredients

("Moonshiners.")

Making a run

Set up still

Grind & Soak Corn

Add yeast

Activate heat source 1720 F

(Grabianowski)

The Still

(Grabianowski)

Types of Stills

Blackpot Submarine Still

Pot Stills

(Home Distillation of Alcohol)("Still Types and Techniques")

Pot Stills

Collects and condenses alcohol boiled off mash

Produce alcohol between 40-60%

The rest is water and flavor from the mash

Traditionally made of copper

Used for making spirits rich in flavor

("Types of Stills“)

("Google Image“)

How a Pot Still Works

Fire below pot heats mash

Alcohol evaporates at 78.3o Celsius

The alcohol rises and flows into the worm bucket

Condenses into a liquid and flows into a bucket

("Types of Stills“)

Blackpot Submarine Still

1920s

Galvanized steel or copper

800 gallons of mash

Large quantities of low quality

Six or seven runs per patch

("Still Types and Techniques“)

How a Blackpot Submarine Still Works

Mix mash in the boiler

Let sit till fermented into beer

Heat the mash

Steam Thump keg (2nd run)

Worm

More sugar and repeat

("Still Types and Techniques“)

("Still Types and Techniques.")

Setting up a still

Proof

Term meaning twice the alcohol content in a drink

Ship yard Ways to determine proof

Shake Test

Hydrometer

Fire test

(West)

Proofing Ways

Shake Test Estimating proof

Bubbles & there size

Hydrometer Weighted thermometer tool

Measures gravity of liquid

Compares liquid & water densities

Flame Test Pour liquor into cap & light with

fire

Blue Yellow Red(Dillow) ("Google Image“)

("Google Image“)

("Google Image“)

Flavors and Pricing

Apple Pie Black cherry White Lighting Peach

Gallon $100-$120 Quart $25-$35

Strawberry Cherry Blueberry

Junior Johnson Born in 1931 and from Wilkesboro, NC. That would make him 82 in

todays time

Raced in NASCAR in the 50’s & 60’s

Now has his own brand of Moonshine called Midnight Moon

He is known as the “King of NASCAR” while Earnhardt is the “Intimidator”

Had the biggest impact on NASCAR because of his bootlegging

("Junior Johnson“)

Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton

A moonshiner in Cocke County Tennessee but also claimed North Carolina as his home

His whiskey is still distilled and sold today in stores.

He is also famous for his interview he did with Johnny Knoxville back in the earlier 2000’s where he talked about the long road he has traveled down and how he wouldn’t change a bit of it.

(Popcorn Sutton)

Franklin County, Virginia

Franklin County, Virginia is called the Moonshine capital of the world from a lot of people, but some people claim that Wilkes County, North Carolina is the Moonshine Capital.

This debate occurs because each county has deep history in the making and selling of moonshine.

Franklin County was very known for violence and more of an outlaw side of moonshining. Wilkes County also had some violence involved, but they were a little better at keeping it under cover.

(Colvin)

Wilkes County, North Carolina

Wilkes County is still a well-known place for acquiring illegal moonshine but, so is Franklin County.

To me, it doesn’t make that big of a difference, but to the people of each county, they take great pride in it.

This goes to show that moonshine isn’t such a bad thing in the eyes of a lot of people. Its more than making money, it is heritage.

(“The Moonshine Capital”)

Wilkes County vs. Franklin County

Why It’s Made

Poverty

Great Depression

Cheaper

Stronger

Keep tradition

Medicinal Uses

• Good cough syrup supplement

• Stronger shine equals better results

• Recipe

• One shot moonshine• One teaspoon honey• Small squeeze of lemon juice.

• The honey makes it thick so the medicine can “coat” the sides of your throat and then it can soak in and then kill the sickness.

("Medicinal Moonshine to cure coughs“)

Slang Terms for ‘Shine

Moonshiners have their own code they use to keep people from getting suspicious. Using this code can keep them from getting caught or from the wrong person finding out.

“Do you have any apple pie shine I can get?”

“Have you talked to the baker to see what pies he has in the oven?”

(Smooth, Silky)

Other Names:

• Fire water • Liquor• White Lightning • Mountain Dew • Hooch • Grandpas cough medicine

• Rotgut • Bathtub gin • Bootleg • Home Brew • The Pie• Shine

West Coast vs. East CoastWe raised the question, why is moonshine still illegal but there are some states that now can legally grow marijuana? Well, the answer to that question has no definite answer. But, there is a trend when it comes to smoking pot and drinking moonshine.

Most of the time you hear of moonshining, it is on the east coast and mainly in the south. Now, this does not mean that people in other states don’t drink moonshine, but the south east is most well-known for this. When you look at people who smoke pot, the majority of that occurs in big cities up North or out west where it is easier to get and you can now legally grow your own.

Government RegulationsThe government does have limits on how much marijuana you can grow, and there are other regulations and taxes. But, why does the legal moonshine have to be below a certain proof? Most of the medical marijuana is stronger than the normal stuff you can find on the streets, but with moonshine, what you can get legally is weaker than what you can get from the man next door. People like their moonshine strong, and you cant get it as strong as you want it in the store. The government always has contradictory laws, and this is one of those.

Colvin, Jay. Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and lawless years of prohibition. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2011. Print.

Dillow, Clay "FYI: Can Drinking Moonshine Really Make Me Go Blind?." Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation, 12 June 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

"Google Image" Google Image Result for. N.p., n.d. google.com Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Grabianowski, Ed. "How Moonshine Works" HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 11 Nov. 2004. science.howstuffworks.com Web. 31 Mar.

2014.

"Home Distillation of Alcohol (Homemade Alcohol to Drink)." Home Distillation of Alcohol (Homemade Alcohol to Drink). N.p., n.d. homedistiller.org Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

"Junior Johnson" jockbio.com. Black Book Partners. Web. 16 Apr 2014.

"Popcorn Sutton-The Story."popcornsuttonwhiskey.com. Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey, n.d. Web. 16 Apr 2014.

"Popcorn Sutton's Moonshine: Recipes to Make Your Own Hooch." International Business Times. N.p., n.d. ibtimes.com Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

"Medicinal Moonshine to cure coughs" survivalpunk.com. WordPress, n.d. Web. 8 Apr 2014.

"Moonshiners" Discovery Channel. N.p., n.d. discovery.com Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

Smooth, Silky "Urban Dictionary: Moonshine."urbandictionary.com. N.p., 27 Jan 2004. Web. 7 Apr 2014.

"Still Types and Techniques" Moonshine, Blue Ridge Style. N.p., n.d. blueridgeinstitute.org Web. 31 Mar. 2014.

"The Moonshine Capital of the World, Back in the Hometown" Elkin Tribune [Elkin] Aug 2013, n. page. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.

"Types of Stills" Learn to Moonshine. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

West, James "Whats Does Proof of Alcohol Mean." Betty Ford Center. N.p., 15 Oct. 2010. Web. 17 Apr 2014.