The history of moonshining is a long one, and no one tells it better than the men who once made a living from it deep in the heart of Appalachia. Originally published in 1972, “Moonshining as a Fine Art” takes you through the their time-honored methods of making (and occasionally hiding) safe, successful stills. It also includes a glossary of moonshining terms and recipes for home-brewed mountain drinks like apple beer and blackberry wine....
"The craft of making moonshine, an unaged white whiskey, often made and consumed outside legal parameters, nearly went extinct in the late twentieth century as law enforcement cracked down on illicit producers, and cheaper, lawful alcohol became readily available. Yet the twenty-first century has witnessed a resurgence of artisanal distilling, as both connoisseurs and those reconnecting with their heritage have created a vibrant new culture of moonshine....
This comprehensive guide to whiskey-making tells the history of the spirit and answers age-old questions like what makes whiskey whiskey, but also serves as a manual to making homemade whiskey, including recipes and suggestions.
The Joy of Home Distilling is a guide for beginner and intermediate distillers. Readers will learn about every facet of distilling, from yeast styles and nutritional requirements to the different methods of distillation and equipment, and post-distillation processes. Author Rick Morris, who has been selling distillation equipment for years, even includes his own recipes for different types of spirits and drink recipes. By learning not just how to...
Living Proof tells the story of how, in just a few short years, Connecticut natives Adam and Pete took Onyx Spirits Company from a start-up concept born in a restored Civil War-era factory to a multimillion-dollar, award-winning spirit distillery by breaking rules, learning from failures, and challenging the status quo. Business lessons distilled from the mind of a moonshiner include:
• Finding your purpose in business (and life).
• Setting goals,...
Discover the secret world of moonshine cocktails. Fire up the still or snag some hooch and get mixing. It's time to discover the world of moonshine cocktails. Always infamous and often outlawed, moonshine is a high-proof distilled spirit, generally produced by home distillers, most often from corn mash. Corn whiskey is too intense for many and is extremely high in alcohol, making it a difficult drink to imbibe. Now more popular than ever due to its...
Nothing but clear, 100-proof American history. Hooch. White lightning. White whiskey. Mountain dew. Moonshine goes by many names. So what is it, really? Technically speaking, "moonshine" refers to untaxed liquor made in an unlicensed still. In the United States, it's typically corn that's used to make the clear, unaged beverage, and it's the mountain people of the American South who are most closely associated with the image of making and...
Moonshine is corn whiskey, traditionally made in improvised stills throughout the Appalachian South. While quality varied from one producer to another, the whiskey had one thing in common: It was illegal because the distiller refused to pay taxes to the US government. Many moonshiners were descendants of Scots-Irish immigrants who had fought in the original Whiskey Rebellion in the early 1790s. They brought their knowledge of distilling with them...
"Inlanders of the Pacific Northwest are resilient during Prohibition, making moonshine or riding the rails or dancing for money or smuggling liquor across the Canadian border. Some go to prison or are shot and killed. The lucky ones have the thrill and distraction of falling in love. Be inspired by the optimism, ingenuity, and perseverance of everyday people. The struggle from farms and a sod house to flapper fun, dance halls, drinking houses and...
"Prohibition consumed Seattle, igniting a war that lasted nearly twenty years and played out in the streets, waterways and even town hall. Roy Olmstead, formerly a Seattle police officer, became the King of Seattle Bootleggers, and Johnny Schnarr, running liquor down from Canada, revolutionized the speedboat industry. Frank Gatt, a south Seattle restaurateur, started the state's biggest moonshining operation. Skirting around the law, the Coast Guard...
Moonshining is deep-rooted in the history of Oregon.
In 1844, when it was still Oregon Territory, one of the first moonshiners, James Conner, challenged a lawman to a duel for busting his illegal operation. The McKenzie River Bandits had better luck hiding from the law and produced bootleg booze for nearly five years before their arrest. It wouldn't be the last time they were caught. Over the years, outlaw moonshiners engaged in car chases, shootouts...
White lightning . . . XXX . . . Firewater.
Whatever you call it, moonshine is America's original rebel spirit.
This ultimate must-have for aspiring moonshine connoisseurs, boozy history buffs, and party seekers everywhere is a buzz-worthy ride through moonshine's legendary history. From its roots in the hollows of Appalachia and keeping the good times flowing through Prohibition to its headlining status today as a pop culture icon, Moonshine tells...
Homemade liquor has played a prominent role in the Appalachian economy for nearly two centuries. The region endured profound transformations during the extreme prohibition movements of the nineteenth century, when the manufacturing and sale of alcohol - an integral part of daily life for many Appalachians - was banned.
In Moonshiners and Prohibitionists: The Battle over Alcohol in Southern Appalachia, Bruce E. Stewart chronicles the social tensions...
North Carolina holds a special place in the history of moonshine. For more than three centuries, the illicit home-brew was a way of life.
NASCAR emerged from the illegal moonshine tradeas drivers such as Junior Johnson, accustomed to running from the law, moved to the racetrack. A host of colorful characters populated the state's bootlegging arena, like Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton, known as the Paul Bunyan of moonshine, and Alvin Sawyer,
A young George Washington once roamed the peaks, Civil War soldiers battled along the ridges, and bloody Prohibition skirmishes echoed among the dark hemlocks of Maryland's Appalachian Highlands. Local columnist and outdoorsman Tim Rowland introduces the remarkable history of the mountains of Western Maryland, from the rocky relations of Native Americans and early settlers and the Battle of South Mountain to the faded elegance of Gilded Age resorts...
The Ozarks conveys a different mental image for everyone. Some visualize long black beards, moonshine whiskey, and corncob pipes, while others imagine canoe trips down clear, free-flowing, gravel-bottom streams, oak and hickory forests, a log cabin nestled in a wooded grove, and a wisp of blue-gray smoke floating above a native stone chimney.
Life in the Missouri Ozarks was hard and taken seriously. At the same time, the folks who scratched out a...
“When the first American tax on distilled spirits was established in 1791, violence broke out in Pennsylvania. The resulting Whiskey Rebellion sent hundreds of families down the Ohio River by flatboat, stills on board, to settle anew in the fertile bottomlands of Kentucky. Here they used cold limestone spring water to make bourbon and found that corn produced even better yields of whiskey than rye. Thus, the licit and illicit branches of the distilling...
A Story of Hard Spirits and Defiant Souls Franklin County, Virginia has long been known as the Moonshine Capital of the World. That history can seem romantic, but the county has a dark and violent past. The descendants of the Scots-Irish who settled its rugged mountains openly defied the law and employed their own notions of justice to defend their traditions and livelihood. During Prohibition, the production of moonshine skyrocketed, but the liquor...
Scotty May Hatfield and Mickey McCoy join forces and are determined to get their families together to make this Moonshine deal happen with big liquor exec Monsell. If only Mark Hatfield and Jim McCoy can keep from fighting again. Meanwhile, James McCoy's has decided to test his family's DNA for a rage gene as his latest science experiment.
