Moonshine

A friend gave me a few quart jars months back. Brewed by one of her relatives somewhere in KY. Was delicious on its own, but I consumed most mixed with Coke. Plenty potent too...

 

Pretty readily available thru out North Carolina if you know someone,just had some''Apple Pie'' last night almost clear, tastes good,little after burn but sippable no need for mixers or chasers.But as OP mentioned,will kick your butt if you get carried away.Many varieties available from the traditional clear shine to many flavors such as peach, (not brandy) blackberry and apple.
CH

 

Moonshine is common in the Middle East where alcohol is illegal and severely punished.
For example, in Saudi Arabia the typical punishment for possession of alcohol was 30 lashes by the whip in the public square.

In Saudi, moonshine is called "sadiki" which is arabic for "my friend".
I use to know people that made it by converting a Mr Coffee maker into a small still.

Extremely strong stuff. Usually mixed with punch or other types of juice drinks. Completely clear, like vodka.
Usually sold in clear plastic 1-liter sized water containers that were resealed to look like a standard brand of bottled water.

 

Distilled not brewed.

 

I had an uncle in Alabama that got some from a hunting buddy, a real backwoods redneck type. I took a shot of it, then we mixed it with Sunkist orange soda (I guess that makes it a hillbilly screwdriver?) It actually wasn't bad, until your throat spontaneously combusted.

I was like 16 or 17 at the time always nice to have one totally irresponsible relative!

 

I dated a Polish girl whose family brewed their own liquor. I guess it was in the moonshine family, but dated back to the old country. Tasted more like it dated back to the garage.

 

Second day of "High" School, sophomore year, IIRC, a dropped jar of moonshine ate through concrete's lacquer coating and left a permanent stain, as I'm told it is still visible 32 years later. Man, we bolted that scene.

 

dare I ask what happened on the first day of "high" school?

 

OK. Lets see.

Moonshine is nothing more than grain alcohol.

Proof for proof it will not "kick you ass" any more than any other grain alcohol.

There is absolutely nothing special about it except the romance associated with the felonious act of not paying excise tax.

In fact, there is no way you could distill alcohol at home for less money than cheap vodka or Everclear, which is exactly what you are making. Even before the tax evasion.

Does it taste harsh? Thats because its simply CRAP, not because its some mysteriously potent elixir. Pour it through a charcoal filter 4 or 5 times and it will be as smooth as any other low end vodka.

 

+1, but one addition:

Oftentimes, the distillation occurs through automotive radiators/lines. Lead solder on these things results in high levels of lead in the finished product.

So, maybe the extra kick you are getting is from lead poisoning?????

Dom (board certified toxicologist)

 

worked with a fellow who would bring in some wonderful stuff whenever he went "back home". very smooth and a nice vanilla finish. he brought me a pint once which i proceeded to drink in its' entirety. after i detoxed i never got drunk again. cured by the shine.

 

Why, I told my Arkie-friend to bring Moonshine from his summer trip back "home", of course, while we scoped out the freshman girls...

I'd love to say more [had a paragraph's worth], but, Man, what a racket I had goin'... gotta write a script...

 

If it was not for Moonshine, we would probably not have NASCAR.

 

I think the key is that you can distill it to any proof you want. Though why bother, when you can buy this stuff on the cheap that is 192 proof and does NOT have any harshness. 96% grain alcohol WILL kick your ass if you're not watching it because you simply can't taste it in a mixed drink...
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You have all probably heard the stories about some of this home made hooch that people go blind on. What gets screwed up where in the process to cause this?

 

I got a chance to try some when a friend I shoot with received a batch from his source in Georgia. He used to get some every couple of months. I must say that I was surprised at how smooth it was, and no serious after effects ;-)

 

Without going into a long dissertation, you make both methanol and ethanol during the fermentation process. The trick is to get rid of the first part of the distallate (heads) during the distallation process because the methanol will boil off first.

Chemical engineers learn all of these steps in school, if they are paying attention...

 

I don't know if you can get Passover Slivovitz in the US. It is simply delicious - 140 proof, 70% alc.vol, plum spirit. Almost like moonshine

http://www.polmos.bielsko.pl/en/passover.html

 

Methanol causes blindness. Probably spiked with it.

Dom

 

I recently had the, err, pleasure to take a glass of some suspiciously clear liquid from a suspiciously non-labeled bottle that the grandfather of a friend of mine creates some place in the middle of nowhere in Bulgaria. It was supposed to be made out of plums, but rather tasted like battery acid, and I guess it actually consisted mostly of such. As some already elaborated, it's nothing magic, just alcohol with a lot of "dirt" in it, but the latter serves for a nice headache the morning after.

 

I used to have some 100% alcohol.

Until I opened it.

Really.

I had a machine that required it.