Moonshine?

[cambraceres]

So here's the deal, I live WAAAAAY back in the Appalachain mountains of VA, and have a neighbor who makes moonshine. Now this moonshine is really really cheap, by far the cheapest alcohol I will come across anytime soon.

My question is, as my overall alcohol consumption is made up more and more of moonshine, how much worse are the health effects?

I know this stuff is poison, and can only drink it several times a week, sparingly. It's too good of a deal to not use it for parties, but I'm kinda torn on whether or not to make it a semi-regular thing.

Oh and I want to live past 40 or 35 or you know, somewhere in there

Cambraceres

[RunDownHouse]

Nobody here can answer this question. Distilling liquor doesn't get more poisonous based on how many barrels you distill; a backyard place can be just as clean as a major operation, they just usually aren't as strict because of the lack of government oversight.

No matter where your alcohol comes from, there are some basic truths. Yeast consumes fermentable sugars and produces ethanol and CO2. Various organic items break down into fermentable and non-fermentable sugars.

I don't know as much about distillation as I do about brewing beer, but I'd be really surprised if your local distilled spirits contained toxic chemicals. That's just not the way it works. Your neighbor likely simply mashes the sugars out of grapes, blueberries, whatever, and then distills (read: boils the solution at a specific temperature and then condenses the vapor) the results and bottles/ages it. There's not a whole lot of room for contaminants in there, at least not toxic ones.

If your local distiller is using ingredients that aren't fermentable and/or break down into toxic substances, then of course you'll have a problem. But the harsh reputation of beverages like "moonshine" comes more from a lack of sufficient aging, excess alcohol by volume, and [censored] ingredients than they do actual toxic agents produced by or used in the distillation process, at least in these days.

[cambraceres]

It sounds like you answered my question, and this guy doesn't do the filtering through the radiator thing and calls his concotion dandelion moonshine. He uses the flowers somehow.

Cam

[belgianbeerlover]

Just make sure he isn't adding methanol. If you're making this post, then I don't think he is.

[smoore]

disclaimer: If you blow yourself or your house up, don't [censored] blame me. Go read if you want to know how, all the info is out there in this wonderful digital age.

heh, no one ADDS methanol to 'shine. The major problem comes from failing to REMOVE the methanol. Methanol is wood alcohol and will definitely blind/kill you if you get enough. "Enough" in this case is a very trace amount, since you're actually drinking it.

Here's how it works:
You collect sugar/starch
You make mash (basically beer)
You heat the mash until it evaporates. You run this evaporate through a condensor of some sort (the coil) to create distillate.
You remove the poisinous part of the distillate (the heads), keep the good stuff (the runnings) and discard *most* of the nasty-tasting stuff at the end (the tails).

I say *most* because you will always have some tails in the runnings and you will actually want some because that's where the flavor comes from.

The heads DO contain methanol but for a two-barrel operation that can produce 3+gal of fine whiskey in a run (yay champagne yeast) you only throw away the first 150ml. The methanol is in the first 50ml, the extra 100ml must be "for the faeries". This is safe because methanol evaporates at a lower temperature than ethanol. What comes through the condenser is methanol, then ethanol.

The other poisons that can enter 'shine come from poor condensation (the radiator... it's not a filter, dummies use it for a coil), poor transfer (lead in the solder on the pipes) or poor storage (PT<something> plastic... milk jugs are great though!). Just make sure that everything the mash or 'shine touches is of food grade and you're ok there.

- or -

Outright murderers that put poison like formaldehyde in the final product because of the "buzz" it produces. That's like putting embalming fluid on weed! Oh wait... people do that too.

In summary, if the guy is long-term and your daddy's friends bought shine from him, by all means enjoy it every night you feel the urge. If he's new then you might have something to worry about, ask some old timers. I learned how to make shine in the hills of VA/WVA/Ohio and I can make a completely safe product that will hurt a lot less than commercial bourbon *the next day*... it's gonna hurt your gullet like hell tonight unless you cut it 1:1 with tap water. That's when it becomes about 80 proof.

BTW feds: Don't bother to look me up, I don't run... shoulda checked in with me 5 years ago though, you'da had a whole hobby still to bust. Bastards.

FREE WHISKEY NOW!

edit: now that I'm remenicing, more than one of my (large still) mentors used to throw a little of the distillate onto his hot still and light it up... yellow = throw away; blue = keep. Always made me jump when they lit it, knowing we were standing next to a 10 barrel bomb filled with ethanol fumes.

[cambraceres]

Wow, cool story. About 30 miles from here, the biggest still in this part of the country ever busted was found. The proprietor was using 20,000 pounds of sugar a week, now that is some alcohol! Interestingly enough, he was a resident of Franklin County, famous for the song, "Franklin County Moonshine".

Thanks for the info fellas

Peace

Cam

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
So here's the deal, I live WAAAAAY back in the Appalachain mountains of VA, and have a neighbor who makes moonshine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are these ladies your neighbors?

[Brain]

There's an article on distilling in the July issue of GQ (page 112).