Moonshining in the Blue Ridge

[Oaktree]

Back when I was young and dumb, a guy down the hall handed me a bottle of 190 proof grain and dared me to take a drink. Wow! I don't believe that any of it ever got to my stomach, what didn't evaporate on the way down taking my breath away dried my mouth, tongue and throat. That's one of the lessons of college which aren't in the brochures.

As someone who might have one beer a year I have to ask, what's the point of this stuff if it's so strong you can't drink it?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I wish I had a mentor to teach me how to make liquor, I mean gas for my chainsaw.

They say something about the teacher appearing when he student is ready.

 

[MossRoad]

Pros can tell the purity of a batch by watching the "set"...here's a clue...it's basically a visual observation of time...!

If you're talking about shaking it and watching the bubbles, we call that proofing.

 

[MossRoad]

As someone who might have one beer a year I have to ask, what's the point of this stuff if it's so strong you can't drink it?

The point of strong liquor is to get drunker faster.

 

[stingray1]

Better look under the lid...

Lol,you got me there.

 

[Jstpssng]

As someone who might have one beer a year I have to ask, what's the point of this stuff if it's so strong you can't drink it?

You're asking the wrong person. The only thing that I can think of to use it for is to clean a wound... which is why I keep a bottle of isopryl (sp) alcohol around.

 

[Gunny]

Most submarine pot stills were made from galvanized steel, not copper.

Here's a good read on that and a lot of other interesting reading on still types and techniques...

Still Types and Techniques Blue Ridge Institute and Museum

Maybe the most stills were made from galvanized metal, but the pros tell me that copper makes a much better and smoother moonshine, something to do with the chemical reactions between the mash and the metals. There was one fellow that used stainless steel tanks, but even he said that copper would have been better.

I really don't know all that much about it, I'm not a hard liquor drinker, all I know is from what I've been told.

I know one fellow that made up a small still for personal use out of a large pressure cooker using the line from the vent to a small thumper, then on to his condenser coil. Once it was all taken apart, the only thing that looked out of place in his kitchen was the coil.

 

[MossRoad]

We're not talking flavor here. Galvanized steel was cheaper and we're talking about large submarine pot stills that held hundreds and hundreds of gallons when the goal was to make as much money with the least cost as possible. Taste of the product aside, there's all kind of safety issues with metals other than copper and stainless as well. Choose the wrong materials and it'll poison people. Same thing with lead based solder vs silver solder.

 

[mapper]

Mike Rowe did a Dirty Jobs episode some years ago at a legal craft distillery. They tested the liquor by putting a small quantity in a cup and put it near their eye, if it stung it was still the heads, when it didn't they were getting the heart and could keep it.
Later he got to climb into the still pot and clean it - the dirty part of the job.

 

[/pine]

If you're talking about shaking it and watching the bubbles, we call that proofing.

Yes generally referred to as a shake test...

"We"...Are you a distiller or bootlegger?...proofing is generally done with a hydrometer or analysis...The term "set' or "bead set" are tradecraft terms...likely not familiar to those that have learned what they know about the art from the Internet or reality TV goofs etc...There are some folks that can match a hydrometer (number) test by reading the set or bead set...!

Something else that separates today's contemporary bootleggers from those that learned the craft from many generations past are other typically common terms like "moonshine" or even just shine...in these parts (historically as rich in the craft as it gets) you will never hear an old pro use those terms, it is always just liquor or white liquor or maybe brandy...legal booze is "government liquor"...Anyone asking about "moonshine" etc. is regarded as a tourist or citified yankee...A typical response to someone asking about "shine" is "do you mean like for your shoes"...