Moonshinin'

Basics of Bootleggin' and Moonshinin'
Here are the basics....a bootlegger is a person that sells illegal whiskey and a moonshiner is a person who makes the whiskey illegally. Moonshine goes by many names such as:
corn liquor
white lightning
sugar whiskey
skull cracker
popskull
bush whiskey
stump
stumphole
'splo
ruckus juice
rotgut
stumphole
catdaddy
mule kick
hillbilly pop
white lightning
panther's breath
tiger's sweat
sweet spirits of cats a-fighting
alley bourbon
city gin
cool water
happy Sally
blue John
jump steady
see seven stars
old horsey
block and tackle
wild cat

Small still for use in a basement, Wilkes CountyAppalachian Cultural MuseumAppalachian State University, Boone, NC
The term moonshine originated in Europe and was used in England in the 1700's. It originally referred to "occupational pursuits which necessitated night work, or work by the light of the moon."
The expression "bootlegging" has an long history itself. It originated in colonial America, and it believed to have been used in reference to selling alcohol to Native Americans. Some colonists tried to prevent this practice, but those that were more determined attempted to trade "spirits" for material goods. These colonists concealed bottles of liquor in the top of their boots and covered the bottles with their pants leg; hence the term "bootlegger."


A Quick Recipe for Making Moonshine
The basic ingredients:
corn meal
sugar
water
yeast
malt
The basic process:
Mix all ingredients together in a large container. After mixing, move the mixture, called "mash," into a still and leave it to ferment. How quickly this process occurs depends on the warmth of the mash.
Heat the mash to the point of vaporization at 173 degrees. The mash will produce a clear liquid, often the color of dark beer. You must watch this process with careful attention.
Trap vapor using a tube or coil. The vapor will be transferred into a second, empty container. The resulting condensation is the moonshine. It is then ready to drink or sell.
Keep mash in container. It is now called "slop." Add more sugar, water, malt, and corn meal and repeat the process.
Repeat the process up to eight times before replacing the mash.



The production of whiskey in this area predates the federal taxation of alcoholic beverages. For farmers in remote parts of the country, it was a way to turn their corn into cash when grain prices weren't all that high. The imposition of a tax on whiskey was considered an unwanted federal intervention and was largely ignored. The Department of the Treasury sent special agents — "revenuers" — to prosecute unlawful distilling. While some distillers became legitimate, others did not, and many an agent and many a distiller died in the ensuing gun battles.
The grain used to make the mash, which is the mixture of grain, sugar, water, and yeast that ferments to produce the alcohol, is virtually always corn, so the product is "corn liquor" (also known as "corn whiskey"), sometimes called "mountain dew" because it appears overnight, or simply "shine". (The clear, potent (i.e. high-proof) liquor is also called "white lightning" because of its effect, or "kick".) Today, commercial hog chow is often used, because it is readily available, buying it does not attract the attention of law enforcement, and it is primarily corn, but other corn-based animal feeds can be used instead, and differences in the other ingredients in the feed impart slightly different flavors to the finished product. Ordinary white sugar is often the chief ingredient of moonshine mash, in which case the spirit distilled is technically a rum rather than a whiskey.
Potato-based moonshine made illegally in Ireland, is called poit�n (IPA [ˈpˠocʲiːn], anglicized as poteen) or formerly potheen (IPA [ˈpɒtiːn] but in Ireland [ˈpɔtʃiːn]). The term is a diminutive of the word pota 'a pot'.