Call it “hooch,” call it “white lightning,” call it the original “Mountain Dew,” whatever you call it, Americans have been making moonshine, or illegally distilled liquor, dating back decades, with a particularly heightened interest in the process spiking during the Prohibition Era, from 1920 to 1933. Moonshining is a well known process in mainstream America, easily recognized by its iconic mason jars, used to bottle the product through much of its early years of production. Historically, moonshine has been particularly prevalent in the Appalachian region of the United States, where many people have traditionally operated small scale distilleries providing their very own, albeit contraband, whiskey. In fact, the name “moonshine” stems from the illegal nature of the products manufacturing as unlicensed distillers were forced to work at night time, or “by the light of the moon,” in order to produce their liquor without arousing the suspicion of local law enforcement.Perhaps the main governmental concern with individuals producing their own alcohol from unlicensed home distilleries is with safety. Many homemade stills fashion one-time automotive radiators as condensers, which can be very hazardous. Antifreeze, which is very toxic, can appear in solid enough traces to make those who consume the moonshine seriously ill. Radiators and heaters can provide further risk of lead contamination. The first few ounces that spring out from the distiller are often the most potentially dangerous, most moonshiners finding it wise to discard this first taste of product and the heightened health risks it represents. Of course, most moonshiners have learned about the inherent dangers of moonshining through generations of experiencing it the hard way. It was once a commonly held belief that if a spoonful of moonshine was burned, resulting in a blue flame, the product was okay to drink. A yellow flame meant the batch was tainted but still reasonably safe, while a red flame indicated the product was lethal. As a few too many moonshiners would discover, a yellow or even blue flame is far from a USDA stamp of approval, in no way serving as an accurate safety barometer.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 20th, 2010 at 2:07 pm and is filed under distilling dangers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.