Moonshine

[bs3009a]

Ok,

So, I'm from Kentucky and have had a family heritage of making moonshine. I never played a hand in actually distillin the wash though. I have recently had an itch to make some just for the hell of it. I was wondering if any of y'all had ever distilled any or have any tips or cautions I should know. I have the wash making handled, and I have designed a still. Mainly I just wanna purify the liquor so that the methanol gets out of it. Any comments would be much appreciated.

 

[gnatty8]

No tips on making the stuff, but I just had some fantastic Tennessee moonshine last night.. Never thought I'd use the words fantastic and moonshine in the same sentence, but this stuff was very good.. Done right, this can be a fairly decent spirit.. Mind you, I won't be making it a regular part of the rotation, but I was surprised..

 

[Ludeykrus]

There is such a thing as good 'shine, and a lot of the eastern guys that still make it have a lot of experience.

I made a small still back in high school, right after I got into beer brewing. It wasn't worth the time and effort for me, but I do remember the 'cats and tails' or 'heads and tails' being important. I think it was discard the first and last 50 mL's of a batch? If you're somewhat careful and pay attention to the temperature, I don't see methanol being a problem.

And just curious, what's your wash/mash recipe look like?

 

[gnatty8]

I've been told the old "light the stuff" trick to determine whether or not it is safe to drink is an old wive's tale.. Caution is obviously the key in purchasing moonshine..