Moonshine is made from fermented grains or mash. The main ingredient is usually corn, and the product is called "corn whiskey." Other ingredients are used such such as yeast, malt, and sugar, and vary according to the taste of the distiller (Logsdon, n.d.). Elaborate stills are set up to produce the liquor. Only two steps, fermentation and distillation, are involved in the production (Stewart, 2103). During the fermentation process, the starches in the grain or fruit are broken down through saccharification into sugars and then the sugars are broken down into alcohol. This process is sped up greatly by the infusion of sugar, yeast, and/or malt. In whiskey making, the basic fermenting mixture of grain, water, and other ingredients is called making “mash”. To go from the fermented mash to alcohol requires the additional step of distillation. In this process the essence, of the fermented liquid is separated from the water through heating to appropriate temperature. The resulting vapor then lifts the alcohol essence out of the water, and the vapor is reconverted to liquid by cooling (Stewart, 2013). The resulting product has customarily been sold in fruit-canning jars (Logsdon, n.d.). Moonshine production is an involved process but not so difficult that men of relatively few resources could not master it. Moonshine was a practical enterprise in Appalachia. Farmers could earn extra money by manufacturing excess crops into corn whiskey or apple and peach brandy, and selling it. Because of the region's rugged terrain and poor roads, farmers also found it easier and more profitable to distill some of their crops before taking them to market (Stewart, 2013).
The practice of distilling and making homemade spirits in Southern Appalachia da...
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... some sort of responsibility in the production process. Depending on the gender and ages of the children, even they would have different jobs in the production of the moonshine.
Conclusion
Moonshining has been a huge part of American history, specifically in Appalachia. Although the practice has been stereotyped in the eyes of the rest of the nation, it falls short of a complete picture of the region. The rifle-toting, jug-swigging mountaineer, popularized by television shows and the media, is a distortion of the reputation of the region for producing much of the nation’s illegally distilled spirits (Edwards, 1985). The prohibition and alcohol production and possession laws have had a lot of effect on the moonshine industry. Although illegal production appears to still be an issue in the region today, it should have some respect as part of the culture’s history.
The making of moonshine is a process that has been used since before prohibiton, when there was a federal law against the making, selling, and transporting of alcoholic beverages. The Americans still needed a way to get there fix, so moonshiners were in need. More and more people began to make moonshine to earn some extra cash on the side. From outlaws to small business owners moonshine seemed to run deep in the south. They started in the backwoods of the south and began to make the shine.
The making of alcohol and today’s fats, all relate back to the farm. In the early 1900’s, farmers produced way too much corn which lead to an enormous outburst of productivity in the economy. Corn turned into whiskey during the early American culture, whereas, in our recent economy corn is used to produce nearly every single product in our grocery stores. Specifically,
Prior to the arrival of the whites, Native Americans experienced little to no contact with alcohol, or “firewater.” The main introduction of alcohol to Native Americans came through the fur trade. Quickly upon its initiation to Native Americans, alcohol had various social, economic, and political ramifications. [note] To form new relations with Native Americans and to continue existing ones, the consistent distribution of alcohol was established.
Once people wanted a drink, nothing stopped them. Subsequently, prohibition sparked American ingenuity to step to the forefront. A black market emerged, as brewing beer making wine, and distilling whiskey, became a national past time. Enterprising home brewers could make enough Home brew, Dago Red, Bathtub Gin or Moonshine to quench their thirst and to sell as well. Therefore, stills begin popping up in basements, barns, backrooms, and the deep woods. Both Canada and Mexico were wet, and their border towns offered many opportunities for thirsty Americans to quench their thirst. Ships anchored outside the three-mile limit on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, loaded with alcohol becoming floating bars and nightclubs. Additional ships offered cases of alcohol spirits only to the professional rumrunners. Illegal liquor grew to such an extent that enforcement became virtually impossible.
Moonshiners were around before the 1920s, mostly in Tennessee and more southern states, however they were not as popular until Prohibition became in effect (Saloon). The people making the alcohol used to worry about the quality of the alcohol, however onc...
Prohibition began in January 1919 with the 18th constitutional amendment forbidding the sales of alcohol in the United States (Gross). Soon after the passing of the 18th amendment, the Volstead Act was passed which banned manufacturing and transporting of alcohol (Gross). Similar to children who rebel when their parents enforce strict rules, the American people demanded alcohol more than ever before and were willing to go to extreme measures for a drink. Gangsters saw the massive demand for alcohol as an opportunity to become rich. They began to manufacture and distribute alcohol to the people in many creative and illegal ways (“Crime”). “Prohibition gave an air of legitimacy to organized crime and turned many small-time operators into millionaires” (“Crime”). Some people produced their own alcohol in their bathtubs called “bathtub gins” (Amidon Lusted). This homemade alcohol had a terrible taste and was often dangerous to consume (Amidon Lusted); however, the people’s greed for alcohol allowed them to forget the awful taste or the dire consequences. Another illegal way people obtained alcohol was going to secret nightclubs that served alcohol called “speakeasies” (Amidon Lusted). These nightclubs required a password for admission, and the customers had to “speak easy” so that the nightclubs would not be found by law enforcement (Amidon Lusted). The most common form of
Many Americans continued to drink and partake in illegal activity surrounding alcohol. Mark Thornton, assistant professor of Economics at Auburn University, implies that since wines and other alcoholic beverages were distilled and fortifies, many American "men were drinking defiantly, with a sense of high purpose, a kind of dedicated drinking that you don't see much of today" (Thornton 4). With defiance came the difficulty to enforce prohibition rules and regulations. As a whole, enforcing prohibition was effortless in rural areas, where people had little to no access to cities and shops that provided them with alcohol. However, in the cities, people had plenty of advantages to buy and distribute alcohol
Big time Mobsters began setting up some big ideas for big business. Mob bosses, gangs, small time thugs, smugglers and just about anyone who did not mind sneaking around the law had their hands dipped into the moonshine business. The moonshine business was a basic manufacture, sell and repeat business Prohibition had people thinking about making a pretty good profit from doing it. While this was happening big time mobsters began digging into deeper ways of making money. Labor racketeering, selling of drugs and even prostitution really come in to play during this time (Hales).
Using very fine crystals and a small amount of syrup produces maple cream. The cream is made by cooling the syrup to 70 degrees Fahrenheit in an ice bath and stirred until the mixture is very stiff. The mass is then rewarmed in a double boiler and becomes smooth and semisoft. " Most syrups sold in stores are only "maple flavored"; check the label carefully. Pure maple syrup is much more expensive than the imitations. And
...required to sell alcohol, and those that did still had difficulty obtaining alcohol to serve. Some legal establishments were forced to buy directly from speakeasies and bootleggers. Others opened up stock remaining from pre-Prohibition days as well as bottles purchased in the ensuing years under medicinal permits. (Brayton)
The public demand for alcohol led to a soaring business for bootleggers. When prohibition began, people immediately wanted a way to drink. Therefore, the profitable bootlegging business was born. Before Prohibition gangs existed, but had little influence. Now, they had gained tremendous power almost overnight. Bootlegging was easy; some gangs even paid hundreds of poor immigrants to maintain stills in their apartments. Common citizens, once law abiding, now became criminals by making their own alcohol. However, this forced risks for those who made their own. The less fortunate Americans consumed homemade alcoholic beverages that were sometimes made with wood alcohol. In return, many died due to alcohol poisoning.
Most people point to wars, Presidents or the economy when asked to describe the history of the United States, but what about alcohol. Social history in general has always taken a back seat to political and economic history, mostly because many aspects of social history are not exactly bright spots from the past. Alcohol, for example, is actually a much bigger aspect of our history than one may expect. As a matter of fact, early America was centered around drinking as a kind of social event. William Rorabaugh’s book Alcoholic Republic outlines how prevalent drinking really was during the years after the Revolutionary War. Rorabaugh argues that post-colonial Americans should be considered alcoholics. However, the evidence Rorabaugh uses
Children living in this type of environment may feel anger, shame, and sadness. They are forced to take on adult roles much earlier because their parents are irresponsible. For instance it shows this in The Glass Castle because the children are forced to make their own meals and fend for themselves because Rex is too busy drinking and Rose Mary is careless (Walls). Alcoholism takes away children’s childhood by forcing them to take on adult roles. Another example of this is when Billy Deel is forced to take care of himself while his father is passed out and constantly drinking, “Billy had a lot of unsupervised time on his hands” (Walls 82). Billy was greatly affected by his father’s alcohol abuse his personality didn’t maturely develop like other children. This is shown when he sexually assaults Jeanette and doesn’t see anything wrong with it, he yells on page 87 “Guess what? I raped you!” (Walls). This statement proves that parents make a huge impact on children, and when children don’t have that, they suffer. Alcohol abuse is not an individual problem, it affects everyone surrounding that person. It isn’t fair for children to be raised in that environment and government should take greater action to protect the children’s safety by removing them from homes like
Alcoholic beverages were illegal in the Roaring Twenties, which caused many Americans to develop hidden bars or speakeasies to drink their alcoholic beverages. The number of speakeasies increased tremendously when the Prohibition Act was established. The high number of speakeasies caused organized activity to increase during the Roaring Twenties. “Speakeasies for illicit drinking sprang up, and organized crime activity increased…” (Hutchinson Encyclopedia). Americans during the Roaring Twenties knew that alcohol was prohibited, but they continued to use alcohol as a way to fit in. Speakeasies were used in a negative way, because they caused lower, middle and upper class Americans to drink irresponsibly. Many speakeasies in the Roaring Twenties were being supplied with alcoholic beverages by bootleggers. These bootleggers gained enormous amounts of power and wealth for selling alcohol illegally to the speakeasies’ owners. “Those who supplied the bootleggers and the bartenders with the liquor were ‘real’ criminals by anybody's definition. And since the illegal liquor was one of the biggest businesses in the country, they became increasingly rich and powerful criminals” (Cohen). The speakeasies increased the amount of alcohol, which led to more people selling alcohol and finally led Americans to get their alcohol from bootleggers. Speakeasies were tools for strengthening criminals, such as bootleggers.
Alcohol is a class of organic compounds that is characterized by the presence of one or more hydroxyl groups (-OH) attached to a carbon atom. Alcohol was unknowingly produced centuries ago when fermentation occurred to crushed grapes (Pines, 1931). In today’s society alcohol is produced for the use of household products such as varnishes, cleaning products, but is more commercially important in the liquor business. A chemical process called fermentation accomplishes the production of ethanol, the alcohol or liquor. From there, the ethanol goes through distinct processes to become the dark and clear liquors on the store shelves.