There are several reasons to learn how to make alcohol for the survivalist and prepping community. For me the first reason is for enjoyment and the scarcity that might come with a SHTF scenario, the second being the unavailability of fuel, the third would be that alcohol can be used as a disinfectant. So, what is involved? First, you have to ferment something with a high sugar content. It can be crushed barley, wheat, corn, or any combination of grains including oats, rice, and sorghum. One could also use fruit such as apples, cherries, plumbs, grapes, berries, or any fruit with a high level of fructose sugar. these ingredients would then be crushed and added to water to release the sugars if using grains or crushed to release the juice if fruit is the source. Following fermentation, or mash, the resulting “beer” would be distilled. this has been done for centuries both for personal consumption and for commercial trade.
A still is also good for extracting essential oils from herbs. I have an 8-gallon still from Mile Hi Distilling that comes with a feature designed specifically for extracting the essential oils from herbs [Parseley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, mint, etc,...] 8 Gallon Essential Oil Distiller Extractor with Large Essential Oil Basket - Mile Hi Distilling
You can buy a still on Amazon for less than $100. You can ferment in a 5-gallon polycarbonate carboy, and mash (if you're using grains) in a 10-gallon Igloo cooler. 10 gallon Igloo Industrial cooler on Amazon $97.51 5 gallon H8O Polycarbonate water bottle with cap on Amazon $36.72 10 gallon Concord Home Brew kettle on Amazon $129.98 5 gallon Seeutek Alcohol Still $79.99 200,000 BTU Concord Deluxe Banjo propane burner on Amazon $108.98
Making white liquor isn't hard. Lots of folks still do it in my old AO, and I may or may not have dabbled in it a little back in the day. It was corn mash in summer and usually an apple brandy in the fall. It is a very profitable business, high risk and high reward. I seldom drink and never understood why folks felt the need to always have alcohol to have a good time, but they do and having a dry county next door helped with the sales.
I grew up with the knowledge and wisdom of generations of my family who distilled their own, lessons I have put to great use since retiring! Only problem is, I seem to always end up with Kentucky grade Sour Mash! Lol Ok, not really! We do a very fine Rum here, and are getting good at other spirits, even wine is really taking off, never thought this Ol Ghrist Mill would be so damn useful, besides apple cider, this thing can do all sorts of things that are quite handy, and worth a ton now, so imagine when things go sideways what this will be worth! Now, if only I knew what is going wrong with my brew, and why I'm always ending up with ether White Lightning or Sour Mash!
Some people like the flavor and nuances of various spirits, other drink to get drunk. It is one thing to enjoy a beer or two, an adult beverage occasionally it is another to use any mind-altering substance to escape reality. JMO
The wife has made Russian samogon which is basically American moonshine but now focuses on using all the raspberries, blackberries and other berries we get to make wine from what doesn't get eaten. It's gotten very good especially when warmed and spiced on a cold winter's day.
For some reason, this thread reminds me of the 3 officers making a bottle of "scotch", in the movie, "Mr. Roberts"!!
What do y'all want to know? My folks were making moonshine back in Scotland about 500 years ago, then they made moonshine in Northern Ireland for about 150 years, and then they moved their operations to the New World nearly 275 years ago! The one constant was that wherever we went some damn government wanted to control and TAX us! The allure of moonshine is that one derives pleasure and/or profit from doing something illegal, and not paying taxes to the damned Yankee government!
My Father's family were the ones in the illicit liquor business. His Mother's people made good shine and his Father had a head for business. Supply and distribution! Later, during Prohibition, my grandfather had about a half dozen stills working on an island in the Tennessee River and a distribution network set-up. He always said that if Prohibition had lasted a few more years, he would have been rich! The stills were operated by all black crews, because at the time a black man could not testify against a white man in court. That and the bribes that he paid to the sheriff/judges/DA meant that he never got raided .. much less arrested.
The three most quoted men are Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, and Will Rogers. They pretty much said everything worth saying, and some of it they ACTUALLY said!
Your family reminds me of the gent who was our next door neighbor while I was growing up. His father, brother and he had a still in a storm cellar in our neighborhood during prohibitiion. His dad did the distribution. However, it was a hazardous business there in NE MO, as both the brother and father did prison time for their bootlegging. My neighbor "Tommy" was well set when prohibition ended and he had a liquor distribution set up and neighborhood bar he ran until he retired.
