Sunday greetings from a Red Raider. Six of us had a blast in Morgantown for football this fall, at least as for what we can remember. Can't wait to return. Your hospitality was second to none. It feels like our two fan bases have much in common. We were welcomed with open arms and happy conversations. Here's a request: please post your favorite moonshine recipe. I took us about an hour to make it down one aisle of the tailgating parking lot and each tailgate had their own flavored moonshine that was claimed to be better than everybody else's. I was very impressed by everyone's ability to not take no for an answer. You guys are very insistent. We had to tap out after that first hour or we would have been too smashed to make the game! Ms. webredraider wanted me to get on your board and find out how to make some good shine. I don't have a pot still but in assuming most of you all don't either, although I could certainly be underestimating the fine folks of WVU. Any "distilling" advice is appreciated.
Hello, Eers. Moonshine talk.
- Thread starter webredraider
- Start date
I don't have a moonshine recipe, but I do appreciate the kind words of your post. I hope every trip you make to WV will be just as enjoyable with one exception. I don't want you to really like the final score. We may have a friendly rivalry in the making. I owe you a trip to Lubbock to check out Jones AT&T Stadium and all of the fine Red Raider fans in attendance.
Not a recipe response but more so on equipment......do not use anything containing lead.
I had many SW VA and Tennessee patients having renal disease (and brain) related to longstanding moonshine use where lead radiators (old school stills) where used. Most people have to use copper tubing as lead has been phased away.
I think moonshine can be found in ABC stores so the next time you guys come in take some back with you and spread the joy.
EDIT: I see BigLick beat me to the comments about equipment...but by definition moonshine can't legally be sold so the stuff in the stores isn't actually 'shine.
For your first batch I'd be more concerned about the proper equipment vs. a recipe.
Also, I highly doubt that each tailgate had actual moonshine (illegal...and extremely strong). Even if they claimed to have 'shine they most likely purchased it at a store or from a person who purchased it from a store (and sold it at inflated price).
Really, what's the point ? Why take the health risk ? .....it's not like alcohol is expensive. Purchase some and put it in a storage jar or jug and take it to the game. Call it moonshine and people will act impressed.
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Next the 'authentic pepperoni roll'. Take a roll and jam a stick of pepperoni in and.. ...presto... ...you have it.
DISCLAIMER: Was being sarcastic about pepperoni roll.
For your first batch I'd be more concerned about the proper equipment vs. a recipe.
Also, I highly doubt that each tailgate had actual moonshine (illegal...and extremely strong). Even if they claimed to have 'shine they most likely purchased it at a store or from a person who purchased it from a store (and sold it at inflated price).
Really, what's the point ? Why take the health risk ? .....it's not like alcohol is expensive. Purchase some and put it in a storage jar or jug and take it to the game. Call it moonshine and people will act impressed.
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Next the 'authentic pepperoni roll'. Take a roll and jam a stick of pepperoni in and.. ...presto... ...you have it.
DISCLAIMER: Was being sarcastic about pepperoni roll.
The key to a good experience is to put 1/2 tsp of kerosene per 4 oz of moonshine, just to smooth it out a little.
Online recipes are actually not distilled out in the back pasture. They all seem to be some kind of infusion to Everclear.
Hey Red... ...I can't seem to find any posts you've made outside this thread. What site/alias do you typically use ?
It does not. I post on other sites and they dont even show you are a premium member of your home site.
Home distilling is legal now. Make your own. You can use a distillers yeast for the mash, or you can open ferment it via the wild yeasts in the air for a sour mash.
Soaring Eagle, my Dad had me get him a jar of moonshine for his 80th birthday. He wasn't impressed. He said moonshine hadn't tasted right since people quit using coal oil to fire the still.
I've never known anyone killed by bad moonshine, but I've known a few who have ruined their stomachs due to drinking the stuff.
To me, decent young moonshine smells and tastes a lot like raw mescal. If there is a "winey" smell to it, put it down and walk away. It's a sure sign of higher alcohols. At best you're going to get a popskull headache, at worst you're going blind.
Soaring Eagle, my Dad had me get him a jar of moonshine for his 80th birthday. He wasn't impressed. He said moonshine hadn't tasted right since people quit using coal oil to fire the still.
I've never known anyone killed by bad moonshine, but I've known a few who have ruined their stomachs due to drinking the stuff.
To me, decent young moonshine smells and tastes a lot like raw mescal. If there is a "winey" smell to it, put it down and walk away. It's a sure sign of higher alcohols. At best you're going to get a popskull headache, at worst you're going blind.
I have relatives that try to make a living hiding from the revenuers (G-Men) and making corn liquor to this day. They live down around Delbarton, WV (Williamson area). Their shine can be trusted and runs about 180 proof or there abouts. I goes good with my famous pickles. I can get you a gallon for $120 plus shipping. There is no tax.
Pretty expensive pickles... ...but hey, they're tax free.
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Are you sure you want to commit multiple federal offenses using an Internet forum to help seal the deal ?
Lowfat....................I been running from the G-Men for many a year my dadgum self. They want me for assaulting a battery down in the Cucumber, WV area a few years back. Kicked it right in the acid!
Do you want the dadgum liquor or not? I will personally deliver it......................bringing it down Thunder Road..............right to your door.
It is Not legal to home distill spirits. Federal law provides no exemptions for the production of distilled spirits for personal use. To home distill spirits, you must have a Federal Distilled Spirits Permit just like the commercial giant distilleries have. They are expensive and difficult to get. Of course that's if you want to be legal. There is very little actual enforcement of this for the hobby distiller. I have a still and make single malt whisky.
Don't tell a couple Hatfield/McCoy distillers using original "Devil" Anse ingredients and measurements are selling interstate with their "makins". Pallets are picked up by UPS daily. Absolute "white lightening". Watch that stuff around furniture - got a small puncture(unknown) and it ate the laminate off kitchen cabinet at beach house.
I don't need to tell them... ...because they are simply making and shipping (state to state) alcohol legally. They get it. You...not so much. Again, by definition, they are not producing moonshine.
By definition, moonshine is being distilled and sold legally in WV. WV ABC Board issues licenses to do so and it is taxed. Moonshine is a clear corn whiskey that is distilled from fermented corn mash. When aged for two years, it becomes bourbon whiskey. The fresh corn whiskey is Moonshine and is consumed without aging.
The product is offered bottled and bond on site, state ABC store, or distributed interstate.
OK.................so moonshine can be aged in oak casks and turned into bourbon after two years or there abouts. Who in the heck can wait that long? My diddy couldn't and I realized a quite a few years back that my diddy's redneck now belongs to me!
When I first started drinking 'shine, I used cousin Leck's makin's - best in the county. He had a son with a new baby. Into the rocking chair he attached his charred keg. While rocking the baby she was charring moonshine. I was delivered a quart every Friday in exchange for allowing overtime work. It was so good, I quit drinking Jack Daniels - black.
I suppose I'm confused in regard to actual moonshine. Do you mind looking up the definition and posting the one that's most typical ? Thx in advance.
There is plenty of corn liquor moonshine made and drank here but the apple pie stuff (and other fruity varieties) is more of a mixed drink using moonshine,grain alcohol or even vodka. Try This:
1 Gallon Apple Cider
1 Gallon Apple Juice
3 cups of white sugar (some use brown or both types)
8 cinnamon sticks
Combine in a pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in 1 Liter of 190 proof Grain alcohol.
Put in mason jars and it gets better with age. Using lower proof alcohol would require some adjustments but its a taste and strength thing. Of course if you make your own shine or can get some then that's great.
1 Gallon Apple Cider
1 Gallon Apple Juice
3 cups of white sugar (some use brown or both types)
8 cinnamon sticks
Combine in a pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in 1 Liter of 190 proof Grain alcohol.
Put in mason jars and it gets better with age. Using lower proof alcohol would require some adjustments but its a taste and strength thing. Of course if you make your own shine or can get some then that's great.
I have made this drink before but must tell you.............I poured in 2 gallons of the 190 proof homemade stuff. Ole Warez likes his drink to be ..............straight offen the cob! But, my wife drinks most of what I make. We both like it that way.
Two things West Virginian's like to claim. 1) There grandfather, uncle, cousin, ect., makes the best moonshine in Appalachia, and 2) They are part Cherokee Indian.
Their great-grandmother, on their father's sides had a second cousin that was 25% Cherokee.
Their great-grandmother, on their father's sides had a second cousin that was 25% Cherokee.
OK...........VadEER...............what part Cherokee are you? You know you know. Seriously, you are right on the money about the moonshine and Cherokee thing. Over in Mississippi the claim to fame is that you are Jake Gibb's cousin, played football on the same high school team with him, etc.
Who is "there" with those people to whom you refer? Never heard of that claim in 75 years. Don't recall anyone who claimed to be 25% Redskin. Everyone in the valley has family who made good liquor would be a very true statement. Each family probably had their own that they preferred. But, would have no problem tradin' a little taste of the neighbor's fixin's.
I'm sure he was being facetious, but many people in the states roughly surrounding the Cherokee Reservation in northeast Tennessee do indeed claim to be part Cherokee. The Cherokee were known for, shall we say practicing active integration. The majority of Appalachian people including those from West Virginia have a heritage called Scots-Irish. At one time people from Scotland were encouraged to settle in what is now known as 'Northern Ireland' and many eventually emigrated to the US. Just sayin'!
A lot of Natives headed for the deep woods when the Indian Removal act was enacted in 1834. Some hid out with their European relatives, others tried to fit in by claiming they were descended from the Portuguese or some other swarthy looking Europeans. Otherwise they'd be shipped off to the Indian Territory and their kids took from them for re-education.
The Eastern Cherokee Reservation is in western North Carolina, not Tennessee. And if you want to read an interesting history of the Scott-Irish and their immigration to America and Appalachia, check out "Born Fighting" by James Webb.
Thank you, Mike. Isn't it amazing how at one time it was considered to be shameful among whites to be part Native American and now so many claim to be as a badge of honor?
That's a common mistake Michael, it's just that I have been there many times. Matter of fact I will be there in three weeks. Doing a 3 day backpacking hike in the Smokies. Been doing that for 30 years now.
Neil, forgive me for the typo...on the smartphone.
Redskin? Whatever.
I know you are considerably older, so I bet in your day there was greater accessibility to authentic moonshine.
However, imo, the current folks trying to pass their shine off at games are usually full of it.
Yes, we all get a little too fast on here. Don't know what they are offering at game, but there is still plenty of home makings around. I have noticed on the TV "moonshiners" that it is not too unusual that they make a novelty batch from time to time. What I have had of the flavored was not impressive. It is shine, but not pure white lightenin in my estimation. Seems they are attempting to appeal to the ladies - which is OK. Had some from Logan County that would work, but still like the clear stuff. Would hate to get too wiped out on the fruity stuff. Probably maintain a headache for 2-3 days.
Anecdotal evidence, for example. As a non-Appalachian, I wasn't familiar with Moonshine. Never during my time as a student, or the period after when I attended games regularly was I ever offered "Apple Pie" moonshine, or recall it ever being referenced (regular 'shine, sure).
Then, this Moonshine TV show becomes popular which often displayed "apple pie" moonshine.
Now, it seems everyone at games likes to brag about their apple pie moonshine, and always seem to have it on hand with a great story behind it. Seems like an odd coincidence, to me.
It seems that moonshine now has a chicness to it and it has collected a bandwagon following.
Seems like they are taking the "soul" out of it. Personally, if I have the opportunity to have moonshine (which would be rare, because I have no family in those parts), I want the real deal stuff made by an outlaw (using that term loosely), not something I can buy off any shelf.
That's just me.....
You know how it goes, Darth. A few years ago a boy from eastern Kentucky named Billy Cyrus becomes mostly a one hit wonder and suddenly way too many guys were wearing a mullet hairstyle! I swear, we're just a herd of sheep.
