I just pulled a draft off my post list written by Al K hol about a trip we did about nine months ago. This trip was to a moonshiner that we are friends with who called a meeting at his still sight. Al likes shine, especially Jersey Lightning, which is made from apples and was also the name of his post. I took the draft down because not only did one of those that distill in the post just got arrested, but so did another friend of ours that makes shine in Virginia. The two distillers were not connected but I wanted to be courteous to those that are. The moonshiners in the post do not sell their wares, but do so for a hobby and called that meeting that we were at to discuss how they could get the law changed for that purpose. Our friend in Virginia however does sell his lightning. He was trying to get a liquor company to distribute his product, but in the meantime he sold himself. I have known home brewers that make more than the four of these guys put together and they (the home brewers) do not sell, they just stockpile as if the second prohibition is coming. I knew wine makers who made more wine than commercial start ups that used the wine as currency but did not “sell”.
This is a slippery slope. With distilling you are not allowed to make any. In New Jersey if you are going to make wine or beer you are allowed to make 200 gallons a year. The problem is who is checking that? If you are not selling your product, no one is checking to see what you are making. The friend of ours that just got pinched made the smallest batches we know. He would make a liter at time with a converted fire extinguisher. To taste what he made was a revelation, and a fleeting one as he only made a liter and no two were alike. (I tasted two different grappas he made from the must of a wine making friend of his made on the same day from the same grapes, and they were like two different liquors made in two separate towns by two different people) Someone with an axe to grind had to call him in as he has been doing this before we ever met him. (The fire extinguisher in question and now in an evidence locker or worse a cop’s home is older than Al and I put together and was in this man’s Grandfather’s business in NYC, and then converted in prohibition).
In Max Watman’s book CHASING THE WHITE DOG, he has a chapter on why those in the south continued to make shine after the civil war as a way to challenge what the south saw as northern oppression. It is a telling chapter on the attitude of a good part of our nation, and it makes perfect sense when a southerner explains it. The people I know here in NJ do it for a hobby and to get Apple Jack the way they want, the way Laird’s used to do it. There has to be some way to change this law to protect the hobbiest and not prosecute them as if they were a bootlegger. (for the record a moonshiner is the one who makes the product and the product does not have to be whiskey, the bootlegger is the one who sells the product and yes they can be one and the same, but the penalty is up there with running a meth lab) It comes down to taxes. Liquor is taxed when it is made as well as when it is sold, once you distill up a batch of white lightning you owe taxes. Somehow this has to change for the hobbiest. I understand that if the law is changed then the bootleggers will find a way around it, but they are already breaking the law, are you telling me that if they only move a liter at time it will make their life easier? The ones moving 6400 gallons of sugar jack only move one liter?
Stay tuned, as a resident of South Jersey and friends with a lot of do it yourself type people I have enjoyed more than my share of Jersey Lightning, I will have more posts about the art of moonshining.
So how does it taste? I don’t see what the big deal is all about, I always had the stereotype that moonshine tastes bad. I have roots in AL & TN, but in TN u drink JD, in AL they are methodists… they don’t drink. SO I have never tasted it myself. Is it worth it, like home craft beer making? Would there be a market for moonshine, thus more taxes could be generated & collected?
Like to know your thoughts…
Christine
This post was not one of my favorite posts, as I said, there was supposed to be another post about a meeting at a stil, but one of the people involved was pinched and has caused some bad blood. I decieded to not give away any information. Moonshine itself is an interesting animal. It can taste like young whiskey, or it can be like the “rocket fuel” that everyone talks about. I tasted one batch that the distiller prided himself on being high octane. It was almost pure alcahol at 199 proof. What did that taste like? Nothing. When he distilled it he threw out the heads and the tails (the first and last runnings from the still) . But too much of it will not get you drunk, it could possibly kill you by alcahol poisining. I have also had the apple jack that the man who got arrested made. It was ten times better than Lairds. If you haven’t tasted Jersey Lightning then you are not going to understand what I am talking about. I have had corn whiskey that could strip mine your throat, and I have had some that I have wondered what it would taste like if it was laid down on wood for a good amount of time. If the corn liquor is made with care it will have a unique tase of it’s own that is very agreeable. Not all shine is cleaning chemical worthy. Just like any craft or artisan culture distilling has it’s own nuanaces as well. Do yourself a favor, next time someone is passing around a mason jar take a sip. It may be the worst thing that has ever passed your lips, but eventually one will surprise you and will lead you down a path of enjoyment that you did not think possible. Just like Grappa, Tequila and any other liquor that has terrior, shine has a bad rep as rocket fuel but it is not like that all the time, there are those out there that take care with what they make.
So, really moonshine does not take much money out of the mouths of big distillers? There is no real reason moonshine could not be under the same laws as home wine & beer crafting. As far as killing urself with excess… if that’s the way ya want to go, who Am I to say anything…
Yes it is mostly taxes, but do not discount the big boys yet. Just like the craft beer boom when the big three didn’t even look at New Albion and Bufflo Bills, the little (read arisan) distillers like Philadelphia Distilling, Stannams, Dogfish head, and others started out not only as hobbiests , but illicit distillers. The big boys are starting to notice that they are taking away some of the customers that they need.
ok… I think i am getting the picture. The big boys don’t want to leave any window of opportunity open.