Franklin County 'corn bread' don't need sugar or flavoring to cover up that nasty taste. They call it 'corn bread' for a good reason.

Sec. 103.02. EQUIPMENT OR MATERIAL FOR MANUFACTURE OF ILLICIT BEVERAGES. No person may possess equipment or material designed for, capable of use for, or used in manufacturing an illicit beverage.


That seems awfully vague. I wonder if this is just on the books and never enforced.

You can make it in a high school chemistry lab. I know.

Yet you can legally buy or make one as long as you don't call it still. Officer, I just make essential oil.......of corn

Just like making distilled water. You have to start with mesh. Google has several,recipes. Here's one.

https://milehidistilling.com/how-to-make-moonshine/

It's a bit more complicated than making distilled water.

Wonder if the old timers used flake corn? Guessing cracked corn?

When we got the place here in Bandera there was an old still in the basement of an old out building. Made out of copper probably held about 10 gallons. Had about a 3 inch in diameter hole in the top to fill it. Then a copper patch would be soldered over it. It had probably 20 ft of half inch copper tubing all wound up in a ball for the steam to condense. My Grandfather told me he made whiskey during the depression to make extra money. He actually let it sit in burnt oak barrels for a time to give it some color. At least that is what he told me.

I am curious what kind of mesh he recommends.

Same process if you have your mash. My chemistry teacher made it in the lab, starting with some mesh I brought.

It comes out clear. You start with something like ever clear. The complicated process is making bourbon. Bourbon gets its color from being aged in charred barrels. Look it up.

Bootlegger Oxbot

And it's "mash".

You know it is not possible to dig yourself out of a hole.

But it’s entertaining to watch someone try.....

My little experience with moonshine was that you have to be a little tipsy already to actually drink it and call it good. Adding any quantity of it on top of tipsy always left me tipped lol.

I'd like to make some some day. Ive made wine and beer and enjoyed both.

Had a young man who worked for me years ago would go back to Tennessee every summer for a couple weeks and He would bring back a box full of the stuff. Mason jars and that stuff was actually pretty smooth. A half a jar would put your lights out. His Uncles south of Nashville made and sold the stuff. .

I whip up a couple batches of distilled water ( ) each year.

Bill isn't wrong. It's pretty darn easy to make, especially if you have any experience making beer/wine. The hardest part is keeping everything airtight.

After aging on toasted oak. When dealing with smaller batches, the aging process goes much faster due to the larger percentage of surface area in contact with the wood/air. You can go from distilled water to fine whiskey in about a month.

Some companies use different staves of wood add into the barrels to add additional flavors to their whiskey.

I suppose that could also be done with moonshine.

Exactly. You can use wood chips, staves, spirals, etc. The only difference is the barrels allow the whiskey to "breathe" while the wood chips do not. This process allows the more volatile and harsh tasting chemicals to evaporate off leaving you with a nice, smooth end product. in order to make up for the lack of "breathing", you can age the whiskey in a wine decanter for a week or two before drinking.

I suppose most moonshiners are in it for the quick fix. Not the quality of aging and flavoring, post distillation.

Had one guy in my Platoon from Tennessee, his parents sent him a jar of moonshine. Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for him, he was WIA and got trip home. I later found out he died in a car wreck in the 1970's.

Had an Airman at Dyess that lived next door for a couple of years, also from Tennessee, used to get quart sized Gatorade bottles full of moonshine. Which usually lead to a big BBQ with a few of the guys he worked with.

A lot of people that don't really know about makin' whisky think they do. Them that really have done it and do know and can pick out the 'talkers' real quick. "All hat and no cattle."