Distilling moonshine, specifically rye whiskey, used to be a hobby of mine. My brother and I developed our own recipes and built our own still. Our runs were quite good.

In my college apartment I would commandeer the kitchen for up to 20 hours to do a run. One distilling process is called an run. My roommates obliged as they knew they would partake in the end result.

Distilling alcohol is an American tradition, and as such a part of each run was turned into an American favorite, apple pie moonshine. Apple pie is diluted with apple juice, sugar, and cinnamon sticks. It is both delicious and highly potent.

My moonshine endeavors were never profitable, as I consumed and shared the good ol' white lightning. Our still was a rudimentary homemade pot still, but it got the job done. We had to use tricks such as pasting a flour and water mix on the the main pot during a run to keep it sealed. The worm condenser was simply copper tubing and a 5 gallon bucket. The still would regularly produce 184 proof alcohol (92%) on just the first run. 

Once the mash has been made and fermented. Distillation can begin. A standard distillation run includes 4  phases: foreshots, heads, hearts, and tails.  The foreshots and heads is bad stuff and not for drinnking! (Methanol, Acetone, Acetaldehyde, and Acetate) The hearts phase produces drinking product. And the tails get added to the next run.

Disclaimer: 

Distilling moonshine can be dangerous. While the process is fairly simple, research is required for safe operations and safe results. 

The stories of moonshine making people go blind are absolutely true. Methyl alcohol (methanol) can blind and kill people. It only takes 10 ml of methanol to make a human go blind.

In reality beer and wine both have methanol, but in very low amounts. Beer can have as much as 16 mg/L of methanol. For comparison 30 ml is lethal for humans.

Methanol is produced at the beginning of Distillation. This is because it's boiling point (148F) is lower than ethanol (174F) and water (212F).

Anything produced in the run before 174 degrees is methanol and needs to be discarded.  

"when made in small batches while following a few simple safety precautions, moonshine will NOT cause blindness, death, or even a bad hangover."

For more info on moonshining check out Making Moonshine - The Dummies' Guide at clawhammersupply.com

A couple mason jars of straight and apple pie from a run:

I did not rock a beard in college and I still had hair on top of my head. 😁

Why I Don't Distill Moonshine Anymore

In all honesty, It's because I have toned it way back on alcohol. I do have great memories from my moonshining days, but I don't drink that often anymore. And when I do I go for the wine. 

My favorite recreational drug is cannabis. Cannabis is objectively safer than alcohol, and in my opinion it provides a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience. 🌲🌲🌲

Side Note:

Distilling alcohol may be against the "government's law" where you live. I do not advocate braking or following government's arbitrary rules. I advocate for abolition of governments and for all people to follow the non-aggression principle (NAP).

Hi there, I’m Will.  First and foremost I am an entrepreneur and voluntaryist.  I aspire to help build a more free world, one that we all want to live in.  Some of my biggest passions include cryptocurrencies, marketing, finance, cannabis, traveling, bodybuilding, snowboarding, motorcycles, and Subarus.  All pictures are my own unless otherwise stated.  I release everything under CC0.  

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