Chickens and Apples

[Dr Griz]

One of the things that got me into this hobby was my grandfather's stories of traveling in the South right after the war, selling seed and feed. He'd have told you that he was the one who told Harland Sanders to franchise, but I was always interested in the crates that would show up at his house -- he said they were from "his rebel friends" -- with bottles marked XXX packed in excelsior (my mom still has some of the old stoneware jugs). He's been gone since before I was old enough to drink, let along make likker, so I never had the chance to ask him about it all.

Anyway, he always said that "if you saw chickens and an apple orchard, there was a still on the hill somewhere." That got me thinking: the chickens are a no-brainer -- cracked corn and oyster shells are pretty hard to buy in quantity if you don't have any chickens around. But I was wondering about the connection to apples...

Of course, the TV has made popular the idea of running corn likker through a thumper filled with apple mush. And early on, I made a few mediocre experiments with bumping up the OG of corn mash with apple juice concentrate. But I wonder if there isn't something else out there that I just ain't heard of yet.

Any of y'all have any other ideas?

[Stonecutter]

Other than Apple Brandy? “Cough Med-cine” is what I heard it was called.
I’d assume you’re spot on. Both commodities are easily fermentable. My Ma tells of great grandma having a bucket full of fermenting Corn just sitting out back in Virginia. The “smell alone would knock you down”.

[rubberduck71]

Very cool story Dr Griz.

It'd be great to see you post a pic of one of them bottles marked triple-X.

[Bushman]

Love those stories, I always thought I was a first generation distiller until my mom was dying at 93 years old and she told me her father had a still back in Texas where my mom grew up. That history was lost and because distilling was not talked about and since it was not past down I will never know the story.

[Dr Griz]

It'd be great to see you post a pic of one of them bottles marked triple-X.

The XXX was washed off years ago (I reckon it was prolly just grease pencil) but the jugs are prominently displayed in my mom’s place. Next time I’m there, I’ll have to snap a pic...

[Dr Griz]

The “smell alone would knock you down”.

Makes me wonder what they’d tell the Law if they happened by! Unless, that is, the Law was just stopping by for a bottle...

[Deplorable]

The “smell alone would knock you down”.

Makes me wonder what they’d tell the Law if they happened by! Unless, that is, the Law was just stopping by for a bottle...

My great aunt and uncle used to have grain fermenting in barrels all the time to slop the hogs. If there's livestock around, there's an excuse for a ferment. Whether or not he was ever making shine will forever be a mystery to me.

[Stonecutter]

Mom told me when she asked Great Grandma what it was in the barrel the answer was always “making bread”....
I can imagine in those days (Virginia 1930’s-1950’s) if you weren’t wealthy and didn’t have some livestock to go with all your corn or you didn’t sell any apples from your orchard it’d be pretty damn suspicious. Resources can become scarce, I think a lot of people have forgotten that, so ya hade to make the most of what you had. There wasn’t some Brew shop down the road that you could go to pick and chose some exotic grains to make whiskey in your free time. You had to prepare and determine what you could do with what ya had.

[Dr Griz]

“making bread”....

That's some bread!

My (other) grandad always had a row of steal milk cans lined up on his back porch. They were mostly empty when I was a kid, but he told me that back in his dad's day, they'd store all kinds of stuff in them -- lard, butter, most anything that you'd use a barrel for, I reckon. I suppose it wouldn't have been surprising if there had been a little rye bubbling away amongst the rest.

I remember that Thomas Jefferson (who apparently didn't like whiskey) wrote about the importance of home distilling as a way to preserve farm produce and render it easily transported. So I guess it goes back to well before the Depression...

[stillanoob]

'Nother reason for apples in the way back was apple butter. Before easy access to sugar, like in the Johnny Appleseed days, apple butter was a go to sweetener for all sorts of things. And of course cider both sweet and hard and vinegar.

[goose eye]

There a apple called the morgage lifter. It was like cotton with a peel. You could squeeze 20 sacks an not get 5 gal of juice. What they was good for was dryin. Pies and stuff.
Use to be a peddler come thru goin north an he would buy em or barter. Mostly they'd be more than one type tree they was growin. Some of em hard as a rock but will keep all winter. Some you best be workin em in quick.

So I'm tole

[greggn]

I remember that Thomas Jefferson (who apparently didn't like whiskey) wrote about the importance of home distilling as a way to preserve farm produce and render it easily transported. So I guess it goes back to well before the Depression...

The practicality of it predates the Depression by nearly 200 years ... it was the basis for the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791.

[Deplorable]

I remember that Thomas Jefferson (who apparently didn't like whiskey) wrote about the importance of home distilling as a way to preserve farm produce and render it easily transported. So I guess it goes back to well before the Depression...

The practicality of it predates the Depression by nearly 200 years ... it was the basis for the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791.

The Whiskey Rebellion flag flies proudly under the stars and stripes in my front yard. It replaced my Culpepper flag and my "an Appeal to Heaven" flag.

[NZChris]

There a apple called the morgage lifter. It was like cotton with a peel. You could squeeze 20 sacks an not get 5 gal of juice. What they was good for was dryin. Pies and stuff.
Use to be a peddler come thru goin north an he would buy em or barter. Mostly they'd be more than one type tree they was growin. Some of em hard as a rock but will keep all winter. Some you best be workin em in quick.

So I'm tole

AFAIK, the Ben Davis apple isn't in NZ, but an apple that came with our property fits your description very well. I've never tried drying them and some get wasted, but I will try drying some next season. Thanks for the heads up, goose eye