looking for people to share recipes and stories

[Price]

Hello --

I'm a writer working on an article about moonshine for a nationally read publication. I'm interested in speaking with people who are currently making it -- and, if possible, would love to sample some of people's favorite homemade spirits. I don't need to use any names for the article. If you're interested in sharing a story, a recipe or a sample, please email me at pricey[at]gmail[dot]com. And if you're in the SF Bay Area and would be willing to show me your still firsthand, all the better!

(Dear moderators: I posted this message in the recipe forum as well -- I wasn't sure which one would be better and don't mean to go against the site's etiquette. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.)

[Husker]

I am going to let this cross post go for just a short while (then delete the one that gets 'no' replies.

I am interested if you get any 'takers' on this venture. Most folks here are a little skittish when it comes to revealing themselves. However, you never know. I think that if the article was 'properly' done, and slanted with a positive view of home made booze, and ends up being an article that is well read, it would help in education of people that this is not an 'evil/dangerous hobby' like the $$govt$$ wants you to think.

Good luck H.

[Price]

Hi again --

Thank you for the temporary cross-post. I hope to do the article -- which is for salon.com -- "properly," as you defined it. Like I said, I don't want to reveal anyone's identity who doesn't want to be revealed, and don't have anything against moonshine -- I'm just hoping to find out more about how and why people are still making their own spirits, and hope that the article will be a lively and fun exploration into the world of people who are still making their own. I've heard stories from my grandmother and great aunts about smuggling the stuff in a baby carriage during prohibition, but other than that, I really don't know much about it at all -- so I'm hoping that some people will want to speak with me.

Anyway, if anyone's interested in sharing their stories, I would love to hear from you. Many thanks.

[rad14701]

Read this site and you'll learn plenty, although not with a personal touch... It's just to risky to potentially breach anonymity when we don't know you from Johnny Law... Good luck... I think you're gonna need it...

[LWTCS]

Read this site and you'll learn plenty

+1

And also do note that there is a strong emphasis on using safe and proven materials. All the senior members that participate here (and most of the newer members) take this hobby very seriously and do (ultimately) strive for a more superior outcome than can be had by a commercially sold product.

Please read more and see for yourself.

[blind drunk]

goose eye -

pride will get ya caught

so im tole

[poidog]

Being that you don't distill, you don't need to protect your anonymity. Can you tell us who you are and post some links to articles you have published?

[Magnum]

Being that you don't distill, you don't need to protect your anonymity. Can you tell us who you are and post some links to articles you have published?

+1

[Price]

Good point -- if you'd like to see more of my previous work, go to http://catherine-price.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Johnny Law I am not -- though I understand the concern.

If anyone feels like sharing their stories with me, some things I'm particularly interested in hearing are how and why you got started making your own spirits, what sort of spirits you make, what challenges you've run into (funny stories of your first batch, stuff like that), and any other sort of personal anecdote or information that you think would be important for the non-distilling public to know -- including thoughts on why it should (or should not) be legal. Any suggestions on how I can actually try some would be great, too. You can email me at pricey[at]gmail.com. As far as identification, all I need is your state, day job, and a first name (real or otherwise) -- or a nickname, whichever you prefer.

Thanks again.

[FeralPig]

Good point -- if you'd like to see more of my previous work, go to http://catherine-price.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Johnny Law I am not -- though I understand the concern.

If anyone feels like sharing their stories with me, some things I'm particularly interested in hearing are how and why you got started making your own spirits, what sort of spirits you make, what challenges you've run into (funny stories of your first batch, stuff like that), and any other sort of personal anecdote or information that you think would be important for the non-distilling public to know -- including thoughts on why it should (or should not) be legal. Any suggestions on how I can actually try some would be great, too. You can email me at pricey[at]gmail.com. As far as identification, all I need is your state, day job, and a first name (real or otherwise) -- or a nickname, whichever you prefer.

Thanks again.

I was about to suggest some of the members post answers here if they are reluctant to meet you (if the admins permit it).

To most of us this is just a hobby, just like any other. I started out making wine and beer. Several of my friends do the same. Our wine and beer are generally as good as anything commercial (with the exception of Mondavi - Opus late 90s ) .


I recently made a stab at Scotch whiskey using my pot still. I am not impressed with, it but I tried it on 5 friends the other night alongside several commercial versions...and they claimed it was better!

I can't believe too many of the members are into this activity with the idea of illegal profit. It takes serious scale to make enough alcohol to consider selling it. I barely have room in my shop for my current setup and the most I can hope to make in a run lasting 3-8 hours is a few gallons. I think it would take setups with 50 gallon and larger capacities to make enough shine to sell. Most of us are doing it out of our homes.

Safety is strongly emphasized here.


Feral

[LWTCS]

I was about to suggest some of the members post answers here if they are reluctant to meet you (if the admins permit it).

+1

To me it would seem that the research that may (or may not) be collected here would be more diversified and yet more collectively precise than any one individual interview.

[poidog]

Thank you price for sharing your published articles. Good stuff. Congrats on being selected for the Best America Science Writing 2009. An intersting article, that. It reinforces my suspision that anonymity on this website (or anywhere in cyber-space) is pretty much an illusion. The former CPO of Microsoft has it right. I always assume I'm being tracked, and act accordingly.

If you looked at the playlists on my iPhone you would likely conclude I suffer from multiple personality disorder, and run screaming in the other direction

There are lots of really intersting characters on this forum. From stillers who learned it from the granddad to guys inventing new ways of doing it, and everything in between. There is a huge volume of archived posts to read here. If you take the time and read through the threads you will get to know many of the regulars here. You can watch them from their first posts as newbies to becoming well versed in the science and art. The personalities are very diverse and entertaining. The humor is the best part, I think. Here we have fun sharing our hobby with friends, and joking around in the process.

This thread will give you some idea of who hangs out around here ---> What is Your 9 to 5??

[Magnum]

[quote="poidog"]I always assume I'm being tracked, and act accordingly.

Words to live by!!

[Scribbler]

hey there. I'm from Canada so my situation may not help you... I am new in the hobby, been doing it now for 6 months (5 of those months were spent researching and building a still). I have completed two runs with my still thus far... -I am VERY new... I got into this hobby for a few reasons:

1) tinkering with the mechanics and science of the hobby: it touches on many things from construction, to cooking, to the art of tasting, etc... there are so many variables involved that exploring the concepts behind them and trying to figure out which avenues to explore really appeals to my sense of adventure.

2) one day my wife was making a special bread from Ukraine generally eaten around Easter (called Paska). the recipe called for half a cup of brandy but we didn't have any... so I looked around and found two bottles of wine and said "let me try to make some". so I fashioned a simple 'floating bowl still' and tried it out... I inspected it at fifteen minutes and it tasted pretty strong and flavourfull... I tasted it at half an hour and ended up throwing it out... it was awfull: tasted like watery swill... after that I came here and started doing some research. Two things I learned immediately: a) you must calculate the ratio of methenol present and discard it! b) started learning how to distinguish different parts of the run; foreshots, heads, body, tails... my problem was that I collected all the foreshots, heads, body, and tails, and probably went into collecting H20 from the wine.... that's why it went from bad-and-strong, to bad-and-weak.


good luck with your article:

Name: Findlay
Loc: Saskatchewan, CND
Occ.: Graduate Student of ancient religious texts.

[Price]

Thank you all for your insights and suggestions (I'm especially enjoying looking through the 9-5 comment thread). It's really been fascinating to get to know more about the craft and the people who practice it.

If anyone would like to share more stories about what they make or why they make it, whether on this thread or by message, I'd love to hear them -- and in the meantime I will continue to poke around on here. I have a feeling that by the time I'm done with this article, I might want a still myself. (But you didn't hear that from me. . . . )

Thank you again!
-C

[goinbroke2]

I was intrigued at the thought of making "moonshine". After all the research I did, I wanted to try and make what I drink, whiskey. Now "moonshine" almost has a negative connotation to me and I don't like people refering to my stuff as "moonshine".

I used to make beer, a little bit of wine, but got away from it when the kids came along. I pretty much stopped drinking.(time/money) Started researching and after about 8 months of reading EVERYTHING I could at the library/internet/used book stores, I logged on here. Found out 10 times the info and most pertained to safety.

I like to try different things. I made bread, rolls, buns..then pretzels, brownie's, beef jerky, whatever. Now I'm trying my hand at whiskey.

The benefit is, cost obviously, but I like/enjoy mine more than store bought and I don't get hangovers when I drink mine. It's always the same with friends though when they try it for the first time. (I've tried moonshine before, ack!.....oh, well this is pretty good?) Then the million questions which I always emphasize "production distilleries need to make a profit and therefore use a lot of heads and tails, I want something good tasting and don't need profit, no heads/tails, no hangover from mine".

The issue of legality kind of pisses me off too. It was illegal to make your own beer and wine until '78 or so, then presto a law was changed and now it's ok. The same thing goes for whiskey. Right now it is illegal because the government says so. Period. It's not wrong/dangerous/poisonous/immoral/etc, the government just decided that it's illegal.
What if tomorrow they said blue cars are illegal? It would make about as much sense. By making something so easy/common illegal, they have made many law abiding citizens criminals. If someone is selling it, then nail them for taxes the same as you would if they were selling poached deer/fish/etc. But somebody making something to personally consume? It's ludicrous! It's like saying in my own home I can make bread/buns/cake, but not pretzels.
"Oh no, not pretzels! they are too (add your bullshit government excuse here)" I'm not selling blackmarket pretzels, I'm not running a criminal underground enterprize, I pay $2100 taxes every year on my freaking home, another $600 a year on the cottage, car/truck, income taxes, on and on, but they are concerned about the tax money they will lose on the alcohol I make for personal consumption???? WTF!!!

So anyway, I am a legal, law abiding citizen, in fact I am a soldier in the army and have done several tours and have signed a dotted line stating I will lay my life down for my country. Label me a criminal if one must, but damn it I do NOT view myself as a criminal for making whiskey for myself.

Hey government, it's a hobby, get over it!

[LWTCS]

The benefit is, cost obviously, but I like/enjoy mine more than store bought and I don't get hangovers when I drink mine.

Yep.
I picked up a pint of Baltic Porter (ale) and when I got about 3/4 of the way I felt the heads kicking in. Pissed me off.

Maybe after all these months of drinking my own "Clean" drinks, I have lost my tolerence for anything else.

[rad14701]

goinbroke2, your taxes are way too low... Do you live in a trailer with a toilet on your porch...??? Just kidding... Where I live the property taxes are about the highest in the US, and that's without the separate school taxes...

I have to agree with heavy handed control and stance regarding distillation of spirits for personal consumption... The way I see it, you don't catch someone selling it, they aren't... Simply because one person kills another with a gun doesn't make every gun owner a murderer by proxy... As for volatility, there are far more grease fires than ethanol fires... The list goes on and on... It's tainted logic run amuck...

[FeralPig]

The benefit is, cost obviously, but I like/enjoy mine more than store bought and I don't get hangovers when I drink mine.

Yep.
I picked up a pint of Baltic Porter (ale) and when I got about 3/4 of the way I felt the heads kicking in. Pissed me off.

Maybe after all these months of drinking my own "Clean" drinks, I have lost my tolerence for anything else.

I used to love Scotch whiskey until I began distilling my own. The next time I tried "Scotch" I thought I must have purchased a bad bottle...the next time I purchased an even more expensive bottle of stuff I used to love...it didn't taste good either. Every bottle tasted like heads. I learned too damned much doing this hobby and it ruined my taste for "Scotch".

[FeralPig]

goinbroke2, your taxes are way too low... Do you live in a trailer with a toilet on your porch...??? Just kidding... Where I live the property taxes are about the highest in the US, and that's without the separate school taxes...

I have to agree with heavy handed control and stance regarding distillation of spirits for personal consumption... The way I see it, you don't catch someone selling it, they aren't... Simply because one person kills another with a gun doesn't make every gun owner a murderer by proxy... As for volatility, there are far more grease fires than ethanol fires... The list goes on and on... It's tainted logic run amuck...

Do like every other New Yorker and move to the SE. Hell, one more won't hurt!