How to tell Good Moonshine from Bad Moonshine
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- Опубликовано: 26 янв 2025
- youtube travel videos www.overlander.tv
In the days when Moonshine was illegal, Tennessee moonshiners like Ronald Lawson had to be able to work out the difference between Good Moonshine and Bad Moonshine by eye. Bad Moonshine has too high a alcohol content and can be dangerous to drink, causing such problems as blindness.
Ronald has made illegal Moonshine all his life in Cannon County, for the last two years, he has made legal Moonshine at Short Mountain Distillery, using a recipe passed down since prohibition days. www.shortmountaindistillery.com/
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"Moonshine? Hell, no, officer! We making hand-sanitizer!"
*Safe to drink ''hand sanitizer"
Good moonshine dnt smell like rubbing alcohol n I get its a joke but if it smells like that I suggest not drinking I had a science teacher show me how to run brute thru sponges to filter it to drink lmao I said why do this just make shine he didn't laugh but still no rubbing alkyhual
@@danielgodfrey4415 or nontoxic hand sanitizer so that it is safe for in case of inadvertent ingestion hehe
We have 200 gallons of vodka(aka covid hand sanitizer)at work😂
😂this got it
I fucking love this accent, man.
"ALKEEHAWL"
yosemite sam
😂😂
Shake it and look at the bubbles. Good ole 'alkeehol' gotta love the accent.
What the hellyell you talkin' about, carpetbagger?
I grew up in Southeast Tennessee near the North Carolina and Georgia State lines. Everyone I knew talked just like him.
Lived in nc my entire life all my friends family and me all talk like this didn’t think nothin of it til I started reading all these comments lol we sound like some cornbread eatin mother truckers
some of the Truest Americans in that area
I lived in Rhea county and believe me I know of many many many places out there where they make it
I'm a visual learner. I learned a lot in just 1:08. Thank you.
Daddy grew up during the depression- dropped out of the 6th grade after 3 months to go to work felling trees to help the family eat- subsidized by ‘shining- told me a few stories about his youth. Grew up hard, self taught, served in WW2.
VERY proud of him!
Last name Lawson, wears jean overalls, pronounces alcohol 'alkeehawl'- certified moonshine expert detected...
Alchy-hol! Gotta love that ole Appalachian speak I'm from the area so it's good to see them getting some love on here lol.
This is the perfect stereotypical moonshine maker
what in the fuck is all over your head?
Joe Johnson you are a dumb loser. You still bark at cars as they pass your mom’s house?
@@greygrim4630 why are u angry with him? thats the truth man. stay quite :)
Matthews you bark at cars too.
Grey Grim I also make moonshine man. U bark at cars!
My papa taught me to make shine when I was a kid, lol I remember the first time papa shook a quart of shine and ask me what I see, I didn’t know at the time but he did his little chuckle and said you will in time. . I sure miss that old man.
Good info! A friend of mine makes moonshine. I handed a bottle to a friend with hillbilly roots and the first thing he did was give it a shake test. I'd never seen it done before!
Anton Seim it is a comparative test it won't tell you what elements only how much comparative alcohol there is different kinds of alcohol, but you want the ethanol. Lots of folks don't realize it but ethanol is ethanol , there is no verging strengths of the element but it is in a solution of water and other things . What your trying to do with distillation is cut out the fractions you don't want and concentrate what you do want then it's ABV x2 =Proof your aim is purity and as pure or highest percentage possible then you temper it with good water. All water is not the same . Everyone doesn't temper to same points . You should always tell folks to temper it cause if you have done a great job it's very easy to actually get drinker than you think you are. But it won't make you crazy but it will dehydrate you so bad unless your mindful and choose to drink water as needed . One thing about great shine is the hangover isn't likely to make you think your dieting of a brain tumor
Reminds me of my grandpa distilling vodka. Of course, he had an alcohol meter, but he rarely used it. Or, lets say someone else offered him something in a bottle/jar, he would use this same method to tell roughly how strong it was.
That's some Southern culture I can appreciate.
Thats how us hillbillies from the mountains talk i understood every word and hes telling the truth no way to check it on the creek bank where my pawpaw used to do run after run every week
Good thing these old timers are being recorded so this wisdom isn't lost!
I grew up in North GA , that gentleman sounds just like my family and everyone else from there. Great video
Wow ! I just love his accent/dialect 👍
Alky hall ! Aww man I like hearing that old Appalachian cross mountain southern accents You southern boys rock. Cheers from Long Island NYC.
Long live Johnny Cash !! We miss ya.
Really enjoyed comments about Henry Ford and Getty
Lifetime ago Dad visiting a property scared the owner when he said I found your still. As they talked the guy complained worried about the feds when he bought mollases . Dad said we use lots to add to the chicken grain. Later there was a trade of one for the other. About the early 1920s
I respect these guy still doing this after all this time and its not easy to make moonshine
My dad made moonshine for most of his life. He was a perfectionist, and had a reputation for making the best in the area. Hist first cousin always took a couple of gallons every month. He was the county sheriff and I suppose this was a bribe. My dad taught me this trick, but he used a hydrometer.
The real reason home distilleries are illegal may surprise a few people.
Henry Ford devised the first flex fuel carburetor in the early days of building automobiles. He had a friend named John Paul Getty who was trying to corner the market on the petroleum industry. In Ford's original design, he incorporated the ability to burn both petroleum based fuels in his cars as well as grain alcohol.
Getty was afraid he'd lose his shirt in the oil business if people were allowed to produce their own fuel - those who didn't own home distilleries could purchase fuel from any farmer. So he convinced Ford to redesign his carburetors to use only petroleum based fuel.
Getty then went on to fund much of the temperance movement to get prohibition passed. With Ford's redesign and laws against manufacturing distilled alcohol, Getty realized his fortune. Public outcry eventually ended prohibition, but the legalities against producing your own distill spirits remained unchanged.
The old "because it can't be taxed" is a load of bullshit. If home distilleries were legalized, they could be regulated and taxed very easily. Most people would be willing to pay the tax. There will always be those who try to undermine the system, and this wouldn't be prevented in any case - they're circumventing the tax laws now. With an annual tax stamp (to be displayed prominently or presented upon request) along with an annual inspection of the operation to insure that it meets health standards, there's no reason to deny it.
Except for one - allowing home distilleries would take too much away from the oil companies. And this is the reason it has been made illegal - not the inability to tax it.
god damn sons o bitches lmao
@DOPE LYFE Rootworks LLC - More recently, I've reasoned that the only reason prohibition was lifted was that FDR's New Deal programs were largely illegal according to the Supreme Court and so he catered to the people's desire for alcohol to stimulate the economy.
The legality of his New Deal programs was also the reason he helped orchestrate the start of WW2 - as well as provoked the Japanese into attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941.
The dark secret surrounding FDR was that he was a traitor for provoking an enemy attack against his own country.
My wife adds that the alcohol industry is probably against this as well.
In the Henry Ford cars you could run it on paint thinner even on 40% abv jack Daniels.
Buddy of mine actually did it to his model t.
The reason why home distilling is illegal is because the gov isn't collecting taxes on the alcohol. That's it.
Just offer an "Illegal Drug Tax Stamp" like they have for things like Cocaine... for example, if you bought a kilo of Cocaine in North Dakota, you could request a Tax Stamp so you could pay the taxes legally on your illegal drugs... just start sticking them on Moonshine bottles and no one can say "you can't tax moonshine that's the reason why it's illegal!" anymore.
170 proof is drinking whiskey.... for one or two swigs
Joe Bucci then just just turns to fighting whiskey 😂👀
@@austinfrederick9407 bear proof
170 is way to high for sippin . you can run that shit through small engine
He said 107. That was the tempered ready to drink. The first one was around 170 to 180 to my eye
S Walker you don’t get 170-180 off a pot still, you need a reflux still to get you over 165 proof.
The high alcohol content isn't what causes blindness. It is the presence of methanol that destroys the optic nerve that does that. Methanol production with sugar cane or grain is much less likely than fruits as the primary resource for methanol production is the breakdown of pectin by enzymes. Apples and some other fruits naturally have methanol in them before you even ferment them. Moonshine is safe if you follow standard cleanliness procedures to reduce the introduction of micro-organisms, shoot for a lower ABV wash, and don't add enzymes to clear it. It will be clear enough from the distillation itself anyway.
I read alot stupidity hey dumb ppl everbody knows all bout making shine but dnt have clue
Some more details...
The methanol is metabolized into formic acid in the liver which interferes with the mitochondria (it inhibits mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase) and basically starves the cells of energy. Energy hungry cells like nerve cells in the optic nerve are the most vulnerable to this. Formic acid is found elsewhere in nature, ants use it as a poison. Stinging nettles use it in their needles.
Apple peels contain pectin so they will convert to methanol in the body. However, a small amount of methanol and formic acid isn't a problem for the body. It is large amounts leading to acidosis that are the problem.
Steven Mobley I believe the first cut produces acetone and following it is methanol. The first occurs at a relatively low temperature of 122°F, and the second starts around 145°F. Methanol usually occurs simultaneously with a relatively high alcohol content over 80%, 145°F, and is the first batch of head cut following the forehead cut for acetone.
The man in the video said nothing about methanol.
Heads are poison,thats it.
I'm trying to place an order some of that likker
Good old moonshine the southern tradition
Ohh, my Home. I love Cannon County
Short and to the point I love it! Great example.
i drink my own wine. cost me only $12 for the juice, $2 for the sugar, $.28 for the yeast and $1 for the farmax. man 14% APV. good shit
We moved to country home my brother and friend ame home and told Dad how they found these stinking barrels in the woods so they broke them up. Dad made them promise to never tell anyone else. It was his friends Dad still thankful he thought sheriff found them(sheriff was the competition).
"Reglr drankin akeeowl"
This video reminds me of things I love about being American with southern roots. Too much of our culture is dissolving away. Great video. 🇺🇲🍻🍺
This is not alcohol officer this the cure for Cancer
My grandpa made it in the 30's + 40's around Signal Mountain in Tennessee
We’re still doing it on the mountain friend. Gotta keep tradition alive haha
Man I'm callin it awkihol from now on if anyone knows this dude does..wish he were my grampa....
Freddy you wouldn't wanna eff with this dude, he'd knock your balls off. I may have had a little bourbon recently. Stay true friend.
me too
Sure make fun of him now but after the great collapse you're going to wish he was your neighbor!
Tom Ellison when is the collapse coming? Is that when people don’t go to work in white shirts and have to get their hands dirty. And looking at a cell phone all day will be the last thing on their mind. They will be more worried about a plate of food. Can you imagine how many suicides there will be.
John Davis the great collapse is now my friend 😂
No one should be making fun of him?
Damn right brother
Who’s making fun of him?
Thank you mister
What did the old timers do with the high content non-drinking alcohol? My guess is add it to the fuel of the transportation vehicle, or “hot rod”?!?
Watching moonshiners and seeing them do this...I wondered what they were looking for 🤔🤔
Thankyou for the direct explanation ☺ get annoyed at some youtubers trying to make it sound easy by the proof x the extended volume of the vaper that connects to the still of the tap...😶😐 well thats what I picked up 😅😅
Thank You for the Video, I did enjoy it.You remind me of Popcorn Sutton.Like Him you are the real deal.Take care,and keep drinking.
That 1st bottle is for running engines like they used to , before gasoline was used . Fine for anti-freeze too , as I understand it . Not for human consumption , as it will kill you . Methanol . First out of the stills . The 2nd , is for consumption . Ethanol . Not to be consumed before driving , as it tends to have the same effect , adding other victims . Nice to know there is a shake test for checking . Wiped most of that knowledge out during prohibition , when they outlawed it , to put gas in it's place , to control the fuel supplies through petroleum , which they already owned .
I turned on closed captioning and it was like "Fuck it, I quit. -Closed Caption"
best comment
Monel Funkawitz watch crazy Russian hacker with cc on. It's way worse
its above u
u just a fkn gay millennial
My Dad use to do that with Poitín . Poitín is Irish Moonshine . Or as the label on the bottles he use to get said "Rare old mountain dew not a drop sold till 3 days old"
+mikecat23 Real poitin wont come with a premade label. It comes in maine bottles, or milk bottles. Your dad bought that supermarket bullshit.
Bowen151 sorry but it was the real deal hand written labels. He was born 1916 and knew his poitin believe
me
@@mikecat23 bio
So which one is the one that blinds you?
Being a Scotch whisky collector this is very old news,learnt this in the 60's
How does heads (and tails) come into play? What about the methanol content? Why is high ethanol/proof bad?
The higher the proof, the grosser it is to consume. The first jar of the run, aka heads, is essentially nail polish remover, super foul-tasting and poisonous, use it in your lawn mower but please God don't drink it. Moonshine that hasn't been cut with water to drop its alcohol content is almost undrinkable, like drinking paint thinner.
So....is the first pour poisonous, or unpleasant to drink?
Short video and to the point... 👍 When you say high alcohol, are you referring to methanol?
Excuse me sir would you happen to know how to reduce the price of mash, Iv done two bootleggers but it won’t go down
Thank you kindly , I heard there's another way where ya light it on fire , and if it's blue it's one kind of alcohol and a different color it's methanol wood alcohol that will blind you. How does that work again, I'd bet you'd know ?
That usually happens when you run it twice.
-Overalls
-2 first names
- “Al-key-hall”
That’s a real moonshiner alright
Is the bad alkly hall in the first jar bad because it contains the heads? Or is it too distilled?
Not heads. The first thing to come out, if you have your temperatures right, is methanol. It's a deadly poison. Your body cannot process it. Then ethanol starts running. All of the stories of people going blind, dying, are from methanol poisoning.
No its not bad alcohol, its just so high proof that its almost undrinkable. You're supposed to temper moonshine with water to gradually lower the proof to make it something you'd actually want to drink, well at least more comfortable to drink. Heads and tails refer to the strength of the moonshine as it goes through its distilling process, stronger at the beginning and weaker at the end. So strong in the beginning that the first small jar or so is essentially poison. Save that first jar for degreasing an engine, drink the rest.
well i just got some from a friend and it wont hold a bead like what he had...
so its not good? i kind of want something really strong
He aint bullshitin that first jug will send you to the tree of woe
WOW! Now that is 1 serious Hillbilly drauuuwwwwwl !! But you can tell he knows his Owlkeyhaull!! Maybe that's why they call it ; "Kentucky Blue Flame" I just call it "White Lightnin" ! Drink anyone? Bar is open! Keys on the bar!
On what webside dit you get those caveralls from?
and how do you check if it has too much methyl in it?
I did this with some moonshine from the store to show my friend the proof difference... He just thought I was the *drunk idiot*
The southern draw alone tells you this guy knows his moonshine.
Is the bubbleless variety good for sanitizer?
Yep. All hand sanitizer is, is propylene glycol and ethanol.
I know how to tell the difference now, thank you!
I thought the shake was only to determine high proof from lower proof, not a means of determining high quality or low quality.
You're right, It is, but he's just using the term good to mean more drinkable, not that the quality is bad, but high proof uncut moonshine is rough to drink, it gets more pleasant to drink when you make it weaker.
not using any old batteries to filter the white liquid are ya
I would like to know how did the old timers clear there alcohol before they cooked it in the still?
The didnt clean it it evaporates then condenses back into a liquid its like cleaning salt water so it leaves the particles and other junk and then out the other end is high proof alkehol 190 proof ish
Should come out crystal clear.
Proof doesn't mean much about how " good" it is. If it's made with a bunch of sugar and made " hot" it will be rough to drink no matter the proof. Also making it with rye instead of corn with make it dryer and a little more harsh....
I've tried several commercial moonshines and most of them are not fit to drink....they are good souvenirs for northern tourists passing through.
I agree about the commercial moonshines...I spent $40.00 + on a bottle of Tim Smith's and couldn't drink it because it was plum nasty.
@@dougpope5627 the George Dickel White Corn Whiskey is the best commercial "moonshine" I have seen. It's tempered to lower proof but it actually tastes like corn liquor and not battery acid......
I learn a little here and a little there. Put’em allll together .. and make some gewd alky-hawl!!!
alcyhol ;) Love his accent
Our accent probably sounds odd to him.
I had family who ran moonshine in their cars, from the stills in the mountains to the small towns. One came to our house when I was a little boy. He got my Dad to hide it because he was being chased. He came back a few days later and picked it up. My Mom was not happy.
So the bigger the beads the higher the awlkihal the smaller the beads the lower the awlkihal right
Educational and to the point. Great vid!
Can you still see?
very good, except for one thing. the bubbles are called frog eyes for a reason.
Can you drink the high-end alcohol?
Bo Gordon yes you can but you will need a new liver the following week. Had a cousin that did that and that is what happened to him. Couldn’t get him a liver in time and he passed. It was from drinking the first of the run of moonshine. He was dead in less than 4 weeks. He was with a moonshiner in North Georgia and the old man told him not to drink the very batch and cousin wouldn’t listen.
Thank you for sharing
Nice job
Thank you my brother.
I may be 14 but I have a tip, if bubbles last lest than 3 seconds, high proof, that’d be the heads, and some hearts, more than 3, that’s the tails, the stuff you’d put back in and cook it more, or you age it, make a nice little batch of beer.
So...for your info, Moonshine in spanish traslated to Luz de Luna.
Please some body tell me what did that man said? I don't English well... Please tall me with simple words... I really need that information
The first one made big bubbles called beads that popped really fast so about 190 proof high alcohol content and the second one made smaller bubbles that lasted longer so 107 proof lower but still a good amount of alcohol per volume
I live 5 minutes from short mountain.
Hydrometer cost 12-bucks & gives a precise measurement...
Your shake & watch is "ok"
i never thought to try that method.
Like the way you still is set up and iLearn about moonshine to be Cajun land Church Point Louisiana
i love this guy for some reason
They still make moonshine all the time, all the way up and down through Appalachia. Could be right off the side of the highway you're driving down, where you never would look. You never know 😉
Shiners in Arkansas are hellbellys 1 swallow hell in your belly you wont be able to scratch your ass with a handful of fish hooks! No matter where you go there you are.
Can this guy talk to me while I fall asleep
I’m wearing the exact same overhalls 😂
That’s how you get feral hogs back into a pen in the fall.
I like my daddy story
He was digging a pipeline in Tennessee
In 1969
He had to go sh-t in the woods and sat down right on two gallons of the finest shine ever made
They say old Popcorn Sutton would hide likker almost everywhere he went, maybe your pop sat down on a legends likker, ya never know..
Did he just say aikeyhowl ??😂😂 Love the accent...
thank you...very cool
You can make it at home with a licence. The fee is steep but worth it..
It's free if you stay quiet
actually the worm is a little more complicated,if using a thump keg its the part that comes off the thump keg through the cooling water,mash to steam - steam through the thump keg-steam, through the worm into the cooling water ) which in turm condenses it to first methonal,(bad shit))then to ethanol,(Good shit-SHINE) pa p.s. the worm is usually spiral shaped
+Linda Little Yeah, that's it einstien. Go back to school Linda.
What you mean is good poison and bad poison. It’s poison.
great tips explaining how to read a bead
Somewhere, Popcorn is smiling too !!!
So smaller bubbles and longer to pop bubbles means it's safe
+lockandloadization No
No, it means it has a higher alkeehawl content.
My grandpa got my dad a half gallon of moonshine from the Ozarks 45 year's ago It was in the outside washroom and I took a swig of it
So the second one is the good one?
It's just that the second jar is the one cut with water, he means it's easier and more pleasant to drink lower proof moonshine. Pure moonshine is like drinking jet fuel.
So I guess that first one is " Sudden Discomfort," or " pop skull" eh?
Title is misleading. "Good" or "bad" has nothing to do with the frog eyes (bubbles). Like he said in the video itself, the bubbles only give an indication of proof, or % of alcohol. During a moonshine run, the first part of the run (heads) will be higher proof. As the run continues, the proof drops. The middle part of the run (hearts) is the best liquor, but will be lower proof than the heads, which are less enjoyable for drinking. The last part of the run (tails) continues to drop in proof, the liquor will cloud up a bit, and it will taste funky. Most people will prefer the liquor to be diluted with distilled water to bring the proof down to a more enjoyable level.
so what about this; could you collect the heads and tails and maybe a drop of hearts on both ends to make sure you get hearts only in once batch? would that be wasteful? i heard heads gives you headaches.