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Moonshine


Subdeacon Joe

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2 hours ago, ORNERY OAF said:

Not usually enforced federally Bill, most states differ but I have helped, at least in ohio, liquor agents. Ohio Investigative unit are the "revenuers" at least in ohio,ohio ruling .....The general assembly hereby finds that the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution confers upon the state of Ohio sole and exclusive authority to regulate the sale and distribution of beer and intoxicating liquor in this state...I worked vice for a few years and we helped state agents quite a bit. Interesting stuff.

State guys are quite a bit more active.  We had them stop in a few times to check us out, but I have only heard of a few cases in Colorado that they made an arrest.  One was someone who brought some moonshine to a party and a officer was present, off duty.    The illegal grows alone can keep them busy.  

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Ya they do the whole weed roundup with a chopper, well they used to, I'm not even sure weed is illegal anymore,lol...those guys had great stories about hitting stills in rural areas because some yahoo made bad hooch and poisoned half the town...

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23 minutes ago, ORNERY OAF said:

Ya they do the whole weed roundup with a chopper, well they used to, I'm not even sure weed is illegal anymore,lol...those guys had great stories about hitting stills in rural areas because some yahoo made bad hooch and poisoned half the town...

 

California still has a vigorous anti-marijuana campaign, mostly because of the environmental damage the illegal grows cause.  Secondary is the danger to hikers, fishermen, and others who enjoy the back country.

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1 hour ago, ORNERY OAF said:

Ya they do the whole weed roundup with a chopper, well they used to, I'm not even sure weed is illegal anymore,lol...those guys had great stories about hitting stills in rural areas because some yahoo made bad hooch and poisoned half the town...

Another fallacy, making methanol from grain.  Just doesn’t happen.   Methanol comes from pectins, that means you need fruit in your fermentation to make methanol.  Look up Apple palsy.   If it’s an all grain or sugar fermentation, there will be less methanol that in your orange juice.  
 

most methanol comes from people adding it after distillation to reduce cost and/or have more kick.  Yes it does make you go blind or kill you.   Imho this is a leftover from prohibition when alcohol was denatured (made undrinkable) by adding methanol as you can not easily separate the two alcohols by distillation. 

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14 hours ago, Still hand Bill said:

Another fallacy, making methanol from grain.  Just doesn’t happen.   Methanol comes from pectins, that means you need fruit in your fermentation to make methanol.  Look up Apple palsy.   If it’s an all grain or sugar fermentation, there will be less methanol that in your orange juice.  
 

most methanol comes from people adding it after distillation to reduce cost and/or have more kick.  Yes it does make you go blind or kill you.   Imho this is a leftover from prohibition when alcohol was denatured (made undrinkable) by adding methanol as you can not easily separate the two alcohols by distillation. 


Since we have reached this point in the conversation, I ask the question, why are we using ethanol in motor fuel when methanol is so much better for that purpose??  Methanol is the fuel that they use in IndyCar and in drag racing.  Ethanol has been used by a few teams, but has only shown little success.
 

We know that alcohol is less efficient, volume wise, than gasoline as a motor fuel, (it takes almost twice as much alcohol to produce the same amount of work) and we have to subsidize the agriculture required and production process of ethanol fuel to bring it to market.  Would it make more sense to use methanol if we’re going to add it to our gasoline??

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Corn farmers get paid for ethanol subsidies.  Congress critters get paid for owning fertilizer stocks when corn farmers fertilize and plant corn for ethanol to make e85

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When I was in college, I took a class called "Appalachian Studies."

I wanted to find out what these flat land Yankees thought of us.

Turns out they have some genuinely strange ideas.

We had two guest speakers one night.

Genuine honest to God Revenuers.

I was honestly surprised.

Neither one had the least sign of horns nor a forked tail.

They had two model stills set up on the table, a Silver Cloud and a pot still, and they had the models mostly right.

They also had a glass jug 7/8 full of a clear amber liquid.

They detailed to us how it was made, what to avoid, how to set your mash, how to know when it's ripe, how to adjust your heat, what to add, what not to add.

I listened closely to make sure I'd been doing it right.

*hak-kaff! Har-rumph!* -- I mean I listened politely to their presentation.

They explained how a few drops of glycerine to the distillate will make it cling to the sides of your glass, and how the maker of this jug's product scorched brown sugar in a frying pan, then dissolved it into the 'shine to get that lovely caramel shade.

They said nothing about the first of the run -- the "firsts" -- and the last of the run -- the "lasts" -- contain an impurity called Fusel Oil that causes hangovers. Such is called Popskull Whiskey. Use it to mix shellac or degrease parts. The middle of the run goes down like Mama's milk and blows the socks right off your feet, and it does not cause a hangover.

 

They said they'd run this jug's content through the lab.

They were almost ashamed to admit it, but they said it was better quality stuff than you can buy across the counter.

Then they said "You're welcome to come up and take a taste, but please remember this is potent stuff and you're driving, we don't want you nailed for DUI because of us."

I was almost trompled in the rush to get to the front of the room.

First in line was a skinny kid who didn't know how to drink from a jug, he took it by the sides and took a sip, made a terrible face and set it down.

Next was a city girl and she picked up the jug in like manner, took a sip, shuddered and nearly dropped it -- I about had a heart attack, good moon likker in 19 and 73 was better'n 85 razbukniks a gallon.

I caught the jug, run my finger through the ring, laid the jug over my elbow, took a tilt, studied on it a moment, took another tilt, lowered my elbow, whipped it around and shoved it into the next guy's chest:  "Casey Jones, three year old.  Pass it on!"

An unmarked Government car followed me to the dorm that night.

Casey Jones was a Glouster moonshiner, rest his soul, one of the only two I ever trusted to make a drinkin' grade product,and it turns out I was right.

I was Casey's product, and it was three years old.

 

 

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Do you remember all of those old PSAs in the media proclaiming “ALCOHOL AND GASOLINE DO NOT MIX” ?

 

 

The government has certainly proved that that ain’t true!! :lol:

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6 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:


Since we have reached this point in the conversation, I ask the question, why are we using ethanol in motor fuel when methanol is so much better for that purpose??  Methanol is the fuel that they use in IndyCar and in drag racing.  Ethanol has been used by a few teams, but has only shown little success.
 

We know that alcohol is less efficient, volume wise, than gasoline as a motor fuel, (it takes almost twice as much alcohol to produce the same amount of work) and we have to subsidize the agriculture required and production process of ethanol fuel to bring it to market.  Would it make more sense to use methanol if we’re going to add it to our gasoline??

Corn lobby is the short answer.  If ethanol was the right choice for fuel, it’s easier to make from cane sugar like Brazil.   Unfortunately like most things it has been corrupted by politics.   I have read reports that it takes more energy to make a gallon of ethanol than it contains.  Meaning the only reason we do it is subsidies.   There is also a need in our fuel stream to have about 10% of something other than gasoline due to a lack of refining capacity.   Mtbe used to be that energy stream until it was found to pollute ground water.  A new source was needed and the corn industry pushed for it to be ethanol from corn.    Also fermentation makes a lot of co2.  Not exactly green.   There is also was a push to have oxygenated fuels to reduce some emissions on startup and for non efi cars.   At this point, non efi cars are mostly gone and because of using ethanol fuels we may make more emissions due to burning more fuel due to lower energy content.   Ethanol gas typically gets 5-10% less milage or less power depending on how the vehicle is tuned.  
 

From talking to a chemist, methanol can be made from natural gas or coal quite cheaply and could be a decent energy source.  Down sides are it’s poisonous and you have to burn a lot more of it due to low energy density.  It’s also corrosive.    Really doesn’t matter as the corn lobby won’t ever let it replace ethanol.   If the subsidies go away so will all the ethanol plants.  

 If I remember right ethanol has 70% the energy of a typical gasoline blend.  Methanol is closer to 50%.  Now both ethanol and methanol have a higher stoichiometric ratio so while they have less energy, then burn richer resulting in a net increase in energy.    For methanol it’s about 2.5 times as rich.   More power, but a lot more fuel usage.   this is why e-85 or m-85 are horrible choices for daily driving.  Both can be good choices for high performance cars where milage and cost per mile are not of high importance, but power is a premium.  
 

myself, I refuse to run ethanol fuel.  I will pay a lot more to get 100% gas, running other non ethanol fuels in my ohv, boats, and small engines. 

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