Moonshine Books

First off is the eBook I wrote that is specifically for the first time home-distiller. This eBook will walk you through the process of making your first batch of mash with a very simple beginner friendly recipe. The book describes different stills and what type will be best for you. Finally the book takes you by the hand and walks you step by step from raw ingredient to your first sips of home made whiskey. 

Ever wondered how a still is made? There are eight types illustrated in this book, based on historical moonshiner designs. The ingenuity that went into making moonshine illicitly is fascinating and sometimes hilarious. Though it's illegal to build or possess a still, the illustrations are so complete, you could easily do it! Some are built with components found in most home kitchens.

 In this book, you will find Popcorn's handwritten recipe for making moonshine and detailed photographs of his moonshining operation taken one and a half hours prior to the still burning to the ground and his arrest. Popcorn Sutton is probably the most famous Appalachian moonshiner of all time. This is the story of the Popcorn Sutton you don't know.

 ’Shine expert Cory Straub details all the equipment you’ll need to brew it, offers an in-depth overview of the process, and shares recipes for creating delicious flavor bases and a bevy of tasty, tub-thumpin’ cocktails. Along the way, you’ll learn valuable tips on storing, packaging, and serving your hooch, plus fun facts and witty quotes that’ll have your granpappy slappin’ his knee.

This comprehensive, technical guide offers the curious home distiller pretty much everything there is to know about distilling fruit brandies. Raw materials, fermentation, mashing, alcohol determination, clarifying and filtering, and storage are all presented in great detail through text, diagrams, and photos. Each and every aspect of distilling is presented, including timing, yields, detecting distillation errors, and more. 

Take a trip through moonshining’s past: travel from its beginnings as a pioneer staple to the dark days of prohibition, from quickly produced urban rotgut to today’s carefully handcrafted artisanal libations. Get in on the fun with how-to instructions that take into account all legal regulations and requirements before covering ingredients, building a still, basic distilling techniques, and dozens of recipes, all adapted for the beginner. 

Originally published in 1976 The Moonshine Manual is a wonderful book if you live on a farm and can drive to town for a bag corn. Along with the typewriter the town Feed & Seed store have disappeared. Today there is a renaissance in micro-brewing and craft distilling. The principals of distilling described is this book are correct but the methods used by today's "urban" moonshiner have changed because every town in America has a home brew shop where he or she can take a home brewing class and buy his ingredients to make beer and moonshine.

Moonshine is corn whiskey, traditionally made in improvised stills throughout the Appalachian South. While quality varied from one producer to another, the whiskey had one thing in common: It was illegal because the distiller refused to pay taxes to the US government. Many moonshiners were descendants of Scots-Irish immigrants who had fought in the original Whiskey Rebellion in the early 1790s. They brought their knowledge of distilling with them to America along with a profound sense of independence and a refusal to submit to government authority. 

For those thirsty for practical information, the book next provides a detailed, easy-to-follow guide to safe home distilling, complete with a list of supplies, step-by-step instructions, and helpful pictures, anecdotes, and tips. The final section focuses on the contemporary whiskey scene, featuring a list of microdistillers, cocktail and food recipes from the country’s hottest mixologists and chefs, and an opinionated guide to building your own whiskey collection.