How do they make moonshine?

Not legal advice: Here’s the whole step by step process:

Step 1: The corn is ground into meal

• Nowadays, some moonshiners use commercial hog feed because it is mostly made of corn and is easy to purchase without attracting a lot of attention.

Step 2: The corn meal is soaked in hot water in the still

• Sometimes sugar is added or even used instead of grain, however traditional moonshiners added malt to convert the starch in the corn meal into sugar.
• Then the yeast is put in, which begins the fermentation process.
• This mixture, called “mash”, is mixed thoroughly and heated for a set amount of time in the still.

Step 3: The stone furnace beneath the still is brought up to around 172 degrees Fahrenheit (78 C)

• Wood, coal and even steam have been used in the past to heat the still, however most moonshiners started using propane decades ago.

Step 4: The alcohol evaporates

• As pressure shapes in the still, the alcohol steam is forced through the cap arm, a pipe that leads out of the top of the still.

Step 5

• Some moonshiners use a thump keg, which is just a heated barrel into which the steam is forced. Some solid material from the “mash” generally comes along with the steam, so the thump keg, re-evaporates the alcohol, filtering out the “mash”.

If a moonshiner wants to make the alcohol extra potent, he or she may "charge" the thump keg -- add undistilled “mash” or a few gallons of alcohol into the keg so the steam picks up extra alcohol vapor on its way to the worm box.

Step 6

• The steam goes into the worm, a coiled length of pipe that winds down the inside of the worm box. The worm box is a barrel or crate that has cold water, generally diverted from a nearby creek, flowing into the top and then back out the bottom. This maintains the worm bathed in constantly circulating cold water, which condenses the alcohol steam into liquid.

Step7

• A spout, tap, or hose leads from the end of the worm into a bucket, generally through one last filter.

Step 8

• The resulting clear liquid is now ready.

Whether you are just starting to brew moonshine at home, or already have a lot of experience in creating fun recipes for moonshine, safety is still a very important factor to keep in mind. If not done carefully, making moonshine can have unintended consequences. Here are 5 safety tips that you should always keep in mind from Blog.hillbillystills.com.