The Curious History of Moonshine in Texas
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The hairs on the back of my neck stand up whenever I remember knocking back my first shot of moonshine. Back then, I was a bit of a wild buck when it came to drinking. But moonshine put me back in my place and taught me a lesson in drinking I’ll never forget. To sum up, that afternoon me and my buds worked our way through a bottle of the historically illegal liquor and pretty much forgot who and where we were. Respecting the shine is something I learnt after that crazy ride. This is when I took a shine to moonshine.
It’s safe to say moonshine has a special place in my heart. This love got me curious about the drink and I started wondering how far moonshine and the state of Texas go back. It turns out pretty far –– even before the late 19th-century beginnings of prohibition. Despite all the hurdles that generations of moonshiners have faced, these passionate brewers have managed to hone their craft, making the beverage part of that Lone Star State charm.
When the Shine Shone Through
Moonshine can be traced back to founding shiners that were active in the 18th century. This was way before the days of the Prohibition Era during the civil war when settlers in the United States started setting up their stills. However, the wider demand for moonshine began in the most unlikely of ways –– at the hand of the law. The local option laws of 1876 and 1891 gave power to counties and communities all over Texas, allowing them to prohibit liquor within their localities. Even earlier than that, in 1791, Alexander Hamilton, Treasury Secretary, placed an excise tax on whiskey to ease the financial burden of the United states. In effect, this boosted moonshine into popularity, with its production becoming an underground industry from 1919 to 1933.
During the Great Depression, the moonshine business proved to be a lucrative venture for many daring Texans who were feeling the harsh reality of the times. Accordingly, the moonshine industry blossomed within areas where opportunities were scarce. Moonshiners became famous for making a good profit from the illegal sale of their home-brewed spirits, while also having to think on their toes. The pressure of law enforcement on these backyard distillers turned these brewers into the most innovative, cunning, and witty heroes of the economic dip.
So, what’s with the name moonshine? Historically described as “clear, unaged whiskey,” it’s said that this white lightning got its nickname from the illegal nature of its production: the best time to distill this beverage is under the shine of the full moon in the cover of darkness. Moonshiners were working outside the law, meaning they had to take measures to ensure they could keep distilling their bootleg discreetly.
Many were successful in the moonshine they produced illegally and earned a small fortune in exchange for the risk of doing time in the slammer. And to this day, there are plenty of families that are proud third-generation moonshiners, tracing back their distilling knowledge over several decades.
Making Moonshine
Moonshine is traditionally unaged, flavored by choice, and has a high alcohol content if compared to other spirits. Producing moonshine requires a great deal of skill and know-how, due to the different ingredients and methods in play during the distillation process. The standard recipe for corn whiskey involves mixing 50 lbs of steel-cut corn chops with 50 lbs of sugar. 35 gallons of water are then added to the dry ingredients before the mixture is left to rot for four to seven days until the mash stops bubbling or turns a hue of sky blue. This color indicates that it’s ready to be distilled or “cooked off”. The mash is distilled another four to five times, with grains, sugar, and water being added each time in small quantities. The homemade stills convert the mixture into moonshine after which is sealed in mason jars.
As for variation, some moonshiners have been known to add certain signature flavors. Charter moonshine, considered one of the best kinds, is placed in charred oak barrels until it absorbs the flavor and some of the color of the charcoal. Some shine distillers used a variety of ingredients to add flavor to their spirits, including caramel, raisins (how long do raisins last?), syrup, rock candy, apples, peaches, red oak chips, tobacco, or even spoiled potatoes to give their brews a zesty flavor. With its complementary flavor profile, Dr Pepper has become one of the most famous additives to moonshine. Apple pie moonshine or apple brandy is also a favorite option, especially for the fall season.
Plenty of techniques were developed to hasten the distillation process of moonshine to avoid detection and effectively lower the risk of being caught. Despite the rewards of these novel brewing methods, the final product often proved to be sketchy at best. Lye was often added to the beverage to speed up the fermentation process, but this had the terrible effect of making the lips of its drinker swollen. Another “ingenious” process involved passing the moonshine mixture through the radiator of an automobile and adding battery acid to the mix. This shortened the cooking process to only one day, instead of the normal three or four. However, the lead from these old car radiators frequently resulted in poisoning. With these corners being cut, the moonshine spirits distilled improperly also led to deaths in local wildlife. Raccoons, possums, and other animals exposed to waste at abandoned stills often died as a result of the toxic by-products abandoned by irresponsible moonshiners.
The Spread of Moonshine in Texas Society
Local officials looked the other way when it came to moonshine consumption and production, as it had comfortably made its way into society. Notable members of communities throughout Texas took to the shine and were involved in its consumption, distribution or operations, with some even providing capital to producers. Operations for moonshine production eventually came to involve two parties –– the distributor or bootlegger, who would provide raw materials, fruit jars, and kegs, and the moonshiner, who would operate the stills, oversee the distillation process, and, of course, be exposed to the risk of getting in trouble with the law.
Keeping it in the Family
Moonshiners usually kept their bootleg production within their families, with each generation passing down their recipes and distilling methods. In fact, law enforcement officers were often able to pinpoint particular methods of producing moonshine to specific families, because of how their respective stills were constructed. Relatives of shiners who were not directly involved in the illegal operations would keep an eye out for law enforcement trying to investigate their operations.
Despite local authorities repeatedly turning a blind eye to moonshining activities, these unlawful brewers lived in fear of agents from the United State Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. If ever a still and its moonshiners were raided by these enforcers, hundreds of dollars of equipment would be lost, and a possible jail sentence would loom over the moonshiner’s head. This meant many distillers built their distilleries into mobile setups, making their operations easy to transport or dispose of.
The Decline of the Shine
Once the prohibition ended and the laws regarding the production, distribution, and sale of alcohol in the US started loosening up, moonshine’s profitability began to decline. Rising sugar prices and the drafting of the huge moonshine consumer base also led to a sharp decrease in sales. What’s more, states who chose to remain dry during this period also shunned moonshine, since they could illegally smuggle in booze from states that didn’t prohibit alcoholic beverages.
Despite these changes, many people held onto the tradition of making moonshine, with some using novel ways to make their stills. Wood fires were replaced by liquid petroleum gas to mask the smoke that increased the risk of being detected by police officers. Eventually, these bootleg operations were forced to move to derelict or abandoned urban buildings, and moonshiners adopted sophisticated methods of communication to monitor the movement of law enforcement.
By the early 1960s, Texas saw between 12 to 14 local enforcement raids on moonshine stills a year. In 1970, there were only six reported confiscations, allowing Texas to be categorized as having a “moderate moonshine problem”. Data provided by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission shows that in 1993, there were just two raids on stills, with a combined volume of 35 gallons being confiscated.
Moonshine will forever belong to the pages of Texan history, and so it should. The maker, the drinker, and the beverage itself have seen through the good times and the bad. Nowadays, many legal craft distilleries produce moonshine for commercial sale. One of them is the Moonshine Ridge in Johnson City, Texas, which prides itself in using its decades-old family recipe that can be traced to the Bluegrass Hills. My personal favorite is their Moonshine Ridge Kat Daddy’s Hill Fire Cinnamon, crafted with quality grains, honey, and real cinnamon. Expect hints of the smooth-sweet taste of fresh apple pie in this delicious drink.
Just as moonshiners create their own brand of alcohol, you can create your own as well. How about making your own branded hot sauce (how long does hot sauce last?) Check out our guide to pepper fermentation to get started!
