Popcorn Sutton's Moonshine to be made again.

[mikegideon]

Pot farmers?

Still different. Watching the Billy Ray piece about the origin of moonshiners, I sided with the moonshiners. It was more in the spirit of the Tea party than trying to build an illegal industry.

[mikegideon]

A moonshiner could theoretically pay the tax and become legit? Does that cost too much for a hillbilly to do with a small business loan? Or are the licenses simply incredibly difficult to come by, like getting a brand-new radio broadcast AM or FM radio frequency from the FCC?

I agree making yer own distilled spirits or other substances ought to be legal for personal use. But the shiner would be in it for the money and would be no more immune to ordinary biz fees and regs than a piano tuner or shade-tree electrician? I also think there are too many biz fees and regs, but OTOH it ain't kewl for random fools to poison their customers or burn down their houses with bad wiring.

Long ago working at the substance abuse clinic, in-house medical supervised detoxification, one client was an ancient moonshiner from Soddy Daisy who had been using his own product. The dude was even more unhealthy than the typical alcoholic. Something way wrong with his skin and very few brain cells left. There may be skilled practitioners, but this old guy didn't seem a skilled practitioner. He was telling me how he liked to add chlorox bleach to give it a better taste.

No accounting for tastes. After all, some people like souse or borsht. I'm no connoisseur but generally prefer "mediciny" tasting spirits and sour-tasting mixes. Mescal, gin, bacardi 151. Key lime juice, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, bitters. Though various corn whiskeys and scotch is OK sometimes too. Long ago tried some of that legal georgia shine they sell in the mason jars, that was a little too much like bug poison even for my preference of "biting" flavors. But maybe some folks like such a flavor the best.

There ARE skilled practitioners. Most of the horror stories didn't come from the folks in the mountains. They came from the days of prohibition. Folks adding wood alcohol, distilling in car radiators, etc. Everything I've tasted was well crafted stuff. It was just right out of the spigot without any aging. They still knew better than to use the wrong metals (like lead solder).

It ain't rocket science. Make the mash, let it ferment, and cook it off. Same basic process the big boys use.

[Guest bkelm18]

Still different. Watching the Billy Ray piece about the origin of moonshiners, I sided with the moonshiners. It was more in the spirit of the Tea party than trying to build an illegal industry.

But it is an illegal industry.

[mikegideon]

But it is an illegal industry.

Yep.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Pot farmers?

This is going to start another disscussion but here are my views on it.

Marijuana should be legalized in all states. If not for general consumption then at least for medicinal use. There are proven studies where it helps people manage several different ailments. It is safer than alcohol as well as most medicines especially when you consider the risk of overdose.

I am a firm believer in the fact that if I want to do something to my body, no matter how bad it is for me, it should be my choice and not the government's. I can walk into any store and buy food that is far worse for me than marijuana.

Because you can't tax a product that is reasonably easy to grow you need to tax the individual user. Make a user pay for an endorsement on their license. Users can either buy it or grow it. The user can't sell to anyone else. Dealers would need to have a business/dealers license and can only sell to users. Manufacturers need to have a business/manufacturers license. Dealers can only buy from manufacturers and can only sell to users. Manufacturers can make or import it.

Marijuana is a huge money maker. Why not legalize it and tax it? Use the same supply channels as for alcohol. Take the revenue and use it to help people kick the harder drugs like meth, oxy or cocaine.

And just for the record I have never smoked it and anytime I am around it I break out in an allergic reaction so I probably never will.

Dolomite

[mikegideon]

This is going to start another disscussion but here are my views on it.

Marijuana should be legalized in all states. If not for general consumption then at least for medicinal use. There are proven studies where it helps people manage several different ailments. It is safer than alcohol as well as most medicines especially when you consider the risk of overdose.

I am a firm believer in the fact that if I want to do something to my body, no matter how bad it is for me, it should be my choice and not the government's. I can walk into any store and buy food that is far worse for me than marijuana.

Because you can't tax a product that is reasonably easy to grow you need to tax the individual user. Make a user pay for an endorsement on their license. Users can either buy it or grow it. The user can't sell to anyone else. Dealers would need to have a business/dealers license and can only sell to users. Manufacturers need to have a business/manufacturers license. Dealers can only buy from manufacturers and can only sell to users. Manufacturers can make or import it.

Marijuana is a huge money maker. Why not legalize it and tax it? Use the same supply channels as for alcohol. Take the revenue and use it to help people kick the harder drugs like meth, oxy or cocaine.

And just for the record I have never smoked it and anytime I am around it I break out in an allergic reaction so I probably never will.

Dolomite

There are some stupid, unfair laws that cater to special interests. Pot laws fall into that category. Not one documented death, which makes it safer than a Wendy's double cheeseburger. RIP Dave.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

There ARE skilled practitioners. Most of the horror stories didn't come from the folks in the mountains. They came from the days of prohibition. Folks adding wood alcohol, distilling in car radiators, etc. Everything I've tasted was well crafted stuff. It was just right out of the spigot without any aging. They still knew better than to use the wrong metals (like lead solder).

It ain't rocket science. Make the mash, let it ferment, and cook it off. Same basic process the big boys use.

Ain't doubting there are skilled practitioners. Just the only one I met wasn't so skilled, and he lived his whole life far enough up a mountain to be genuine enough for anybody's definition of a hillbilly. Ain't using hillbilly as an insult. I wouldn't mind being a hillbilly some day.

Would like to try some brands of "high quality" shine some time.

A couple of weeks ago was googling "is it legal" and ran across the laws against home-made shine even for personal consumption. It was talking about distilled spirits.

Got me wondering-- Had read that revolution-era colonists would make fortified apple-jack by freezing. Put out half-kegs of hard cider in the fall and let the water freeze out. Take off the ice and the remainder had significantly higher alcohol content.

That isn't strictly distilling. Wonder if the laws are written generally against any method of fortification, or specifically against distillation?

Supposedly the old freezing method was not good enough to get to high proof whiskey, and of course any gunk and particulates would stay with the alcohol and make a rather murky brew. Have tried commercial 40 proof apple jack and it tasted pretty good the first few sips then tasted worse and worse till I couldn't finish the first drink.

With a temp-controlled freezer maybe the method could be modernized? Ferment from pure sugar and distilled water. Freeze and filter. Freeze and filter. Maybe after a few cycles it would get pretty strong?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Oh well. Should have googled first. Doesn't sound practical even if POSSIBLY marginally more legal. Thermodynamics strikes again.

Fractional freezing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[mikegideon]

A buddy and me were well on the way to doing a counter top whiskey still until I found out there's no way to sell it legally. That's why i know so much about the process. Add prepackaged raw materials and water, and hit the button. A couple weeks later... spirits. All controlled by an 8051 microcontroller. Even had a code guy lined up. We would have made a fortune.

Damn revenuers!

[Mike.357]

If anyone in East TN sees it available let me know. I have heard it is going to be in limited markets at first, like Newport, Gatlinburg, Nashville, etc. I plan to try to get my hands on it soon to try it.

limited markets is literally impossible. Newport and Gatlinburg are sold to by wholesale distributors here in Knoxville. There is no way it is going into the cesspool that is Newport and not going to be sold in the multitude of stores in Knoxville. Before it could be sold retail in TN Sutton's would need a contract with regional distributors here in TN.

Still different. Watching the Billy Ray piece about the origin of moonshiners, I sided with the moonshiners. It was more in the spirit of the Tea party than trying to build an illegal industry.

There are a lot of pot farmers who support their families off of their weed. I dare say there are communities that subsist because of the cash flow created by growing and selling pot. I am not sure how that is altogether different than moonshiners back in the day.

[Mike.357]

Marijuana is a huge money maker. Why not legalize it and tax it? Use the same supply channels as for alcohol. Take the revenue and use it to help people kick the harder drugs like meth, oxy or cocaine.

I believe we will never see it legalized for general usage until the man can come up with a practical way to tell if someone smoked it an hour ago. As it is now tests only show an amount of THC in the system. Did it get there a month ago? A week? Ten minutes? No way to tell.

You post makes valid points all the way through it.

[vontar]

Everybody needs the watch the documentary on the History Channel (I think) before they form a complete opinion about moonshiners. It's the one with Billy Ray.

Yep, it's raw, unaged corn whiskey. i don't like it either. You also have the "charred" version, which kinda gets a few days of the aging process. I'm ok with apple pie, but it still has that moonshine whang.

I saw that and it did scare me that some of those guys use lead soldering to connect the copper to prevent leaks and well that does lead to lead poison. Also you have to now you can trust the person that makes the shine as there are some bad ones out there that made some rot gut awful to the stuff that will kill you.

Seen the moonshine show.

They ought to make a show about meth labs and how wonderful those guys are

Is there such a thing. I guess in 20 years there will be a small group singing high praise of the pill highway to FL.

But it is an illegal industry.

Many because of taxes. The government wants it taxes. Pretty much the reason Pot is illegal Taxes they haven't found way to tax a weed. I believe that and I have never smoked it.

I believe we will never see it legalized for general usage until the man can come up with a practical way to tell if someone smoked it an hour ago. As it is now tests only show an amount of THC in the system. Did it get there a month ago? A week? Ten minutes? No way to tell.

You post makes valid points all the way through it.

Right here is a hanging point, if someone is pulled over, driving they can't really be tested to see how high they really are on pot is my understanding in the same way as alcohol.

[Mike.357]

Sutton's moonshine is out and in liquor stores now. I saw it in several today as I ran a route. 29.99 and it is 96 proof or something like that.

[Jasongar8]

Sutton's moonshine is out and in liquor stores now. I saw it in several today as I ran a route. 29.99 and it is 96 proof or something like that.

Damn, they are proud of it. I can't see giving $30 for some un-aged whiskey.

[Mike.357]

that is exactly what I thought. I costs next to nothing to distill and bottle without aging and then they charge for it like it is 8 year old bourbon.

Someone is making big bucks and in a hurry. As fast as they distill it they can sell it.

[mikegideon]

96 proof sounds more like it. Should be more like 8-10 bucks a quart though.

[vontar]

93 proof.

I got a Jar of it tonight, 29.99. I don't plan to buy much of it, but I couldn't not buy at least 1.

I will be opening it in about 10 minutes, I will report back if I don't have something knocked in the dirt.

[MikePapa1]

I, personally, like corn liquor. I keep some in my freezer all the time, for medicinal purposes, of course. The guy I get it from "double distills" his and it's very smooth. I prefer it to the store bought shines. By the way, in Tennessee, it's legal to own up to 3 gallons of untaxed liquor but it's illegal to manufacture under federal law.

[bajabuc]

A buddy and me were well on the way to doing a counter top whiskey still until I found out there's no way to sell it legally. That's why i know so much about the process. Add prepackaged raw materials and water, and hit the button. A couple weeks later... spirits. All controlled by an 8051 microcontroller. Even had a code guy lined up. We would have made a fortune.

Damn revenuers!

you can make a countertop still for perfume and other such...just don't advertise it as a shine still. You can sell it .. you're not responsible for what buyers use it for.

[bajabuc]

Word is, Hank Jr. brought into and is helping with the families permission get Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey made and sold. I have hold on the web some people have tried it and compared it to some of Popcorns original and said it is the same. I Know I want to try it.

If anyone in East TN sees it available let me know. I have heard it is going to be in limited markets at first, like Newport, Gatlinburg, Nashville, etc. I plan to try to get my hands on it soon to try it.

The website is not fully up, Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey

There are a few blogs about it.

I know I want to try this early, perhaps even before it gets wide spread.

I bet this stuff gives Ole Smokey a run for its Money.

I have a jar in the freezer...I've never opened it. The "others" got drunk.