Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1897-03-25
Making Mountain Dew.

Those who know by actual eS-
perience how the "moOnshiner"
makes his mountain dew" are
loath to tell how it is done They =
reason, and not without goods-rse,
that 1t is a dangerous secret, and
therefore it is a matter of some
difficulty to persuade one to tell
his secret. The "moonshiner" knows
that the very minute he starts a
brew, that minute he is a criminal
in the eyes Of the law. His individ-
ual views as to the criminality of
his act do not at all coincide with
the law on this subject, however.
The moonshiner believes he has as
much right to convert his corn into
whisky as the gardener has to make
sauce out of his tomatoes, or the
grape grower to distill the juice of
his fruit into wine. That is the
way he looks at the crime of illicit
distilling. All the laws in the king
dom cannot change his view of the
matter. He imagines that the gov
eminent has particular spite to
vent against him, and therefore he
regards civilized man as his ruth
less enemy. He holds the officer,
whose sworn duty it is to enforce
the law, in as much odium as Sc
ciety entertains for the moonshiner.
He will stubbornly insist that he is
more sinned against than SHINING
The moonshiners of this country
have been unjustly compared to the
smugglers who infest the noun
famous regions of Europe and traf-
fic in contraband commodities and
articles. As a rule, they are not
as desperate lot as they are paint
ed. Some have slain to protect
themselves from what they deem
unjust and outrageous laws, but
that is done by men in other walks
of life, and such are not dencm-
mated desperadoes.
But this is depressing from the
subject. How is mountain dew"
made? The idea of the average
person whose environments in life
have been such as would afford no
opportunities for cleaning the Sc
cret of the moonshiner, would take
in some fine chemical process that
could not have originated in any
but college professors mind, and
yet the way in which the rugged
moonshIner makes his "dew" does
not include anything that the col
lege student encountered in his
study of chemistry, from a purely
practical point of view.
The process is simple. The moon
sinner sends his corn to the mill to
have it ground. 1t is converted in
to meal, the same as is used to
make corn bread. This meal is put
in g tub or barrel of boiling water.
In this way it is cooked. 1t sits
unit. it is cool enough to burn the
hands when they are put in it. 1t
is stirred up well and then put in
the still. The still is then filed
with cold water. After that the
malt is added. Malt is made by
putting corn in water and letting
it soak two or three days, or until
it sprouts. Then it is maltedl
The malt is ground the same as the
corn was and to every bushel of
corn is added l6 single handfuls
of malt. The malt and the cold
water are added at the same time.
Then the brew stands until it sours,
which requires several days. In that
time it begins to ''work" or ferment
A crust, or cap, as it is called by
the moonshiners, of bran forms on
the top of the water. This cap is
blush in color. 1t is not disturbed
at all. In a short time this ''cap"
settles to the bottom where it came
from. The weight of the solidifed
mass of bran or husks causes it to
sink. The fire is then started under
the still and it is only a matter of
two or three hours until about two
gallons of whisky have been dis
titled. The moonshiner then has
two gallons of ''dew" which he can
sell for from two to five dollars, as
the needs of the purchaser may
Justify, and he has consumed six
days and bushel of corn in max
ing it. Thus one bushel of corn
yields two gallons of whisky, which
may bring, in the moonshiner's
market, from four to ten dollars.
About 80 gallons of water are used
to brew one bushel of corn.
"Do mOonshiners buy or make
the stills?" asked the representative
of the young man who explained
the process of making the whisky.
"They are bought" he answered;
"though have known of people
making their stills. A STILL" he con-
tinued, noting the inquisitive lookon
the faces of his listeners, "ls large
copper kettle, shaped like cisteru.
They hold from so to 60 gallons.
Over the neck of the still cap fits
over another. From the top of this
cap an arm runs out about ten
inches long. To this arm is at
tached the worm. Well, the worm
is coil of pipe about sixteen feet
long. 1t is through this that the
evaporation of the steam from the
still passes. The worm is coiled ia
the flake stand, which Is filed with
water for the purpose of keeping
the worm cool. If the worm was
not thus cooled no evaporation