moonshine is a general term for illicit, unlicensed, or homemade spirits. The laws governing the production and distribution of distilled spirits are many and strict, and disregard of those regulations is the only legitimate defining characteristic of moonshine. The illegal distillation of alcohol is varied and international, flourishing where alcohol is legally prohibited or highly taxed or where law enforcement is weak; in some parts of Africa and Asia, it is the dominant form of spirits production. In more developed economies, moonshining is often linked with counterfeiting, whereby established, often international brands are copied and undersold. All too often, counterfeit or illegal alcohol is contaminated with methanol or other poisons, and injury and death are a distressingly common result of their consumption; without legal regulation, there is no way of guaranteeing a product’s purity.
Moonshining is far from homogenous; indeed, that is its nature. Different patterns of it prevail depending on the region. In large parts of Africa, inland Brazil, and the Balkans, it usually takes the form of unlicensed and home distilling, where its legality is a gray area. In Russia, the distilling of samogon is illegal but widespread on a home level. In countries such as Iran, Pakistan, and parts of India, where spirits are forbidden, moonshining is often a business. In Great Britain, these days it usually takes the form of the production of counterfeit, and therefore cheap, vodka. In centuries past, though, it gave us malt whisky. See samogon and whisky.
In America, where moonshining has a long and lively history, there were no rules against distillation and no taxes paid on distilled spirits until 1791, when the newly formed federal government, in debt after the American Revolution, levied its first tax on an American product, the excise tax on whisky. This tax was unpopular, to say the least, and mostly went uncollected. On the frontier of Pennsylvania, farmers resisted it, believing that they were continuing the battle against taxation without representation. Thirteen thousand troops marched against them. This was the first expression of federal power, and proof that the laws of the newly centralized government would be enforced. Many of those farmers who resisted the tax drifted southward along the Appalachian Mountains, and they brought their distilling traditions with them. Others quietly continued resisting in place. Although often thought of as “corn liquor,” the raw materials fermented to make moonshine were traditionally whatever was closest at hand and familiar to the maker. Italian American immigrants in upstate New York, for instance, tended to make grape brandies, whereas the orchardists of the Shenandoah Valley used ground-fall apples.
Today, moonshine in America, which is in all cases illegal, can be classified into two major categories: recreational and commercial. Although there are many more individuals pursuing home distillation for fun than there are professional moonshiners, their output is commercially negligible, and law enforcement generally turns a blind eye to their activities. The vast majority of illegal alcohol is produced by individuals committed to continuing criminal enterprise.
The largest concentration of commercial moonshining in America is in the South. Originally, the industry sprang from a regional rejection of federal dominion after the Civil War. Although the Appalachian mountain man often took the blame for hooch, his people were only a scapegoat for a widespread practice. The ubiquity of moonshine then and now has led to a cultural nullification of the laws against it that make it very difficult to discourage, or indeed prosecute, the production of illegal spirits. Prohibition grew the business a great deal, and bootleggers ran rampant until the advent of two-way radios in police cars. See
Although commercial moonshiners produce liquor that is slapdash and dangerous, and usually fermented from white sugar with little regard for its taste or the quality, smaller recreational distillers are more akin to enthusiastic home cooks. The robust world of hobby distillers includes moonshiners of many stripes, from those who strive for maximum efficiency to those cherishing a folkloric tradition. For some, distillation is the next obvious step after they’ve mastered the production of beer. For others, it is an expression of their libertarian independence. Over time, the word “moonshine” came to be associated with clear spirits, mostly corn based. As interest in distilling grew in the early 2000s and the hobby community thrived, many licensed distilleries began to market products—ostensibly legal versions of an illegal product—that tap into the folklore and outlaw mystique attached to moonshine.
See also excise, taxes, and distillation.
Haworth, Alan and Ronald Simpson, eds. Moonshine Markets: Issues in Unrecorded Alcohol Beverage Production and Consumption, New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2004.
Rowley, Matthew. Moonshine! New York: Lark Crafts, 2007.
Watman, Max. Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw’s Adventures in Moonshine. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
By: Max Watman