What is Moonshine in the store vs. Backyard Distillery’s Moonshine?
“Moonshine” or Shine for short is a phrase that was understood to be “illegal” or “non tax-paid” Liquor, or deep in the culture stump, stumphole, or bootleg to name a few. TTB, formerly Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) also our federal regulator, does not recognize Moonshine as a legally defined spirit type like Whiskey, Bourbon, Gin, and Vodka as an example. So legal distillers are free to label anything “Moonshine” and that is where the problem resides.
Culturally, moonshine is regionally all over the globe. In the American South(United States), moonshine comes in two varieties. Corn Liquor, where the corn is malted, cracked and cooked is one type before fermenting. The sugar source in this type is the carbohydrates in the corn itself. Typically, farmers who had corn left over a growing season would use that leftover corn to make shine to supplement their family’s income. The second variety, which is more prevalent in Shine made strictly for retail is “Sugar-based shine”, which is what we make as noted on our label as cane and grain. Our exact mash bill for the spirit nerds, we are not disclosing. Our mash have some part corn, but in some special releases there are other things that maybe added such as sweet potatoes or others specialty grains, but the alcohol comes from the cane sugar. From a point of science, metabolically speaking, the conversion process from cane sugar to alcohol should be cleaner than cooking corn, using a malt that contains amylase to convert the carbohydrate to simple fermentable sugar, before being converted to alcohol which is more complex than going directly from a simple sugar. With the complicated conversions, a clean fermentation may be disrupted by bad bacteria or ester formations.
We have heard that a lot of “legal moonshine” sold in the store is not fit to drink, or it just doesn’t taste as good what is purchase illegally. Well, we say that is true based upon what it is from our analysis and research.
A lot of time that is an accurate statement, except when an illegal liquor still in the woods is poorly constructed and bad spirit manufacturing processes are used. So this is why they some moonshine will kill you or be rot gut. For example, an illegal liquor still made with lead components, car radiator, or 55 gallon drums as an example, the quality just is not going to be there in comparison to a liquor still made with copper or stainless still. Until recently, all legal products labeled “moonshine” were produced by large distilleries, and the emphasis is on PROFIT not QUALITY. As such, a “Moonshine” label can be placed on a bottle of anything, and these large distillers have been pumping out a cheap vodka continuously using a column still and call it “Moonshine” to sell anything to make a buck. Smaller distillers in the woods or now ones like us at Backyard Distillery that are legal, are willing to take the time and bear the expense to produce a quality moonshine(aka shine) in batches in a pot still. The large corporations can’t afford to bear the expense and will not bear the expense to make quality spirts. To make a plan analogy, a pasture raised hog vs commodity hog are very different in quality and ultimately taste. The smaller craft distilleries are able to do things that large corporation won’t or can’t because of the large overhead and infrastructure it takes to be a behemoth in the marketplace.
PSA, any time you do decide to buy any moonshine in a retail store, PLEASE READ THE LABEL. The first clue that tells you are getting an everclear like product, are the terms “Grain Neutral Spirit” or “Neutral Grain Spirit.” These labels are commonly found in Vodkas. Grain Neutral or Neutral Grain require that the distillation point be at or above 190 proof and it is most efficiently done using a column still. Spirits distilled to 190 proof have no flavor carryover from the mash and are tasteless. Real small batched moonshines, particularly in a pot still like ours have a distinct flavor from their mashes, whether corn whiskey or a sugar shine. You get some of the oils (or mouth feels) from those pot stills that a column can give you. Don’t be tricked into paying good money for cheap vodka called moonshine, read the label or better yet buy from Backyard Distillery.
Most folks around Backyard Distillery and generally in the rural south used to know what good Moonshine is supposed to taste like, where as most folks around the country don’t. It is why we will be educating you during our marketing so you become a more informed consumer. At a minimum we will put the information out for consumption with the spirit. The larger companies have no desire to make quality because the average buyer doesn’t know the difference and sometimes may believe because they are paying more money they are getting a higher quality product. At Backyard Distillery, we believe that a top notch moonshine should be superior in quality and drinkability to anything that you can purchase from a mass distiller/bottler and the price does not have to break the bank. One final thing, do realize, every legal distillery or brand name is not manufacturing their own spirits, because they are purchasing from other distilleries and blending and bottling it as their own, to create a spirits brand. Backyard Distillery is a manufacturer, where we go from farm to glass or farm to small milk jug in our case for our initial product offering.
