Das Beer!!

Chris Finch

Chris Finch

Well-known member
we brewed our first batch of beer last thursday. it was an extract kit from northern brewer "caribou slobber"

it was really fun. a bunch of my buddies came over, we drank some good beers and I made 10 lbs of venison lasagna following Hank Shaw's recipe from Honest-food.net (it was awesome and nothing was left).

it blew out over the first night but i was able to save it with a blow off tube



here it is with the blow off



i moved it to the secondary fermenter which clarifies and lessens the chances for picking up unwanted flavors from the settled out particulates




were hopefully going to get another kit for a summer beer and have another brew fest
 
I have a stupid question, why is it legal to brew beer but not moonshine? Or is it legal to make moonshine so long as it's for your own consumption? I always wondered this...
 
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I have a stupid question, why is it legal to brew beer but not moonshine? Or is it legal to make moonshine so long as it's for your own consumption? I always wondered this...
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A total uneducated guess....taxes?
 
I totally agree!!!! You can make beer or wine, but not whiskey. The reason is based o.taxes... but the logic s flawed. If you are making for your own consumption, the would be no revenue loss. There are sit not enough people that are willing to make their own...
 
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I have a stupid question, why is it legal to brew beer but not moonshine? Or is it legal to make moonshine so long as it's for your own consumption? I always wondered this...
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Scott

I am sure at some point collection of taxes comes in to play however I believe safety is/was the most important reason. Many people died from poorly produced batches of moonshine. Usually the batches were contaminated by the components used to make the stills. Some batches contained poisonous amounts of lead or glycol causing blindness or even death. Poor control over the distilling process also resulted in many stills blowing up and injuring or killing those attending the still.

Even today, the process to distill moonshine is more involved and leaves less room for error than the process to brew beer. This is my understanding anyhow, from research my wife has done while writing one of her books concerning Prohibition in Iowa.
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In reply to:
Scott

I am sure at some point collection of taxes comes in to play however I believe safety is/was the most important reason. Many people died from poorly produced batches of moonshine. Usually the batches were contaminated by the components used to make the stills. Some batches contained poisonous amounts of lead or glycol causing blindness or even death. Poor control over the distilling process also resulted in many stills blowing up and injuring or killing those attending the still.

Even today, the process to distill moonshine is more involved and leaves less room for error than the process to brew beer. This is my understanding anyhow, from research my wife has done while writing one of her books concerning Prohibition in Iowa.
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I never thought of this aspect. Whenever something's illegal, I always jump right to the conclusion of money. Thanks for the explanation!
 
DAMN LIBERALS trying to protect all of us from ourselves. If safety was the main concern, wouldn't the entire process be safer if people were not having to hide their still???? Canning, if done wrong could kill as we.
 
It is all based on laws that think we the people are idiots. With today's thermometers there is little concern about safety as long as simple instructions can be followed.
The risk of fire might be greater then any health risks.

There are a lot of people distilling now and there has been efforts to allow small home stills. Almost every small local distiller you have ever heard of started doing it illegally. If its not sold and you don't kill anyone the atf has little reason to search you out.

I don't have much intrest in wine and beer brewing but brandy and rum distilling could be fun.

Tim
 
I still recall in 1962 when our neighbor decided to Brew his own beer, then bottle it. I can still see the image of his garage after every bottle exploded. Glass and one helluva sticky mess everywhere including his car. His wife made us kids leave before she "Discussed" the situation with him. They sold the house a few years later.

I've made my own Brandy for years for my personal consumption. My grandfather made very good barrels of wine, and three of my uncles owned beer businesses in Pa, and at one time or another I worked for all three. I've had very good and very bad experiences with Beer... I dropped a half keg off a truck once, and missed the bumper. The weld split at the bung. Beer shot straight up to the roof inside my uncles Drive Thru. Talk about upset! I mopped and scrubbed the rest of the week. Lesson learned.

When I worked for the PA Liquor Control Board (and retired from) I became a student (some of it mandated) of what we sold, wine & spirits. Learned the laws pertaining to all, and how each product is made and it's origins. Lets just say I have tasted a lot Beer, Wine & Spirits, and learned more than enough about all.

Someday I'd like to write a book about all of it, but then I'd have no time to hunt, fish, carve decoys and do art. After 5pm I still enjoy of good drink at home, or in camp. No driving EVER.
 
Since the whiskey rebellion distilled spirits has always been about revenue. Because of the influence of the Italian immigrants wine making has been legal form decades but beer brewing has only been legal in most states since 1978 with Alabama being the last state to allow home brew in 2013. Home distilling has really caught on. When I was down in North Carolina last year I was amazed at all the folks with little home stills. A LEO friend of mine indicates the BATF has bigger issues on hand than a homeowner with a little pot still so they are pretty much ignoring the home artisan distillers. Just don't get caught selling it.
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While we're at lets remember March 16th marks the passing of Americas most notable moonshiner. Popcorn Sutton. Only guy I ever read about that had a 'petrified raccoon pecker' stuck in his hat band.
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I ALWAYS run a blowoff tube. Its way easier not to have a mess to clean up then risk the chance. You picked a good kit to use for your first one, Caribou Slobber is a exccellent place to start. One thing I cant stress enough, take your time. Make sure yoyr beer is finished fermenting and do your best to not transfer any trub from the bottom of your fermentor to your bottling bucket. Enjoy the Caribou.
 
I've often wondered if Popcorn Sutton was Steve's crazy uncle...or Steve his crazy nephew. They seem to have the same proclivity to pick up feathers.

Tim
 
Marvin is/was related....distantly....the vicious rumors that he committed suicide are just that and sadly were started by my Aunt Elma. She was a devout Christian Woman and preferred that the World believe that her brother Marvin had taken his own life rather than the truth be known that he had drowned in a large vat of shine that he was cooking.....His brother Spurgeon, who we called Uncle Spurt, said that those in attendance tried to save him but he was successful in fighting them off.......


He was creamated .....Uncle Spurt said he burned for a week........



And if that isn't true it should be....


Steve
 
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