How to Make Moonshine

It takes time and practice before you can whip up a good batch of moonshine that will be safe enough to drink, but making your own alcohol is one of the most enjoyable ways of breaking the law so here's how you do it.

Step 1, Mash
Buy 5lbs of cornmeal and make a mash by adding 20 gallons of boiling water and 20lbs of sugar.  When the mash has cooled to "warm" add 1.5oz of yeast.  Put this in a warm place for about 3 days to ferment (or until the mash stops bubbling).  After this, the mash will be converted to carbonic acid and alcohol, called "sour mash".

Step 2, Distillation
Distill your mash by heating to 173 degrees F. in a copper moonshine still.  At this temp. the alcohol(ethanol) rises to the top of the still and travels to the cooling part where it condenses and can be collected.  It will be a transparent liquid the colour of dark beer.

Step 3, Singlings
The first liquid to condense will contain volatile oils and should be discarded but after that the liquid can be collected in glass jars called "singlings".  The liquid from the end of the run is referred to as "low wine" and is onle about 10% alcohol so you should add this back to the mash and distill again.  Stop distilling when a tablespoon of low wine thrown on a naked flame won't burn.

Step 4, Distill Again, and Again
Empty the mash.  The ethanol collected in the first singlings will have the highest prof, and the proof level drops progressively after that.  All of your singlings will need to be distilled one or two more times to get rid of any impurities.  After three distillations, some of your singlings should contain ethanol up to 150 proof.  That's 75% alcohol.

Enjoy.  Here's a picture of one type of still to help you get started.