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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 414
Moonshine can be defined as unlawful, untaxed liquor, but it can also be described as a clear liquor made from cornmeal, sugar and water that has fermented. The fermented mixture is then run through a still. Sixty gallons of water, fifty pounds of sugar, and a half bushel of cornmeal produced four to five gallons of liquor.
Lester started out working with a true quality moonshine maker so he learned how to make it right. Lester got five gallons of whiskey a week for helping the moonshiner cut wood and keep the condenser cool. After working a month, Lester decided that he knew enough to go work for himself. The first time he tried to make whiskey, he got two gallons (five normal) of whiskey. Lester kept on trying and his operation became bigger and better.
After a while the law caught him. Mr. Love was caught twice by the county trying to sell whiskey and once by the federal government starting to mash. That was the last time Mr. Love made moonshine.
To make moonshine, you have to have the equipment.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
1. You will need a 60 gallon lard drum, but it would be better to have one made out of copper. This will be your boiler and vat. You can use old whiskey barrels as vats and use the lard drum as the boiler all the time so you can run your still full time.
2. Three whiskey barrels are required for a capbear, thump keg and condenser barrel.
3. Also needed are three pieces of copper pipe; two about 2” and the other about ^” in diameter.
4. To end the equipment list, you need some steel pipes and two sheets of tin.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR STILL
1. First dig a pit about 2 feet wide, 1 foot deep, and 5 feet longer than your tin.
2. Place the steel pipes over the pit, under the tin.
3. Cover the tin with dirt and place the large drum at one end in the ground over the pit.
4. Put dirt around the drum but leave an air vent behind the lard drum and tin for the heat and smoke to draw through.
5. Cover with the cap bear, which is a whiskey barrel with the bottom knocked out.
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