Whiskey Bootlegging and Ethanol Farming

Moonshine is a high proof alcohol, also known as ethyl alcohol, ethanol, or pure grain alcohol; simply, it is derived from the process of converting sugars to alcohol. Traditionally, corn is used to create liquor through a process of mashing, fermentation, and distillation. As an entrepreneurial activity however, Moonshining can be considered broadly as the process of converting the value of farmable resources from a low value commodity to higher value manufactured product.

A real market has always existed for liquor, and purity of the product is desirable. The stereotypical hillbilly jug with three X’s refers to the number of times the alcohol has passed through a still, meaning higher proof. This ‘makers mark,’ therefore, is a literal sign of quality. This investigation looks at the practicality (and legality) of producing either food grade alcohol, or clean burning ethyl alcohol fuel on small scales as it is traditionally practiced in areas where resources are scarce.  However, being re-contextualized in the urban context, the needs of these new distillers will outline design parameters for objects that will aid in making this processes practical. Both the efficiency and practicality of creating moonshine versus alternative fuel will be examined through concepts of sustainability and upsizing.

Many of the Appalachian moonshiners practice under a rich history, often citing a responsibility to carry on the art of whiskey making while scoffing at government regulations. From this disregard for authority, an interesting design challenge is presented. Short of changing legislature, how can such nefarious resourcefulness benefit the cottage industry or hobbyist, and can it work within legal parameters? The evolution of deceptive alcohol making apparatuses, from ways of hiding a still, camouflaging the moonshine containers, to covertly distributing illegal goods is the foundation of design research for this endeavor.

Moonshine can be found in the Appalachian regions of the Southeastern United States not only due to its historical precedence there, but also because these areas are notoriously impoverished, hard to farm, and have little industry. Producing drinkable alcohol is one method of creating an income from a low value crop such as corn. Although corn is hearty, it still must be planted, maintained and harvested. This process requires labor, fuel, and other resources. Similarly, ethanol fuel is a subsidized industry, because corn crops are not a renewable resource, cause soil erosion, require pesticides, as well as fossil fuels for harvesting (Hoar). These costs lower the practicality of corn for use in fuel production, commanding a premium reserved for the sale of liquors. Furthermore, whiskey and bourbon both require further aging; decreasing immediate efficiency of the process while increasing the value of the product. Other renewable resources can be used for more practical fuel production, and will be discussed later. Whether producing for alternative fuels or libation, the intention of the user must be clear- or else a versatile alcohol still must be produced to accommodate both purposes.

The American prohibition era marks a creative time in entrepreneurial efforts-most of which disregarded issues of legality. The Government’s restriction against alcohol only ensued further law breaking and created a bootlegging enterprise concerned not only with production, but also transportation and distribution among other things. Questionable and creative practices during this time led to the higher quality standards of commercial produced liquor today.  Watered down mashes, for example, that are stretched with grain sugars, produce a lower quality alcohol for consumption. However, this is a great example of the kinds of efforts made to shorten fermentation periods and overall production of moonshine, the kind of experimentation necessary in finding efficiency in a fuel-oriented system.

In the spirit of prohibition experimentation, it is sensible to seek out cheaper sugar producing resources. Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) is an invasive species of plant introduced to the United States to prevent roadside soil erosion; it happens to be highly aggressive and thrives in the warm southern climates of the nation. This plant can grow as fast as six inches a day, and because it is rhizomatous it is very hard to eradicate. The resources necessary to remove the acres of growing kudzu would be too many, unless considered as a harvestable crop. Like all sugar-producing plants, any value to be found in kudzu lies in its ability to be harvested as alcohol. Doug Mizell, a tinkerer turned entrepreneur is the co-owner of Agro*Gas Industries in Tennessee.  His company is already capitalizing on the practicality of kudzu as a fuel source. Early experiments with a crude still were producing as much as half a gallon of ethanol from five gallons of kudzu mash. Comparatively, to distill 1 gallon of fine quality alcohol requires 7.5 gallons of corn mash.

The use of kudzu for fuel calls to mind the work of professor George Chan, an ecologist promoting integrated farming practices worldwide. Africa suffers from a similar invasive species, the water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), imported for its decorative appeal. Like kudzu, it reproduces aggressively. The National Parks of Zimbabwe and Zambia have experimented with paying minimal wages to remove the plant from water sources with little success: the costs being prohibitive. Chan’s job, however, is to approach the water hyacinth as an invaluable resource: fertilizer for edible mushrooms which command an estimate US$ 9 billion dollars in the world market as well as 3.6 billion for medicinal use. (Pauli 152-169)

Chan’s work is mentioned in what Gunter Pauli refers to as Upsizing, a practice that eliminates pollution and waste. In the interest of making still-distillation a model for food or fuel alcohol production, not only must scale be considered, but also the sustainability each step in alcohol production. Creating a closed-system in each step: which the waste streams of the entire process are either limited negligible or harvested is crucial. The kudzu example is promising, as it takes a rapidly renewable resource and converts it to a cash crop- an energy positive process.

The four main stages in alcohol production, concisely, are: mashing, fermenting, distillation, and transportation/consumption. None of these four phases are without waste, each presenting an opportunity for designing sustainable practices. The target goal of each might be a zero emissions process where waste is recovered or further processed. However, the parameters of creating a small scale alcohol production system requires, for this investigation, to concentrate primarily on the later two stages: distillation and transportation/consumption.

The methods of alcohol production have existed for many centuries, are relatively simple, and produce consistent results when quality of materials and consideration is used in each step of its production. There are two basic types of distillation used to convert fermented sugars to alcohol. The first of these is a process known as simple distillation from pot stills. These crude stills are the precipice that has caused folklore to warn against moonshine, claiming it will cause one to go blind. Simple distillation does not extract the methanol and other poisonous impurities; therefore, alcohol produced from a still of this construction should strictly be used as fuel and not consumed by humans.

Fractional distillation is a method of extracting these impurities through a controlled separation according to boiling point. Depending on the construction of a fractional still, the resulting alcohol can be used as both clean burning fuel and consumable alcohol for the production of moonshine, bourbon, or whiskey. Copper, glass, and stainless steel are appropriate materials for still construction; copper being the most common due to its excellent heat distribution and non-reactive nature to corn mash. Lead free solder must be used in the construction of a copper still, less rendering anything produced as unsafe.

The production of alcohol is best done on a large scale; however, the scale of production is often limited by Government sanctions. Regardless of legality however, there are those that have persisted in what is a viable alternative source of fuel. Currently, the legality of producing ethyl alcohol today varies depending on the scale, location, and intention of those producing it. It is interesting to note that Alcohol laws fall under the jurisdiction of the department of Treasury. The agents of this department are helpful, and encourage experimentation with alcohol production especially as fuel.

A variety of ingredients can be used in its production since most any sugar can be converted to alcohol. As mentioned above, the methods employed in constructing a still will first determine its limits, followed secondly by the ingredients chosen for each run. A fractional still, therefore, is preferable since it allows a more versatile and accurate alcohol production. High proof (purer) ethyl alcohols are most appropriate for human consumption, and are created through fractional distillation. Corn is traditionally used for fine whiskeys or bourbons, and considered as a cash crop when harvested for alcohol.  It becomes a resource more valuable than its relatively inexpensive ingredients: water, corn, and malt, respectively.

The first step to creating a more efficient system is to identify the by-products of the first two stages. Distillation, as it has been discussed, produces alcohol from fermented mash, creating spent grains stripped of alcohol. The Goose Island brewery in Chicago, for example, sells spent mash to farmers at a low cost as a high protein livestock feed. This continuous feedback loop provides farmers with cheap feed/fertilizer, and alleviates breweries of possible disposal costs. In another example of professor Chan’s integrated farming in Fiji, he converts seemingly worthless brewery mash to produce high value resource. Montfort Boys’ Town in Fiji, an impoverished fishing community, now has in place a system of using brewer’s spent mash to grow mushrooms, in turn the mushrooms’ enzymes break down the spent grain making them more digestible for animals.  The mushrooms can then be sold or eaten, and the grain goes on to enter a continuous cycle of agriculture on the island.

In areas where commercial beer brewing exists, mostly urban, it is in the interest of the small-scale alcohol producer to contact breweries regarding the purchase mash before it is spent, thereby eliminating the work and time involved in producing malted grains. Unless one is using a continuous distillation process (a compromises between pot still distillation and fractional distillation) the mashing process will require space to store fermenting malted grains. This practice may or may not be significantly cheaper, but the value of one’s time and (presumably small) living spaces is increased.

Why produce alcohol at all?  The intentions of producing alcohol on a small scale play an important role once the alcohol is produced. Regardless of whether the intended use is for food or fuel, the distributing, transporting, and consuming alcohol is considered one stage because all its aspects are aligned through intention. The legal parameters, capital incentives, and benefits considered are determined by personal motives. Is this strictly for personal use, or can some profit come of these efforts? If profits are desirable, then cohesively aligning these three aspects is necessary.  In the case of the kudzu-derived ethanol, greater liberties can be taken in its production, but branding is just as important. Alternative fuels are increasingly gaining acceptance and value. The most practical of alternative fuels will be ones that consider Pauli’s closed system- a process that markets itself as not only Earth friendly, but as being unsubsidized.

Regardless of intention, what users need are a versatile set of apparatuses for creating ethyl alcohol for either food or fuel grade qualities. A still must be able to produce human consumable-grade alcohol while alternatively capable of using viable plant sugars (like those from the Kudzu plant) to produce fuel. The means to distribute and store alcohol must be appropriate as well. If for illegal means, it would do well to disguise the product. Plastic containers, like spare fuel tanks, are not suitable for drinking moonshine as they can leach toxic chemicals. The clay jug labeled “XXX” is the archetypical vessel for moonshine; Mason and Ball canning jars are more common today. However, these are not deceptive in the least, given they are made of clear glass and readily associated with moonshine when not filled with preserves. Contemporary moonshiners will require more creative means of muddling the visual language of moonshine jars. A story from The Foxfire Book clearly illustrates such creative enterprises:

Once a man was caught selling whiskey. He has painted some of the jars to look as though they contained buttermilk, but then he ran out of paint and had to use clear jars for the rest of his supply. When the revenuers caught him, they confiscated the clear jars, but so convincingly were the others painted that they did not even bother to open them. They simply left them behind, and the salesman was able to clear a profit, despite the loss of his wares. (Foxfire 329).

Perhaps a change in materiality of banal vessels is one way of maintaining versatility. A fuel tank cast in glass or a porcelain buttermilk jars are enough to illustrate (or hide) the intent of the producer without limiting the potential of the ethyl alcohol it contains.  More often moonshiners will use what is at hand, like a standard gallon milk jug. When a reproduction of the milk jug is cast in porcelain, the appearance is soft and white, the change in materiality has not altered its appearance greatly. Upon closer examination, the fine material betrays the object as something other than what it appears. Porcelain was also chosen as it does not impart any undesirable flavors to drinkable ethyl alcohol.

Similarly, the moonshine still adheres loyally to traditional construction methods found in texts such as the Foxfire book. A copper kettle is employed to distill a variety of mashes, as it this metal does not impart undesirable flavors either. Its outward appearance, however, does not read as “Moonshine still.” The kettle is housed within a CharBroil™ BigEasy® turkey fryer. Not only does the CharBroil™ fryer serve as a deceptive surface application, but also its propane element is a ready-designed even-heat distributor and it allows for a portable operation.

Both the moonshine still and the porcelain jugs are the beginning of a design investigation addressing issues of sustainability, appealing to agrarian trends, and deceptive design. The ambiguity of the ethyl alcohol is not informed further by the objects, and is undefined in its legality. The user is aided in merely producing, distributing, or storing the liquid. Ultimately the end products, although useable, are only important because it provides agency to the user.