Moonshiners on Discovery Channel

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Pumbaa said:
It tastes "different" about like everclear tastes different. Maybe some people can tell but I just pray my breath comes back.
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You couldn't be more wrong. I'm a big shine head (obviously I never make it) and you can absolutely tell a difference.
 
Pumbaa said:
It tastes "different" about like everclear tastes different. Maybe some people can tell but I just pray my breath comes back.
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nukinfuts29 said:
You couldn't be more wrong. I'm a big shine head (obviously I never make it) and you can absolutely tell a difference.
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I'm absolutely wrong about what I taste? I said earlier my whole sense of taste is screwed after smoking 2packs a day for 20+ years. I also qualified my statement with "Maybe some people can tell" . . .

You really need to read what is typed and not what you want to see
 
Pumbaa said:
It tastes "different" about like everclear tastes different. Maybe some people can tell but I just pray my breath comes back.
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LOL shine tastes drastically different

it is exactly like beer slightly different every time

anyone can make whisky but it takes talent to make good shine
 
Pumbaa said:
I'm absolutely wrong about what I taste? I said earlier my whole sense of taste is screwed after smoking 2packs a day for 20+ years. I also qualified my statement with "Maybe some people can tell" . . .

You really need to read what is typed and not what you want to see
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BigfootCounty said:
LOL shine tastes drastically different

it is exactly like beer slightly different every time

anyone can make whisky but it takes talent to make good shine
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FFS reading is fundamental . . .

I'm out of this thread
 
No I saw that I just get a kick out of people making broad generalizations about stuff they clearly don't know about.

not trying to be a dick but if you are going to Infer something about people giving accurate information just to try and save face
Make sure you have a leg to stand on first.

no hard feelings though

*cheers
 
shine covers a huge spectrum of flavors from all corn to all malt

but the same man on the same rig with the same recipe will always be slightly different much like brewing beer.

we are dealing with fermentation after all

clear that up?
 
GodsStepBrother said:
Since Popcorn Sutton’s documentary “The Last One,” there has been a huge interest in moonshine. The documentary is gaining a big following. This is TV just trying to bank off of these people, I am sure they have licenses to produce liquor.

This is part four of the documentary, very interesting guy. He was caught after this documentary and then killed himself before serving his prison sentence.
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAAehMnLaEU&feature=related
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tv187u said:
The guy that discovery is following is "Popcorn"'s grandson or son. So I would assume that he is doing this under the same guidelines popcorn had to follow.
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Is this true that the guy on moonshine is popcorn's son and that popcorn killed himself after being busted?

That last run doc of popcorn's was pretty interesting.
 
I dunno if it's his kid, but he is believed to have taken his life to avoid going to jail. It may even be a known fact these days, but as of my last reading it was a theory.
 
Sorry, I just re-watched the first ep. To be sure. Towards the beginning the guy says something along the lines of "old man sutton" and I miss heard it. I thought he says "my old man sutton". I'll edit the old post when I can get to a computer.
 
And Sutton killed himself with carbon monoxide a few days before he was supposed to report to jail. He had cancer and didn't believe he would last the 18 month sentence. He pled for the judge to let him do house arrest, but didn't get any leniency.
 
CO poisoning is like falling asleep. I deal with it (CO suicides) a lot in my line of work being firefighter/paramedic and have had CO poisoning a couple times myself. TBH it's not bad unless you survive, then ya feel like **** for a week :p
 
brewingmeister said:
Is this true that the guy on moonshine is popcorn's son and that popcorn killed himself after being busted?

That last run doc of popcorn's was pretty interesting.
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Read this article Moonshiner

Apparently the guy was caught with over 800 gallons of moon shine, and 3 one thousand gallon stills. I thought this was going to be his last damn "likker run".
 
Jacob_Marley said:
I have no use for <del>Jerry Springer</del> , er, reality TV shows ... to put it politely.
I recall during the writers strike a few years back, people saying that networks were going to be relying on the reality type shows during the strike and probably thereafter. At the time I did not think that would happen as the TV shows affected were well liked and had devoted audiences ... something that advertisers like.

Well ... I've plainly "bumped up against the cold hard facts that set me straight".

The reality shows are cheap to produce, don't require writers with more than a 6th grade education, and apparently appeal to enough viewers who are willing to be fed swill that they have been quite successful. Fine with me tho, I just spend less time in front of the tube for it.
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I think more than that, as we retreat into ourselves and our interest and become more impersonal as a culture, people will continue to reach for things that mock community aspects. Drama is a product of communities. Truth often being scarier( and you know, real) than fiction I think the progress into mockumentary formats will be more prevalent. Ironic.
 
TxBrew said:
I think more than that, as we retreat into ourselves and our interest and become more impersonal as a culture, people will continue to reach for things that mock community aspects. Drama is a product of communities. Truth often being scarier( and you know, real) than fiction I think the progress into mockumentary formats will be more prevalent. Ironic.
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Well said. Your posts are always the type of refined the rest of us strive to portray

Sent from my Galaxy S 4G using Home Brew Talk for Android
 
The last one documentary became monumentally depressing after I found out he killed himself

It puts all of his sad "last damn run" stuff in a new light
 
I was watching the show to see if they added yeast. Until the yeast is added, it's not making alcohol. Maybe they didn't add it at all, maybe they did. I just know that you can't prove it by the video. I'm just enjoying the series, pretending that they aren't distilling a barrel full of nothing but river water..
 
Around the time he said he couldn't give he exact recipe there was a box yeast on the tank. This was in the second episode...he didn't say what kind of yeast either.

Back to popcorn, search.. johnny knoxville interviews popcorn sutton.. for a brief look into the life of an interesting man.
 
8:10 in that video posted to 8:40 was awesome to see old man rivers busting a jig out in the woods like that.

-=Jason=-
 
Watched 2 eps of this last night for the first time. If you notice, when they show the videos of Popcorn and his crew 'shinin, the video quality is much, much worse than when they follow Tim and Tickle. Is the video of Popcorn from the old documentary? Or I wonder if it's old video Discovery found or got their hands on?

Also, I cracked up when they talked about this revenue being tax free. I can assure you Uncle Sam expects to get his piece, no matter whether the activity is legal or illegal. Ask Al Capone. So they show this guy, Tim, selling 'shine and paying no taxes, then reveal he's in a voluntary fire dept? Anyone from the IRS paying attention?

Also, when they show where Tim and his still are, they frickin pinpoint it on a map. Of course, if this is recorded months ago he's moved to a different location by now so he'd be a step ahead of the Feds.

Something's very much "staged" with this show.
 
MJDore said:
Also, I cracked up when they talked about this revenue being tax free. I can assure you Uncle Sam expects to get his piece, no matter whether the activity is legal or illegal. Ask Al Capone. So they show this guy, Tim, selling 'shine and paying no taxes, then reveal he's in a voluntary fire dept? Anyone from the IRS paying attention?
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That bugged me too. It's "tax free" the way any illegal or under-the-table stuff is "tax free." Congress says it's income, and income "from whatever source derived" is taxable. They just don't pay it. Im splitting hairs for sure, but it ain't "tax free."
 
I was curious about this show after warching the first 2 episodes. I came across an interview that bourbon blog did with Tim smith, the main character of the show. From the sounds of it the show is going to turn into a story about how this illegal shiner goes legit. Tim goes on to say that the laws in Virginia require physical witness and hard evidence for prosecution. The show isn't enough to prosecute him apparnetly. He also alludes to the show being filmed awhile ago and that he no longer makes shine. Seems like the motivation for him doing the show it to get his name out there so that when he. Starts selling his legal shine he will have good public awareness. I thought it was an interesting interview.

www.bourbonblog.com/blog/2011/12/10/tim-smith-moonshiners-discovery-channel-interview/
 
MJDore said:
Watched 2 eps of this last night for the first time. If you notice, when they show the videos of Popcorn and his crew, the video quality is much, much worse than when they follow Tim and Tickle. Is the video of Popcorn from the old documentary? Or I wonder if it's old video Discovery found or got their hands on?
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That is from a documentary/movie called "The Last One (2008)" It's fairly widely available on DVD and has a good deal of history mixed in with some cultural music. The video quality is good on the DVD

Not to be confused with the other "The Last One (2009)" Listed on the IMDB site which seems to be an independent film and by the rules of Southpark must have at least one scene of Cowboy-preferring Cowboys eating pudding.
 
I cannot stand how they over dramatize situations in these types of shows.

I have seen all of the episodes a couple times each (I spend way too much time sitting around hotel rooms) and have yet to see them actually ferment anything. Yes the yeast pack was there but at no time during the show did he pitch it. During one of the later episodes Tickle falls off a platform and breaks three ribs. Considering how drunk he was at the time it was really funny.
 
I gave up on this after two episodes. I really wanted it to be good, but I think my idea of good TV must not coincide with the average viewing public.

Way too much Blair Witch style crap and over-dramatic scenes where they are paranoid about being caught doing stuff that wouldn't actually land them into trouble. Like, being caught with a few sacks of grain. Uh, so what?
 
This explains why he kept holding the hydrometer and switched to that mason jar in episode 3. Either it was just water and they are faking gravity readings or he brought some actual shine in to show that part of the process since all they did was distill water.
 
motleybrews said:
Y'all got me wantin some shine so I went down the road. legal shine. 46.5% (93 proof), 750ml
8faa6e9d.jpg

1515a126.jpg
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Trust me, this stuff that you can get legally is just trash. This is not made from the recipie that Popcorm used. I have a jar of Popcorn's actual stuff that he made and it is no where near this stuff. This stuff could be used for degreaser. A friend of mine new Popcorn and has about 2 gal's of his stuff that he made and let me have some. If the stuff is hot then is was made too fast and at a higher temp than it should have been run at. Good moonshine is smooth and should be around 100 proof. If you get some stuff from someone and it is hot and burns it could have methanol in it or it may have been run at too fast at a high temp. The first parts that come off when distilling are called heads and should be thrown out. This is where the methanol is and if it has a strong taste then it could have a lot of tails in with it. A good batch of shine can be as good as any good whiskey that you could buy in the stores. If you watch the DVD of Popcorn called the last run ........ watch near the end when the guy is mixing it up in the pot. They are calling it "tempering" or they are just cutting it down with water to reduce the proof. The old timers could tell you what the proof was by shaking the jar and watching the bubbles. There size and how fast that they go away.
 
So I just watched the finale last night. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did they just boil bananas to make their brandy? Seems to me they missed a critical step...
 
waddsworth said:
So I just watched the finale last night. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did they just boil bananas to make their brandy? Seems to me they missed a critical step...
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Nope, they just didn't show him add any yeast (or wait for fermentation) on the show. Found a 20 min long interview with Tim online, pretty interesting. If you wanted the condensed article version you can go here. Basically explains how they got around showing him makin shine so he wouldn't get arrested.
 
why wouldn't they show him fermenting? distilling is illegal, not fermenting?
 

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