The Kings County Distillery Guide to Urban Moonshining How to Make and Drink Whiskey By David Haskel

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naturally growing fruit or cultivated trees or vines, which would have taken years, and most people didn’t yet make a distinction between spirits made from fruit vs. spirits made from grain.

When the British took over New Amsterdam in 1664, business leaders developed several distilleries where rum was made from sugarcane and molasses that arrived on ships from the Caribbean.

While the French and Spanish colonies focused on exploration and finding fur or gold, the British wanted to set up industry, and they did this through establishing the rum trade. Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, distilleries producing rum began to service not only the major cities in the northeastern colonies but also the “triangular trade” that brought rum to Africa, slaves to the Caribbean, and sugarcane to the North, where it was distilled and consumed in the burgeoning cities and became a commodity for cross-Atlantic trade. It represented a now infamous cycle of profit that exploited vice and human bondage as a way to extract riches from the new world.

A map of Brooklyn dated 1766 shows a distillery on the banks of Buttermilk Channel just north of Governors Island as part of the Livingston farm located near where Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights is today, just north of Atlantic Avenue. A key to the map says the “very extensive” distillery was destroyed by a fire around the time of the Revolutionary War. An alternate account suggests this spot was a brewery until it became a gin distillery owned by Hezekiah Pierrepont, a major landowner on the waterfront, until 1819. Pierrepont’s great grandfather founded Yale and his second cousin twice removed John Pierpont Morgan—perhaps better known by the initials, J.P.—would become an industrialist and banker synonymous with the progressive era in New York’s history.

As New York and its near neighbor Brooklyn grew from small towns to cities in the 1800s, distillation would expand to service the growing population until the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919 effectively ended the industry. New York was home to roughly 1200

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C a p t i o n T e x t T K Uci cusae none consend igentor iaecepudaepe as el mos nonetum et et faccum et dolliquam el ius et, eum sitat digenti onsequodi cor autat officid

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distilleries in 1920, before prohibition went into effect, all of which were shut down by 1921, helping establish it as the 7th largest producer in the Union. After prohibition, distilling restarted in Kentucky, where it had strong infrastructure, but distillers in once-bustling distilling havens like Maryland and New York had already moved on to other businesses.

W hiske y Re be l s To understand the history of distilling and its resurgence, one has to step back and look at the country as a whole. Before our country was actually a country, the picture of the yeoman moonshiner was probably an accurate one: a man standing in front of a copper pot over a fire, situated near a small cornfield he’d cleared himself with the help of an ox and a plow, on a farm situated a long day’s journey to a store. In port cities, large distilleries processed sugarcane into rum. As the American relationship to the homeland soured, colonists turned to whiskey as the more fashionable drink, made locally and without dependence on British shipping. After the Revolutionary War was won, Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, was tasked with finding out how the young government was going to pay for the limited and basic Federal services that the new Constitution was going to prescribe, though, perhaps not a “tax,” seeing as how that particular word became a non-starter after all that dumping of tea in the harbor. Hamilton felt that pinning an excise on spirits (mostly whiskey) might be the easiest way to deal with financing the young government, as drinking too much could be considered a moral issue: a sin, if you will.

However, sinfulness is a complex aspect of the human condition to parse. The small farmers in the wild western frontier of the

region around Pittsburgh who made whiskey and who were taxed on its sale felt disproportionately burdened by their government. After all, these

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C hap t e r 4

“Well , be tw e e n Scot ch

How to Ma ke Mo onshin e

a n d n oth i n ’, I su p p o s e I’d tak e S c otc h. I t ’ s th e n e a re s t th i n g to g o o d m o o n s h in e I c a n fi n d.”

— Wil l iam Faulkner

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So. You want to break the law, I suppose, or you would be skipping ahead beyond this part. This is fine, it’s a good starting place, if perhaps, a bit romanticized and bound to disappoint, but motivational somehow. And while the crime is real and the punishment legitimate, it’s an abstraction that rarely comes to bear on the home distiller. And this wide gulf between the fact of the law and the enforcement of the law is where you can build your career as a moonshiner.

What other reason would there really be? Few begin this endeavor to trim their monthly whiskey bill by bypassing the excise tax (you will not save money). Few are dissatisfied with commercial whiskey to the point they insist on an alternative, though you can quite easily make remarkably good whiskey. Fewer still live in dry counties where there is no commercially available alcohol.

You are, perhaps, a tinkerer: a person mechanically inclined to the point that you feel you could make a still, which to your mind suggests that you ought to make a still, and then using that still to test your skill at the making of the thing seems a logical extension of the very act of making it.

You are perhaps a homebrewer grown tired of that narrow art, and you wish to take your avocation to a new level, which will strike a definitive blow to your competitors in your local homebrew round robin. Maybe you are good in the kitchen and you are curious 23

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Buying Stuff

Equipment

Whiskey requires few ingredients, but you need the three basic ingredients, which are grain and/or malted grain, yeast, and water. Then there is the equipment. A mash pot, a fermenting bucket, a very reliable thermometer, a wide-mesh laundry bag, a distillers hydrometer (not to be confused with a brewers hydrometer), a dozen mason jars, two glass gallon jugs, and of course, a still.

I’m assuming the mason jars and lobster pot are pretty straightforward, but I’ll address three pieces of equipment that are absolutely necessary to the distiller that require some clarification. Veligent invelibusda saniat.

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Corn

Many home distillers will recommend using “flaked maize” as a base grain. This is corn that has been steamed and flatted in a process similar the one used in making oatmeal. This is commonly used by home brewers who are looking to include corn, and thus is sold at homebrew shops.

Thermometer

Barley or Malt

It’s very important to have a dependable thermometer and I like to have a couple of different types around as even lab-grade thermometers tend to be unreliable or break in a key moment. I suggest a digital readout meat thermometer and a glass brewers thermometer as a backup. Finding a reliable thermometer is hard, and when you meet a good one, try not to break her.

The barley that we use has been malted, which means the seeds have been allowed to germinate slightly, and then the seeds are dried in a kiln before they actually begin sprouting. The word malt generally refers to malted barley, though any grain can be malted, which causes some confusion. The barley malt has a different enzyme profile than a dormant grain

Hydrometer

Wheat, Rye , and Ot her Grains

The two other grains that are commonly used in whiskey production are wheat and rye, both of which can be malted for a slightly different effect. Wheat is a familiar flavor, but softens in whiskey as it doesn’t quite have the brightness of barley malt. Rye whiskeys are sometimes described as “spicy” though I personally think raw rye spirit tastes grassy or like hay.

A distillers hydrometer, or an “alcoholometer,” is necessary. A hydrometer is a weighted glass bobber that floats higher or lower in a liquid depending on its density.

A distiller’s hydrometer is calibrated to read percent alcohol by volume (or proof) in a mixture of pure water and ethanol. Hydrometers are calibrated to work at a particular temperature (60 degrees, generally) and their readings must be adjusted based on the apparent proof and temperature of a sample.

Still

When buying your still, look for a still that advertises itself as a pot still or an alembic. Most come with thermometer, gaskets, hoses, and most of the connections you will need. It may or may not come with a heat source. If you are getting a heat source, be advised that most plug-in hotplates that run on 110 current have trouble boiling 6 gallons of mash, so you might need to look for something more industrial at a restaurant supply store.

c o nd e ns e r

For the condenser, you will need a source of cold water.

Many distillers can hook their stills up to the sink and merely run tap water through the condenser. This is very wasteful (and potentially costly if you pay for your water) and you can get good results with a reservoir made from a plastic cooler, bucket, or your bathtub and an aquarium pump. If the temperature gets above 90 degrees, you’ll have to empty and refresh your reservoir, but you will ultimately use a tiny fraction of the water you would use with the sink wide open.

Y e as t

Ot her I n gredi en ts 24

You should buy dedicated whiskey yeast from a homebrew supply store or online distiller’s supply. There are many different types of yeast available, and in my experience, only whiskey yeast designed to work with the types of fermentable sugars in the common whiskey grains is best. In many cases, the yeast will come packaged with amyloglucosidase (AG), an enzyme that aids the malt enzymes in breaking down the starch in the corn.

There are a number of additives that may be useful in mashing. Gypsum powders, PH adjusters, powdered enzymes, and yeast nutrients are all offered at homebrew shops. I don’t think these are particularly useful, but they may boost your yield.

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M o o n s h i ne M a r s hmell ow s Makes sixteen 2-inch squares

Headnote text TK Ehenienem quo ide porrum eliaeratem escipiet erum eiumendam laute licia nus adion cuscipsum lab ipiendant et parum asi dolorerum eatem aliqui aruptatur? Mus nisti omnist molorem delis el ipid utem quiamust et pro maios sum fuga. Ur acesti torpore 3 3/4 teaspoons powdered gelatin.

Or 5 sheets of gelatin 1/3 cup (2.9 oz / 80 g) water 3 tablespoons moonshine 1/4 cup (1.1 oz / 31 g) cornstarch 1/4 cup (1 oz / 28 g) confectioners’ sugar 3/4 cups (5.3 oz / 150 g) granulated sugar 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2.9 oz / 82 g) light agave syrup 1 pinch kosher salt ;

of the pan are covered. Sift enough cornstarch mixture into the prepared pan to completely and generously cover the bottom. Reserve the remaining cornstarch mixture.

3. In a small heavy saucepan over mediumhigh heat, stir together 1 tablespoon of moonshine, the granulated sugar, agave nectar, 2 tablepoons of water, and salt.

Bring the mixture to a boil without stirring and cook until the temperature registers 238°F to 240°F on a digital thermometer.

1. If you’re using gelatin sheets, fill a medium bowl with ice water and submerge the sheets in the water. If you’re using powdered gelatin, pour the 1/3 cup (2.9 oz / 80 g) of water into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface. Let either stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl.

4. Meanwhile, if using gelatin sheets, lift the softened sheets out of the bowl, squeeze out the excess water, and put the gelatin and the remaining 2 tablespoons of the moonshine in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

If using powdered gelatin, add the bloomed gelatin to the mixer bowl along with 2 tablespoons of the moonshine.

2. Line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with 2 sheets of parchment or waxed paper, laying the sheets perpendicular to each other so that the bottom and all sides

5. With the mixer turned off, pour all of the hot sugar syrup over the gelatin.

Whip on low speed for 30 seconds, increase the medium speed and beat for 30 seconds, and then increase the speed

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F r es h W h i s ke y S o u r

Headnote text TK Ehenienem quo ide porrum eliaeratem escipiet erum eiumendam laute licia nus adion cuscipsum lab ipiendant et parum asi dolorerum eatem aliqui aruptatur? Mus nisti omnist molorem delis el ipid utem quiamust et pro maios sum fuga. Ur acesti torpore, coruptat fugia eiuntem quis experna temquo cuptae volo tempor repera volor alia volora ab ipicil eaquam faccatiat.

3/4 cup whiskey 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

(4 lemons)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

(4 limes)

2/3 cup sugar syrup (see note) Ice cubes Maraschino cherries

Combine the whiskey, lemon juice, lime juice, and syrup. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice and pour in the drink mix 2/3 full. Shake for 15 seconds and pour into glasses. Add a maraschino cherry and serve ice cold.

To make the sugar syrup, bring 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil, and simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved. Chill before using.

A n o t e a b o u t w h i s k e y g l a ss e s Borero officiatur, ommodi utas natios audandisimi, cum voluptios simus istionet volla cor aperiossedi debis mi, ut od ut molorro et volorion ellabo.

Cum esed maio. Ut verores deliquiae velenis eni dolectatia videro tem raecte

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