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22 Oct 07 - 03:32 PM (#2176717) Subject: BS: Moonshine From: Goose Gander Moonshine - why not? |
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22 Oct 07 - 03:34 PM (#2176719) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: John MacKenzie Only $2.14 tax on a bottle, we pay about $30 in taxes for the same amount. G |
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22 Oct 07 - 03:38 PM (#2176720) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: Wesley S I think if you'll read your own article you'll find just a few of the answers. For instence: "One study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine in September 2003 found that more than half of moonshine drinkers have enough lead in their bloodstream to exceed what the CDC calls a "level of concern." |
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22 Oct 07 - 03:59 PM (#2176734) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: Goose Gander Wesley - I read the article carefully, maybe you should do so: " . . . the biggest risk is lead poisoning, since a homemade still might consist of car radiators or pipes that were dangerously soldered together. One study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine in September 2003 found that more than half of moonshine drinkers have enough lead in their bloodstream to exceed what the CDC calls a 'level of concern.'" Instead of lead pipes, I'd suggest something more along the lines of these. |
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22 Oct 07 - 04:06 PM (#2176737) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: beardedbruce Nothing new... Whiskey Rebellion The refusal of U.S. grain farmers and whiskey distillers to pay a new excise tax on spirits in 1794, and the subsequent government quashing of this rebellion, regarded as the first real test of the federal government's power to enforce laws. The conflict was largely confined to western Pennsylvania, where much whiskey was produced. President George Washington ordered a large militia to meet the resistance, which quickly disappeared. The Whiskey Tax was repealed under President Thomas Jefferson. http://www.answers.com/topic/whiskey-rebellion |
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22 Oct 07 - 04:11 PM (#2176744) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: beardedbruce also: ( note the MUSICAL connection at the end...) Whiskey Rebellion From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Whiskey Rebellion, less commonly known as the Whiskey Insurrection, was a popular uprising that had its beginnings in 1791 and culminated in an insurrection in 1794 in the locality of Washington, Pennsylvania, in the Monongahela Valley. The rebellion occurred shortly after the Articles of Confederation had been replaced by a stronger federal government under the United States Constitution in 1789. 1791 tax The new federal government, at the urging of the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, assumed the states' debt from the American Revolutionary War. In 1791 Hamilton convinced Congress to approve taxes on distilled spirits and carriages. Hamilton's reasons for the tax were several: he wanted to pay down the national debt, but justified the tax "more as a measure of social discipline than as a source of revenue."[1] But most importantly, Hamilton "wanted the tax imposed to advance and secure the power of the new federal government."[2] The tax was designed so smaller distillers would pay by the gallon, while larger distillers (who could produce in volume) could take advantage of a flat fee. The net result was to affect smaller producers more than larger ones. Large producers were assessed a tax ranging from 7 to 18 cents per gallon. But Western settlers were short of cash to begin with and lacked any practical means to get their grain to market other than fermenting and distilling it into relatively portable distilled spirits, due to their distance from markets and the lack of good roads. Additionally, whiskey was often used among western farmers as a medium of exchange or as a barter good. The tax on whiskey was bitterly and fiercely opposed among the cohee on the frontier from the day it was passed. Western farmers considered it to be both unfair and discriminatory, since they had traditionally converted their excess grain into liquor. The whiskey thus produced could easily be transported and sold while the grain itself could not. Since the nature of the tax affected those who sold the whiskey, it directly affected many farmers. Many protest meetings were held, and a situation arose which was reminiscent of the opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765 before the American Revolution. From Pennsylvania to Georgia, the western counties engaged in a campaign of harassment of the federal tax collectors. "Whiskey Boys" also made violent protests in Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia.[3] |
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22 Oct 07 - 04:12 PM (#2176746) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: beardedbruce By the summer of 1794, tensions reached a fevered pitch all along the western frontier as the pioneer/settlers' primary marketable commodity was threatened by the federal taxation measures. Finally the civil protests became an armed rebellion. The first shots were fired at the Oliver Miller Homestead in present day South Park Township Pennsylvania — about ten miles south of Pittsburgh. As word of the rebellion spread across the frontier, a whole series of loosely organized resistance measures were taken, including robbing the mail, stopping court proceedings, and the threat of an assault on Pittsburgh. One group disguised as women, assaulted a tax collector, cropped his hair, coated him with tar and feathers, and stole his horse. Though this did not kill the collector, it physically scarred him for life. George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, remembering Shays' Rebellion from just eight years before, decided to make Pennsylvania a testing ground for federal authority. Washington ordered federal marshals to serve court orders requiring the tax protesters to appear in federal district court. On August 7, 1794, Washington invoked Martial Law to summon the militias of Pennsylvania, Virginia and several states. The rebel force they sought was likewise composed of Pennsylvanians, Virginians, and possibly men from other states.[4] The militia force of 12,950 men was organized, roughly the size of the entire army in the Revolutionary War. Under the personal command of Washington, Hamilton and Revolutionary War hero General Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee, the army assembled in Harrisburg and marched into Western Pennsylvania (to what is now Monongahela, Pennsylvania) in October of 1794. The rebels "could never be found," according to Jefferson, but the militia expended considerable effort rounding up 20 prisoners, clearly demonstrating Federalist authority in the national government. The men were imprisoned, where one died, while two, including Philip Vigol (later spelled Philip Wigal), were convicted of treason and sentenced to death by hanging. Washington, however, pardoned them on the grounds that one was a "simpleton," and the other, "insane." Only two were actually arrested and jailed: General Robert Philson and devout Quaker Herman Husband. Philson was released by Washington, but Harmon died in jail before he could be released. By November, some individuals were fined and charged with "assisting and abetting in setting up a seditious pole in opposition to the laws of the United States", and in January 1796 the following were fined five to fifteen shillings each: Nicholas Kobe, Adam Bower, Abraham Cable Jr, Dr. John Kimmell, Henry Foist, Jacob Holy, Adam Holy, Michael Chintz, George Swart, and Adam Stahl of Brothers Valley township; John Heminger, John Armstrong, George Weimer, George Tedrow, Abraham Miller, John Miller Jr, Benjamin Brown and Peter Bower of Milford township; Emanuel Brallier, George Ankeny, Smith, of Quemahoning township; Peter Augustine, James Conner, Henry Everly, Daniel McCartey, William Pinkerton, and Jonathan Woodsides of Turkeyfoot township.[5] |
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22 Oct 07 - 04:13 PM (#2176747) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: beardedbruce [edit] Tom the Tinker "Tom the Tinker" assumed the leadership of the Whiskey Rebellion in the early 1790s. He came about after it was decided that to merely attack tax collectors or those who rented offices and lodging to tax collectors wasn't enough; pressure needed to be applied to those who had registered their stills and were paying the tax. In essence, Tom the Tinker illuminated the point that compliance with the law was as contemptible an action as those who were collecting the whiskey tax. William Hogeland has described the situation thus: You might find a note posted on a tree outside your house, requiring you to publish in the Gazette your hatred of the whiskey tax and your commitment to the cause; otherwise, the note promised, your still would be mended. Tom had a wicked sense of humor and a literary bent: "mended" meant shot full of holes or burned. Tom published on his own too, rousing his followers to action, telling the Gazette's editor in cover notes to run the messages or suffer the consequences.[6] Groups formed calling themselves Tom the Tinker's Men. They assured Tom the Tinker's threats were carried out. Some believe John Holcroft, a leading member of the Mingo Creek Association and veteran of the Shays Rebellion[7], was Tom the Tinker, or perhaps the author of the letters attributed to Tom, but this has never been proven. It is not known whether Tom was an actual individual or a character created by the leading members of the Whiskey Rebellion to serve as their leader, much like Ned Ludd's role as leader of the Luddites. Hogeland takes issue with the notion that "Tom the Tinker" was a pseudonym or nom de guerre for one of the other participants in the rebellion, saying, "Tom wasn't an alias for a person. He was the stark fact that loyal opposition to the resistance was disallowed. Tom was Mingo Creek personified."[7] [edit] Consequences This marked the first time under the new United States Constitution that the federal government used military force to exert authority over the nation's citizens. It was also one of only two times that a sitting President personally commanded the military in the field. (The other was after President James Madison fled the British occupation of Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812.) The military suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion set a precedent that U.S. citizens who wished to change the law had to do so peacefully through constitutional means; otherwise, the government would meet any threats to disturb the peace with force. The suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion also had the unintended consequences of encouraging small whiskey producers in Kentucky and Tennessee, which remained outside the sphere of Federal control for many more years. In these frontier areas, they also found good corn-growing country as well as limestone-filtered water and therefore began making whiskey from corn; this corn whiskey developed into Bourbon.[8] Additionally, the rebellion and its suppression helped turn people away from the Federalist Party and toward the Democratic Republican Party. This is shown in the 1794 Philadelphia congressional election, in which upstart Democratic Republican John Swanwick won a stunning victory over incumbent Federalist Thomas Fitzsimons, carrying 7 of 12 districts and 57% of the vote. The hated whiskey tax was repealed in 1803, having been largely unenforceable outside of Western Pennsylvania, and even there never having been collected with much success.[9] |
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22 Oct 07 - 04:15 PM (#2176749) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: Wesley S I did read the article - thanks. That's how I was able to cut and paste part of it. What I'm saying is that if you want to produce moonshine for your own consumption that's fine with me. Any risk you want to take with your own life is fine. But we all know thats not how it works. It gets sold to and shared with others.It's just too risky to take a chance on consuming moonshine, meat, milk or medicines that haven't been produced with some sort of regulated controls. The regulations are there for a reason. Having said that - brew yourself up a batch and enjoy. |
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22 Oct 07 - 04:15 PM (#2176751) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: beardedbruce MUSIC CONNECTION: Popular culture Susanna Rowson used the Whiskey Rebellion as inspiration for a musical farce for the stage called The Volunteers. The lyrics were set to music by Alexander Reinagle of the New Company, which performed the play in Philadelphia in 1795. |
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22 Oct 07 - 06:00 PM (#2176796) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: Rapparee Taxes imposed upon whiskey after the American Revolution and the War of 1812 couldn't be collected -- bad roads, a lack of communication, etc. prevented it. Taxes were again imposed after the Civil War, and this time the whiskey was required to be aged in charred barrels. This imparted the "red" color and meant that the taxes were paid. So we are still paying off the Civil War.... Also, a well-made still doesn't use old car radiators or lead. It's pure copper, brazed where needed, and doesn't impart any more impurities into it than would be imparted at a commercial distillery. The lead, etc. comes from the quick-turnover, high-volume demanded during Prohibition. Even today you can, if you know the right folks, obtain pure, copper-distilled, grain whiskey that's avoided taxes. And it tastes right good, too. |
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22 Oct 07 - 06:15 PM (#2176812) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: McGrath of Harlow Or of course you could do it the way lab technicians have always done it, and use glass lab equipment. Or it can be done by freezing out the water using a domestic freezer. But unless you drink a lot more than anyone needs to drink it's just not worth it. |
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22 Oct 07 - 09:24 PM (#2176916) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: GUEST,Obie "Or it can be done by freezing out the water using a domestic freezer" This will concentrate the alcohol but will also concentrate the impurities. A still purifies the mash and leaves byproducts to be thrown out with the spent mash. If you freeze the mash you reduce only the water content. |
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22 Oct 07 - 10:09 PM (#2176947) Subject: RE: BS: Moonshine From: Rapparee So freeze the water out of commercially made wine.... For instance, a stainless steel bowl chilled in the freezer and then filled with wine chilled to 0 C (32 F), a chip of ice put into it will accumulate the water...you have to keep the bowl at 0 C, of course.... Or use cheap vodka.... |