1. White Lightning White Lighting Cooper Hartzog (hartzogcd@appstate.edu)
Justin Nichols
Summer Bridge 2013
Appalachian State University
White Lighting

2. Overview
This PowerPoint will be a brief overview of moonshine. We will focus on four main points:
The History Of Moonshine
How It’s Made
Associated Dangers
Why It Can’t Easily Be Stronger Than 190 Proof.
Moonshine site from the 1960’s in Tazewell County Virginia.

3. The History Of Moonshine
How Moonshine Got Its Name
It came from the British vocabulary
It comes from the fact that work was done at night underneath the moon light
Start of NASCAR
Bootleggers souped-up their cars
They did this to outrun the police
The winner of the first official NASCAR Race was a bootlegger
He used his car hours before the race to make a delivery

4. What is Moonshine?
Moonshine is liquor made illegally avoiding federal taxes
The production also is not overseen by health organizations
Ethanol is the key ingredient
Ethanol alcohol is what all liquor, wine, and beer is made from

5. Moonshine Distillation Process

6. Dangers Methanol Exposure
Always a chance that a batch could contain methanol
Discard the foreshot to eliminate any potential methanol
Do this because methanol has a lower boiling point than ethanol
Severe exposure can cause death
Methanol exposure is linked to the loss of vision and sometimes blindness

7. Often used Additives For Kick For Color Carbide Chlorine bleach
Embalming fluid
Lye
Rubbing Alcohol
Wood Alcohol
Burnt sugar
Charred oak
Charred peach pits
Iodine
Poke root berries
Tobacco
Leaves or spit

8. Why It Can’t Easily Be Stronger Than 190 Proof
In mixtures of water and ethanol an Azeotrope is formed
An azeotrope is when the mixture of the two molecules has a lower boiling point than the two molecules independently
This happens at a mixture of 95.5% ethanol and 4.5 % water
An azeotrope can be broken by using different methods
By using a MSA (Material Separation Agent)
Pressure swinging
Other dissolvable agents (calcium oxide and potassium acetate)

9. So, Why not?
This is to much work for moonshiners for and extra 4.5% ethanol
This would also cause the price of the moonshine to increase drastically
If moonshiners did use MSAs or the other dissolvable agents buying enough for large batches would cause suspicions by the government

10. References
Grabianowski, Ed.  "How Moonshine Works"  11 November   HowStuffWorks.com. < innovations/moonshine.htm>  23 July 2013.
"How to Make Moonshine Safely." 10 Most Important Safety Tips for Moonshiners. Clawhammer Supply, 15 Jan Web. 28 Jul < still-blog/ most-important-safety-tips-for- moonshiners>.
Kosaric, Naim, Zdravko Duvnjak, Adalbert Farkas, Hermann Sahm, Stephanie Meyer, and Dieter Mayer. "Ethanol." Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
Rowley, Matthew. Moonshine!. New York: Lark Books, Print.