moonshine

11 Stories

NASCAR Track Might Actually Have a Moonshine Cave Beneath It

Large open area found underneath North Wilkesboro Speedway in NC

(Newser) - "We'd often hear stories of how an old moonshine still was operated here on the property under the grandstands," says a VP at Speedway Motorsports about North Carolina's North Wilkesboro Speedway. CBS Sports calls it an "urban legend," but it turns out those stories...

Trump Pardons Included Elderly Moonshiner

Oklahoma man pleaded guilty in 1952

(Newser) - President Trump's wave of pre-Christmas pardons has included high-profile allies like Roger Stone along with lesser-known names like Alfred Lee Crum, who was busted for making hooch almost 70 years ago. Crum, who received a full pardon Tuesday, was 19 in 1952 when he pleaded guilty in Oklahoma to...

Illicit Booze Kills at Least 150
End-of-Day Drink
Kills at Least 150

End-of-Day Drink Kills at Least 150

Tainted alcohol takes the lives of Indian tea garden workers

(Newser) - Tea garden workers in India like ending the day with a little moonshine, but a recent batch turned out to be deadly—killing at least 150 people and hospitalizing about 200 others in a remote part of northeastern Assam state, NPR reports. Authorities have already arrested 10 suspects and others...

Broke Russians Swap Pricey Booze for Bath Cleaner

Economic crisis taking a toll on heavy drinkers

(Newser) - As an economic crisis sweeps through Russia, a dangerous trend is emerging in the heavy-drinking country: the rise in consumption of potentially lethal moonshine, medical alcohol, or even cleaning products. Layoffs, wage cuts, and price increases are combining to worsen the problem of alcoholism, which has long been a major...

Hatfields, McCoys Making Moonshine Together

This time, it's legal

(Newser) - If their ancestors only knew: Direct descendants of the Hatfields have teamed up with the McCoy name to produce legal moonshine in southern West Virginia with the state's blessing. Production of "Drink of the Devil" has been in full swing at a distillery on original Hatfield land, bringing...

Wife: Groom Died on Way to Get Bottle of Moonshine

Driver of pickup faces prison time over wedding day accident

(Newser) - A newlywed whose husband was killed in a car crash just hours after their wedding tells WBNS that it happened because of a bottle moonshine. Ruth Bloomberg says that friend Tim Tebbe was driving the couple to get his wedding present for them, the aforementioned moonshine. At some point, Tebbe...

In 40-Year First, Moonshine Fest Will Pour ... Moonshine

Straitsville, Ohio, operation serves legal white lightning

(Newser) - The tiny town of New Straitsville, Ohio—population about 700—made a name for itself with moonshine in the 1880s. And for 40 years, it has celebrated that history with a Moonshine Festival, the Los Angeles Times reports. But those festivals didn't actually involve any drinking of the illegal...

Hot 'New' Drink: Moonshine
 Hot 'New' Drink: 
 Moonshine 

Hot 'New' Drink: Moonshine

Even Walmart's carrying the stuff

(Newser) - Moonshine is making a comeback—and it's very much legal. Of course, that may be a contradiction in terms, at least when it comes to moonshine's traditional definition. But today, the term tends to refer to any unaged white whiskey, and the market for the stuff is growing....

Modern Moonshine: 'Artisanal,' Not Rotgut

Hot but illegal trend produces fashionable spirits

(Newser) - Moonshiners these days are just as likely to be in a basement in Poughkeepsie as in a holler in West Virginia. Though homebrew is illegal in all 50 states, the trend is on the rise, writes Josh Ozersky in Time . And unlike the "mountain dew" of yore, these "...

Hipsters Go Redneck With Taxidermy, Moonshine

A little bit of country finds its way to Williamsburg

(Newser) - Hipster faves fixed-gear bikes, v-neck T-shirts, and ironic mustaches have a pair of new, and very red-neck, companions: Taxidermy and moonshine. The former, Melissa Milgrom reports for the Daily Beast , gives actual and spiritual Williamsburgers the chance to actually own an animal. And, one practitioner notes, “part of being...

Quietly, Moonshine Makes a Comeback

Homemade spirits find a loyal following; pity about the jail sentences

(Newser) - Whether it's a result of the recession or an outgrowth of the local food movement, more and more Americans are getting in on the craze for do-it-yourself food and drink. But there's a small problem with homemade spirits—unlike smoking salmon or pickling cukes, distilling your own whiskey or grappa...

11 Stories