Digital Alabama (https://digitalalabama.com/topic/alabama-moonshine)
K-State Research and Extension CC BY 2.0
State laws vary regarding the legality of home distilling. In some states it is illegal to own a still while in other states it is not. Sometimes it is legal to own the still, but not for creating and producing alcohol for consumption.
Today, people make their own brand of moonshine for personal use. However, distilling alcohol at home, even for personal use, is illegal under federal law.
The truth of the matter is that Agent Foxx had no intention of trying to prosecute Raven and Kenny. In fact, he would not even report the incident. Chancing a flirting glance at Raven he was convinced the kid was wearing a mask, the false face of the Indians. Raven had passed his second test. Again Foxx had what he had come for – confirmation that Raven Cane was born to be a spy.
“If it please the court, there are about twenty more moon shiners from this congressional district who are anxious to find a bondsmen.
LINEVILLE ALABAMA SCENE OF FIERCE BATTLE
Each autumn, the town of Thorsby celebrates its heritage with the Annual Swedish Festival that includes an arts and crafts fair, a pageant, music, car and motorcycle shows and food native to the American South. The town maintains a museum in the old Norwegian Lutheran Church, now called “Helen Jenkins Chapel”. A Scandinavian Cemetery is available for visits any time.
Follow our research as we plow through the history of moonshining in Alabama. Interesting findings will be published in the series: “Bama Dew.”
Stories about Alabama moonshine, woods whiskey, hooch, moonshine and white lightning.
High Ridge Spirits
Alabama’s first legal distillery since Prohibition has opened in a county famous for producing illegal whiskey.
High Ridge Spirits operates in a former horse barn in rural Bullock County. Its shiny metal tanks and spotless concrete floor look like any food processing facility. Employees’ relaxed pace indicate there are no worries about a raid by state liquor agents. Head distiller Jamie Ray says it’s a little different from the way it’s been done in the woods of Bullock County for decades.
Conecuh Ridge Whiskey
Conecuh Ridge is described as an “Alabama Style Tippling Whiskey”, a rather imprecise designation which basically means that it is patterned after the spirits that would have been available at informal “tippling houses”. Clyde May used spring water from Southern Alabama and added oven-dried apples to his barrels. The resulting hints of green apple and cinnamon not only made it smoother than other whiskeys—they’re what made it Alabama Style. It is then aged for five to six years in heavy-toast charred white oak barrels. Conecuh Ridge Whiskey is a type of whiskey produced and officially marketed as “Clyde May’s Alabama Style Whiskey” by Conecuh Ridge Distillery Inc. It is marketed as a high-quality aged moonshine whiskey which was produced illegally in Alabama during the mid to late 20th century.
Melvin’s Campfire: Chapter excerpt from “The Raven” novel by Tracy O. Crane and Terry W. Platt.
