Moonshine

MOONSHINE (Samogon), a strong alcoholic beverage produced by home distillation from starchy and sugary products (rye, wheat, potatoes, molasses, etc.). The appearance of moonshine in the USSR dates back to the end of the Imperialist War, when the prohibition of alcoholic beverages led to the consumption of other vodka surrogates, such as denatured alcohol, furniture polish, spirit varnish, etc. Some idea of the prevalence of moonshine on the territory of the Union in past years is provided by the following data: the militia authorities discovered 24,000 cases of distillation in 1922, 191,000 in 1923, and 275,000 in 1924. The number of apparatuses seized for these purposes was: 22,000 in 1922, 54,000 in 1923, and 73,000 in 1924. In subsequent years, thanks to a number of government measures and state regulation of the production of alcohol-containing beverages (see Alcoholism), the production of moonshine began to decline sharply and almost completely ceased in 1931–1932. In contrast to the clearly established quality and purity of the state-monopoly grain spirit, moonshine is characterized by consistently very low quality, which depends on the primitive design of artisanal moonshine stills, which do not allow for obtaining a sufficiently purified alcoholic distillate from the mash. The apparatus usually consists of a simple boiler (cast iron, copper) embedded in a stove and having a tightly closed lid through which a tube passes; the coiled end of the latter, serving as a condenser, is immersed in a bucket of water; to obtain moonshine, fermented liquid (mash) is loaded into the boiler and subjected to boiling. Due to the imperfection of the apparatus, not only alcohol and water pass from the mash into the distillate, but also volatile fermentation by-products, which impart unpleasant taste properties to the beverage thus obtained and significantly increase the harmful properties of such vodka; among the volatile fermentation by-products, in terms of quantity and pathological effect, the most significant are higher alcohols (amyl, isoamyl, butyl, propyl, etc.), which are commonly grouped under the general name "fusel oil," followed by acids (butyric, acetic, etc.), aldehydes (furfural, acetaldehyde, etc.), and bases (pyridine, trimethylamine, etc.). The pathological effect of moonshine, as with alcoholic beverages in general, is determined not only by ethyl alcohol, but to a significant degree by the impurities found in it (see Vodkas). Despite the significant diversity in the composition and properties of the examined moonshine samples, they can still be expressed by the following characteristic data: alcohol content in the range of 20–40 percent by volume, fusel oil 0.1–0.9%, aldehydes 0.004–0.020%, furfural 0.001–0.010%. The taste and smell are usually very unpleasant, sometimes disgusting (the smell of "fusel," sour bread leaven, burnt substances, etc.); the color often has a yellowish or greenish tint, sometimes there is turbidity and even a significant sediment. In individual cases, pyridine and heavy metals in the form of significant traces have been detected. Sanitary examination of moonshine can be carried out using methods applied to vodkas; the determination of "fusel oil," in view of its very significant content in moonshine, in addition to the Komarovsky method, can also be performed by the Röse method, the principle of which is as follows: in a special Röse apparatus, the test beverage is shaken with chloroform; the latter has the ability to extract only "fusel oil" from aqueous solutions of not fully purified ethyl alcohol, which is then calculated by the increase in the volume of the separated and settled chloroform under the specific conditions of the method. In 1922, for the purpose of combating moonshine, a law was issued punishing the manufacture and sale of moonshine with imprisonment of up to 5 years with confiscation of property.