By the nature of its creation, moonshine is a somewhat unusual beverage. It's supposed to be homemade, which means that those who produce it often have to get creative to avoid having to purchase unnecessary items.
That helps to explain why many involved in the brewing, like the cast of Moonshiners, take advantage of raccoon peckers in order to help them pour their moonshine from one vessel into another.
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Why do moonshiners use a raccoon pecker?
Although by its design, moonshine is a do-it-yourself process, that doesn't mean it's all that simple. Making alcohol isn't the easiest task in the world, and it requires a number of different processes, including distillation.
Distillation involves selectively boiling and cooling your mixture and requires a device called a still. Once your mixture has been distilled, it can be poured into another vessel for consumption, and that's where raccoon peckers come in.
Source: Discovery
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Unlike most mammals, raccoons actually have a bone in their penis that helps keep it stiff during copulation. That bone also happens to be quite useful in helping to guide the moonshine out of the still and into the vessel where it will be drunk. The reason they use raccoon penis bones is actually quite simple: most moonshiners are also raccoon hunters, so they have plenty available.
The bones are also sometimes referred to as toothpicks or "Alabama toothpicks" because of their association with the rural lifestyle popular in that part of the country. In fact, the use of raccoon peckers for moonshining is so common that it even has a page on Urban Dictionary. It may seem like a strange practice, but it also seems to be a pretty practical one.
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How real is the show 'Moonshiners'?
Moonshining has only become more popular in the wake of shows like Moonshiners, which follow people who make and sell their alcohol illegally. While the show does take steps to accurately depict that process of creating moonshine, the idea that what they're doing is against the law may be a little more open to interpretation.
Source: YouTube
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According to Tim and Tickle, two of the show's central characters, they aren't caught because by the time the episodes make it to television, they are no longer committing any crimes.
As they explain it, the government doesn't care about the quality of the beverage. All they're really interested in is how much their cut is, and whether the product is being taxed or not.
"There’s not really a big fear here," Tim explained about the possibility that they'll be caught."It’s just that the government can’t get their money accounted for. That’s all it is.They don’t have a taste regulation today. I mean right now the legal brand of whiskey on the shelf, there’s no taste regulator on it. You can go buy anything and say ‘I don’t like it. It doesn’t taste good.’ There’s no regulations on it."
Whether the show is real or not, it's certainly sparked plenty of interest in what making moonshine is actually like. Apparently, that process even includes the essential use of a raccoon pecker.
Unlike most mammals, raccoons actually have a bone in their penis that helps keep it stiff during copulation. That bone also happens to be quite useful in helping to guide the moonshine out of the still and into the vessel where it will be drunk.
Alcohol can actually be distilled from almost any kind of grain (the earliest American moonshiners used rye or barley), but virtually all moonshine made in the United States for the last 150 years has been made with corn.
Making moonshine has two main steps: fermentation and distillation. Fermentation is the process of yeast breaking down the sugars in the grains to produce alcohol. Once the fermentation process is complete, the “moonshine mash” (fermented grains and yeast) is sent to the still.
The corn mash consistency will affect the production of ethanol, so adjusting the yeast, corn and sugar in the mixture will make a difference in the moonshine produced. Different times and temperature also make a difference; the first liquid distilled can be toxic and should be discarded.
What is a baculum? The baculum (os penis) is a bone found within the penis of certain mammals, including many primates, rodents, bats, carnivores, and some insectivores. It is an isolated bone, derived from connective tissue and located at the distal end of the penis, above the urethra.
The series dramatizes their liquor production efforts, law-evading techniques and life. There have been claims by local officials that the show is not what it portrays itself to be. Virginia authorities have stated that no illegal liquor is actually being produced by the people depicted in the show.
The experienced, old school moonshiners are able to tell the proof of their moonshine by simply shaking the mason jar and observing the bubbles. If the moonshine has large bubbles that dissolve quickly it indicates the moonshine has a high alcohol content.
Moonshine is high-proof liquor, generally whiskey, traditionally made, or at least distributed, illegally. Its clandestine distribution is known as bootlegging. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection.
Tickle on “Moonshiners”, for instance, is probably not going to the opera or spending a lot of time in the library when not running shine. “Moonshiners” is more of a docudrama, meaning it may have some basis in reality but includes quite a few creative liberties.
On average, a proof moonshine could range somewhere between 100 to 150 proof. When you convert that alcohol by volume, 150 proof is equivalent to 75% alcohol by volume.
In short, moonshine, like other plain spirits, does not really go bad. This means moonshine has an indefinite shelf life, unless you are dealing with a flavored option (which can spoil as a result of its high sugar density).
Methanol, or methyl alcohol, is a byproduct of the distilling process. A principle ingredient in fuel, pesticides, paint thinners, and much more, consuming methanol isn't something that should be taken lightly.
Heads. Next, comes the heads. The heads won't make you blind, but the volatile alcohols they contain will give you a whopping hangover. The product also smells and tastes terrible, this is because of the acetone that is present.
The calorie in the meat of a raccoon is low as compared to other sources of meat. They are rich in vitamins and minerals like potassium as well. It is also a good source of protein, but it also contains a moderate amount of saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol.
Despite the mischief this masked mammal can sometimes cause, raccoons play an important role in the ecosystem by serving as gardeners, pest control, and the "clean-up crew", Raccoons are beneficial to ecosystems for the distribution of plant seeds.
Coon hunting is the practice of hunting raccoons, most often for their meat and fur. It is almost always done with specially bred dogs called coonhounds, of which there are six breeds, and is most commonly associated with rural life in the Southern United States. Coon hunting is also popular in the rural Midwest.
Raccoons have opposable thumbs - Raccoons have opposable thumbs on their front paws, which allows them to grasp and manipulate objects with great dexterity. This is one of the reasons why raccoons are known for their mischievous behavior - they can open doors, containers, and even jars with their thumbs.
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