

How Prisoners Make Moonshine - cturner
http://www.thefix.com/content/making-moonshine-prison91272

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jMyles
It's rare for me to read anything about prison without it strengthening my
desire to abolish the concept entirely.

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JTon
If only there was a workable alternative eh. But I can tell you right now I
would not feel comfortable letting violent sociopaths roam freely

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jMyles
I'm not suggesting closing prisons tomorrow, but if we do, I just wonder how
many violent sociopaths will actually be released. Is it 1% of the prison
population? A tenth of a percent? I don't think it's a substantial portion.

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cubano
I've been to state prison, not county jail, in Florida, for 13 months.

They are loaded with people with whom you would want to keep away from your
loved ones. Way more than 1%.

I could tell stories, but what's the point?

Just FYI.

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jMyles
Are a large portion of them inherently violent sociopaths? Or do they seem
like people I want to keep away from my loved ones because they've been caged
animals for a while?

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cubano
Well, put it this way..I was a "caged animal" for 13 months, and you would
have no issues whatsoever with me around your loved ones, so the logic that
the environment is making convicts (the preferred way to label "prisoners" who
make it to the state prison level) into monsters is flawed, at least in my
case and experience.

I specifically did not say a "large portion", but a significant one, much
larger than 1%.

If I remember correctly, approx. 12% of the convicts in the institution I was
in (Gulf Correctional Institution[1] in the Florida panhandle) were serving
life sentences for murder related convictions.

Does society really want convicted murders roaming freely through it?

[1]
[http://www.dc.state.fl.us/facilities/region1/150.html](http://www.dc.state.fl.us/facilities/region1/150.html)

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con-templative
Reminded me of this:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRMok0gslpA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRMok0gslpA)

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presspot
A good friend of mine used to teach ESL at San Quentin. He described to me in
great detail the "pruno" trade in the prison, including the elaborate exchange
of services for scrap fruit and pilfered trashbags from the commissary as well
as the even more elaborate system for distribution and payment of the finished
product.

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pbhjpbhj
In this they're starting with wine - why not just drink the wine? It says they
make 5 gal (40 pints) of wine down to 6-8 pints; then drink half a pint -
isn't it easier to just drink 2 pints of wine. Presumably the answer is in
secretion of the drink.

How do they get hold of 5 gallons (~20 litres) of wine?

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genericuser
Transportation and storage of contraband are both large issues in prison.
Concentrating the intoxicant can be quite useful.

They made the wine in the manner the article this one references describes.
Where 'wine' is just what they call any sugary liquid that has fermented.

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ufmace
Incidentally, has anybody read any more by or about the author, Seth Ferranti?
It sounds like he managed to get a job as a writer for this "the fix" site
while in prison somehow. There's gotta be an interesting story in that.

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javiramos
Reminded me of the movie the Great Escape. There's a scene in which they make
potato moonshine:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md2GFtBCIh8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md2GFtBCIh8)

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ryanmarsh
Can confirm, although the article shows a more complex recipe than what I
understand. All that hose and rubber bands and things aren't easy to come by.

Source: brother is in prison.

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S_A_P
Im not sure if the detail listed in this article is a good thing or a bad
thing. I would hate to see my kids read this article and get any ideas. I know
at that age I was just deviant and nerdy enough to want to try something like
this.

I wonder how often they make methanol in these stills as well. Even under semi
controlled conditions this is a risk.

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genericuser
As long as they are making sugar wash (or wine as the article calls it)
instead of a fruit based one the chemistry does not allow for methanol to be
created, is my understanding having researched this fairly heavily in college
before making my own still.

Also if you did make a fruit based wash when you ferment it the methanol will
evaporate first (or at a lower temperature than the ethanol if you have that
level of control).

This whole article is rather poor as a guide and there are much better and
more complete resources on how to build better distilling equipment with a tea
kettle, some copper tubing, and a bucket. It is a good article for
understanding how prisoners do it, which is its intent.

I mean if you are a prisoner or you are limited to the same resources as a
prisoner; then sure, I guess its a guide that you could use. Otherwise a
better guide and $20 bucks at the hardware store will have better results, for
home distilling experiments.

Keep in mind home distilling is illegal in most states, some have alternative
fuel creation exceptions or small allowable amounts.

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mcmancini
> Keep in mind home distilling is illegal in most states, some have
> alternative fuel creation exceptions or small allowable amounts.

Isn't it still illegal on the federal level?

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genericuser
You know what I never checked the federal level. At the time I was doing this
I figured if the state said it was legal in a certain case then the feds
didn't have a problem either. I since realized how wrong I was about that
logic, although it still makes more sense to me than the reality.

~~~
mcmancini
If it is illegal at the federal level, I would think it wouldn't be an
enforcement priority if it was allowed by the state. On the other hand, it's
probably part of the tax code and that does tend to be a powerful enforcement
motivator.

