Good spirits : a new look at ol' demon alcohol / Gene Logsdon.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Logsdon, Gene.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Brewing.
• Distillation.
• Alcoholic beverages--Social aspects--United States.
• Distilling, Illicit--United States.
• distillation.
• Alcoholic beverages--Social aspects.
• Distilling, Illicit.
• United States.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 205 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

White River Junction, Vt. : Chelsea Green Pub., ©1999.

Summary:

With the recent burgeoning of microbreweries, home breweries, and boutique wineries, it's only a matter of time until people start home distillation. The technology has always been around, and the urge to put one's own label on a bottle of whiskey may prove overwhelming to some. So why aren't there any homemade whiskeys in the marketplace? For openers, it's against federal law. It's also dangerous. Stills create explosive gases. Logsdon yearns for a nation of amateur distillers. He recounts a family history of clandestine distilling, and he offers delightful tales and anecdotal histories of home brewers, wine makers, and distillers. Constructing a contrarian account of bootlegging during Prohibition, he makes booze smuggling a cottage industry rather than a gang-run criminal conspiracy. Both funny and serious, Logsdon's book will likely prove controversial, too, especially with those made uncomfortable by irony. - Mark Knoblauch; 240p-

Contents:

• Introduction: Toward a Sane Use of Alcohol xv
• 1 The American History You Were Never Taught 1
• 2 My Father-in-Law, "The Old Moonshiner" 13
• 3 From Cider to Applejack 32
• 4 The Fruit Juice: A Moonshine Story from 1935 49
• 5 Homemade Beer 65
• 6 The Backyard Winery 78
• 7 The Adventures of a Brandy & Liqueur Illiterate 98
• 8 The Midnight Fox: A Bootlegging Folktale 112
• 9 Wandering Wide-Eyed through the World of Whiskey 128
• 10 The "White Whiskey" Mixers & Other Popular Drinks 150
• 11 Fuel Alcohol: A Way to Make Untaxed Spirits Legally 166
• 12 "Not Necessarily": The Slightly Fictional Story of a Stubborn Winemaker 179.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 196-198) and index.

Local Notes:

HSP Historic Culinary Arts Collection.

ISBN:

• 1890132438
• 9781890132439
• 1890132667
• 9781890132668

OCLC:

41892271