I am completely sober, as I type these words. Perhaps
it’s obvious, but my written wit often comes from an
outside substance. Lately, I’ve been drinking too much
liquor. The idea was that imbibing alcohol would conjure up some serious journalistic genius. Instead, I’ve
just been drunk on moonshine, and I’m a week past my
deadline.
Personal Experience
My wife and I were up late baking bread. She makes
gourmet doughs from unusual grains, using a natural
yeast that takes several hours
to ferment. We were also draining a rare bottle of single barrel
Jefferson’s Bourbon. Once it was
empty, I pulled out the mason jar
of moonshine. The smell of fermenting dough is so much like
sour mash, moonshine was the
logical (drunk) choice at 2am.
You see, moonshine contains
just a dash of Pure Crazy, which
allows the drinker to bake all
night. Our conversations got
more and more bizarre, and our
speech began to slur, but we
didn’t burn a single loaf. Basically,
we got all fucked up and had a
great time. Wait, how’d I get all
these blisters and burns on my
hands?
Image: Clawhammer Stills
Going Legal at Limestone
Branch
When I heard that some companies were going to make and sell
legal moonshine, I was immediately skeptical. What if these distillers don’t know how
to properly bottle Insanity? What if it’s weak and just for
show? What if everyone has access to it, and I ain’t so
damn special anymore?
Those concerns were put to bed when I had my first
sip of T.J. Pottinger Sugar Shine from Limestone Branch
Distillery. Instead of pure corn sour mash, they use a
50/50 mix of corn mash and sugar mash. The liquor
is bottled at 50% alcohol (100 proof), so they call it
a “50/50/50” shine. Down the hatch. Oh, that’s really
good. And straight to to head! Well, hot damn, this IS
moonshine!
As a way of distinguishing their product from the
more clandestine variety, Limestone Branch uses the
term “Moon*Shine” with capital letters and an asterisk.
The slight variation is a great way of paying respect to
all of the bootleggers who came before them.
Heritage and the Family Name
Bootlegging corn liquor is a part of the Sugar Shine
history. Brothers Steve and Paul Beam opened Limestone branch just a few years ago, but liquor is in their
blood, er uh, heritage. Ever heard of Jim Beam bourbon? Steve and Paul are the great-great-grandsons of
Joseph Washington Dant, a historic distiller. They are
also the great-grandsons of Minor Case Beam, who
was famous for his sour mash
and rye whiskey. And they are
something like the great-greatgrea B