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The McMinn County Sheriff’s Office busted a moonshining operation Tuesday, the first such bust in years.Photo by Contributed Photo /Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Deputies in McMinn County busted a moonshining operation Tuesday morning, the first one in years, Sheriff Joe Guy said in a news release.
The operation, found in an old barn at the base of Starr Mountain near Etowah, seemed to involve the production of homemade brandy, or “wineshine,” Lt. Detective Eric Allman said in a news release.
Allman said he believes the case will result in criminal charges.
Police found five 50-gallon barrels of muscadine and apple-based homemade wine in one room of the barn, and they found the actual still in another room.
Police also found other liquor-making devices and bottles at the barn, Allman said.
Elsewhere on the residence, they found a small amount of marijuana and a “mini still” that can produce small amounts of liquor, Guy said.
The products were destroyed and the stills were dismantled, police said.
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McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy doesn't stumble upon moonshining operations very often.
Interesting. Is this "the man" overstepping into minor private enjoyment of mostly socially accepted vices, or is this damn dirty hippies that should be buried under the jail for producing this illegal poison (and small amt of grass)? Maybe we will see who is for actual law and order, apple pie, America and all that and who is on the side of criminals knowingly breaking the law. Could get civil war-ish in here.
Think Illegal Alien vs. Undocumented Immigrant, XGS. Crossing the border is illegal without paperwork, making them criminals...yet they are treated as guests.
200 gallons of homemade wine is a bit over the top for personal consumption [homemade wine is legal in reasonable amounts]; mere possession of a still of any kind is illegal..."water purifiers" seemingly excepted. Lots of instructions on building one on the Internet...google it.
Was the still in use or just sitting there? How long had it been in the barn? Former owner's?
The reason most things are declared illegal unless controlled by the gov'ment is money. Sam wants his piece of the action. Poison is poison, regardless of who makes it.
Actually, well-made moonshine has fewer impurities by far than the finest JD, MM, or Beam; less hangover, smoother taste, etc. It is usually triple-distilled compared to Jack's maybe 1.6-1.9 times distilled. The higher, the better and the fewer poisonous impurities. More food for thought/comment.
free enterprise at work!
man gonna do what he has to to feed his family!
with the economy as it is,expect to see more of these type stories. Besides,maybe he was gonna have a wine tasting party.Did they find large blocks of cheese too? :)
Americans aren't particularly known for their observance of a law they either don't like or think is stupid. The guv'ment learned a valuable lesson in the value of alcohol during Prohibition -- they lost all those taxes.
All this just because the government can't get their taxes.
As rolando stated, there'd been no problems if the person was an illegal. Just doing a job that the 'average' American wouldn't do....
Poor McMinn County deputies were probably related to the owners. Shame they had to bust uncle bucks still. Course uncle buck was known to have large amounts of reefer not small. Now you good ol boys give uncle buck his dope back ya hear?
moonshine is whiskey made from distilling corn. Not muscadine wine that is refermented.
So it seems like no one seems to mind the breaking of laws here, just because of their perceived unfairness. Which is always up to the mindset and preferences of the perceiver. That is one HELL of a slippery slope I think we can all agree.
I do find it all interesting, and deep down feel that you should be able to grow your own supply of mj, or distill your own supply of shine, as you can brew beer and ferment wine. And here is my double standard. Why am I against cooking meth? Keep up the polite comments, I can't be the only one finding this fascinating.
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