Seeing those metal vats for making alcohol got me thinking, it would be cool to have a metal working episode. Maybe show how a traditional blacksmith forged the pots and items used for cooking and food production? Or even how different metals were smelted in the 1700 and 1800's.
Love this idea. Particularly like to hear about production of pewter, a metal alloy commonly used in 18thC America. At what point was the lead content recognized as toxic? And by the time of the pewter revival in the late 19th, was lead understood to be poisonous?
Another reason the whiskey rebellion blew up is because the tax was designed to protect all the rum makers in New England. (I'm a food historian, and this is a topic on which I speak regularly.) So it was not just the tax, but the protectionism that angered people. Of potential interest, if you'd like to find out what others are doing, I recently visited Pinckney Bend Distillery in New Haven, MO (they invited me down because my book, Midwest Maize, had encouraged them in their pursuit of heirloom corn), where the owners are making whiskey from heirloom varieties -- with each whiskey labeled with the name of the heirloom corn used -- because they wanted to make whiskey that tastes like it did in the 1800s. There is no blending, and the different types of corn make a considerable difference in the taste. Great fun to find people pursuing this history. Oh -- and as iconic as bourbon is in Louisville, it was Peoria, IL, that was the whiskey capital of the world up to Prohibition. Staggering amounts of alcohol being produced along Distillery Row -- with taxes providing much of the federal government's income. Because people really drank a lot back then, before water was safe.
I thought in the 19th century the biggest whiskey making area in the US was along the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania? Monongahela rye whiskey was famous, then by 1900 you never heard of it anymore.
The tax was designed to favor the big distillers versus the ordinary people. Stuff You missed in History Class is a podcast with a good episode on this. Stills were taxed on capacity, not on actual production and it was a cash tax on the ordinary person but the Washington's (biggest distiller in the US at the time) could pay in installments.
The tax was imposed while Washington was still president, in 1791, and he didn't start making whiskey until after he retired, in 1797. So it was unrelated to Washington's production of whiskey. Also, while he built it up quickly, he only made whiskey for three years, and then he died. Other than Washington, the only big distillers were making rum.
According to this article, after the Whiskey Rebellion, many of the Monongahela distillers headed for Kentucky. punchdrink.com/articles/the-fall-and-rebirth-of-americas-first-great-whiskey-pennsylvania-rye/ But it was a region, not an individual whiskey distiller, like Washington -- who was only the biggest for one year (that we know of), before being bled to death by the medical experts of his day. Then, by the mid-1850s, the biggest whiskey producing area was Peoria, IL. So it moved around.
Thank you very much for such an excellent summary. Been very hard to explain to people why the whiskey tax was so terrible in their eyes, because it's so hard for people to understand how truly important it was, and how much it favored the north.
I caught that too when he said this isn't moonshine. What exactly is his definition of moonshine? Because what he was showing and describing, sounded like moonshine.
Todd Worley moonshine is basically grain liqour that isnt aged. you can mix it up and add other things to the fermenting grain if you like as well. but generally its corn and sometimes like fruit for flavor if thats what you want, then they distill the alcohol
@@sal-1337 an in the video I agree. and modern moonshine is sometimes even table sugar to give the yeast a lot to feast on and convert in to alcohol. The gentleman in the video kept saying what he was making was "Not moonshine" but it sure looked like it to me. I was curious what he was seeing as different. Cheers!
Mutton man: We don't make whisky that's not what we're doing here at this time. Mutton man: *proceeds to make whisky* Mutton man: this is not moonshine! *nervous twitching*
@@shabath Unfortunately, it's illegal to distill alchohol in any quantity without a license. You can own a still, but you need either a fuel license or a spirits license, the latter of which is required if you are producing alcohol for consumption. Edit: If he's actually making whiskey, he's undoubtedly got a license.
@@jessicaslater4243 Illegal and enforced are 2 different beasts. Really the reason the laws exist is to preserve the tax revenue. There are PLENTY of people distilling at home, technically illegally, but unless they sell it there's almost zero chance of being arrested for it. There is a fair amount of jawing about "safety" in the laws, but the reality is home distillation is little more dangerous than home canning. You can get sick or die multiple ways from both. Here in the PacNW we are seeing a small surge in "boutique" distilleries....wonder how they learned to make booze? lol
As I understand it, it's legal to distill ethanol for use as fuel as long as the process denatures the alcohol (i.e. renders it undrinkable). Typically that's done by putting some gasoline in the container that receives the output of the still. I'm not sure if doing that still requires a distilling license, but it's how farmers are intended to make ethanol from corn for use as fuel in their farm equipment. About 25 years ago there was a serious accident at the Farm Science Review in Ohio when a fuel still that was on display caught fire. A spectator didn't see the "no flames" signs and approached the catch barrel while smoking a cigarette. It ignited the gasoline fumes from the barrel, causing a fire and much damage.
Just want to let you know how much all your effort in making these videos is appreciated. I came home from a long day at work and was happy to see that another video had been uploaded. I love our early history and the personal view that you put on it is just great. Thanks.
I love how it says "we don't do this", then proceeds to do it right in front of the camera. Might as well have winked beforehand. Great video though, loved it.
It might be worthwhile to give a little more detail on why whiskey was so important to farmers of the Federal period. Unless they happened to be near rivers or seaports, early American farmers had no way to bring grain (wheat, corn, rye, barley, etc.) to markets that wasn't slow, dangerous, and expensive. Making the grain into whiskey not only preserved the grain and added value, but it made it much more compact and more portable, so it was much easier and cheaper to get to a market and turn it into money. The same was true of fruit: far more fruit was made into wines and spirits than was eaten fresh in this era. So farmers, especially in the (more remote) western areas of the early United States, saw a federal tax on whiskey as a threat to their economic viability and as discriminatory against farmers who lived farther from major grain markets. Hence the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-1794.
Hey Gary, thanks for the context. I'm a bit lost as to why that increases the value when transferred to liquid form. Is it purely a 'we still get calories when we consume this' thing, or 'we like drinking'? It loses so much utility when it isn't grain any longer. Just looking to understand the area a bit more.
@@AT-wz7ye Alcohol does contain calories, but the increase in value is mainly what Gary mentions. Transporting grain a long way is risky if you're just a small farmer or a small village, as the weather might be against you (you don't want it to get wet) and you might not have enough wagons to make it worthwhile taking a load into town for selling. Farmers closer to town can haul their grain there faster and with less work so they see more profit in it. Converting grain into whiskey will make the finished product take much less room and weigh less so transport becomes easier. Clay jugs or wooden barrels cost some money to get but they keep the whiskey safe from the environment and you can add them to the sales price. Like they said in the video, it was a way to get some profit from produce that might have otherwise gone bad.
I really appreciate the added context behind historical events. I knew about the whiskey tax rebellion under Washington but I had no understanding of how significant whiskey was for farmers.
Unaged ("white") whiskey is known these days as "white dog." In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the unaged stuff straight from the still was far more prevalent than the barrel-aged products we see today.
I can not say now much I love those aprons. I love yours Jon and here, Brian is wearing one too. The bib part linking to the top button is charming. Thanks for bringing BC to us Jon, you really do pick cool friends.
Brian's description of the development of alcohol / whisky in Kentucky is very interesting and informative. He's clear, concise and his logic is easily followed. Thank you.
There were many uses for the alcohol produced by distilling. It was used medicinally. It was also used as a way of preserving fruits before canning was invented. One would peel and slice up fruit, apples, peaches, pears, or even berries, and pack them loosely into a crock, then cover them with alcohol, and cover the crock tightly. The alcohol would keep the fresh fruit from spoiling. This was an alternative to drying.
Really enjoying your videos - started with gardening - vermicomposting - permaculture - seed saving - soil regeneration - and now the history of it all thanks to you sir. Great videos to relax to after work!!
Wonderful as always, John! Next time you're in VA you should film at the distillery at Mount Vernon if you can. They're not only active, they barrel and sell to the public!
This is weirdly interesting to me. I love what you guys have been doing, please keep it up its utterly fascinating to myself and apparently a lot of other people.
In reality, as long as you distill alcohol only for your own personal use, the likelihood of the authorities catching you is about the same as being caught having a poker game with your friends. You might get a small fine, at most. But get caught selling the stuff without a license, and you're looking at massive fines and prison.
I believe George Washington was the largest whiskey maker in the United States after he left the presidency. They have restored or recreated one of his stills at Mount Vernon. The whiskey he made was rye whiskey. You can buy a bottle of Washington's whiskey made in his still at Mount Vernon with his recipe over a $100 a pint bottle.
Yes - I’ve visited it. Pretty interesting. I asked them how long did Washington age his whiskey - they said “the wagon ride from here to the docks in Alexandria
I'm a forth generation brewer (that I can confirm, but it seems to have been a very common practice in older generations) - I've made beer, mead, wine, and sake. I've played around with distilling as well but, officially, I have no knowledge of distilling. I wish more people would home brew - it is a remarkably (and tangibly) rewarding hobby. I resent the fact that prohibition broke the chain of common wisdom about home brewing.
Home brewing was more hurt before the time prohibition started than the ban itself. With fermented and distilled drinks being widely available and produced, it was easier to go down to the local bar / pub and order yourself something to drink rather than make it yourself. Convenience killed it. Homebrewers during prohibition faced that the gov was trying to kill them by lacing their ingredients, which killed what was left.
Sweet sweet woman, teach me your ways! Lol I've tried to make wine with juice, yeast, and sugar. I don't think I let it ferment long enough and didn't want to be on the toilet for two days, so it was a bust. But I would love to learn to make mead. Isn't that a sweet honey drink?
@@azurebreeze. I have to disagree. Some poor farmer didn't have the extra money, or time to go down to the "local bar" which may have been hours away, for the convenience of ordering something he could make himself, from material he was growing and brewing beer takes much less specialized equipment than distilling. Plus, just like the whiskey they are talking about in this episode, brewing beer was a way to store some of the nutritional value of the grains you were growing and could keep you alive or perhaps sell or trade to a neighbor. There was also cultural traditions to consider, depending on where your people immigrated from, one may have had generations of brewing in the family. Prior to the actual enactment of prohibition in 1920, there were many laws being passed over decades restricting how and what alcoholic beverages one could make in this country. So it may just be me... but I agree with Heather.
@@ashtmw Big disagree. While it was being done at the time, it was already on a downwards spiral. Industrialization hit hard, and it's no different than saying that even bread became more optimal to buy in stores over time, rather than making it yourself. Convenience, having it done right, etc were all big factors in the turn of the century. People will go for the easier road. While home-crafting of food, fermented beverages, etc had their place, it was replaced by the convenience of having a store nearby. The combination of Prohibition plus the changing of times via industrialization and availability of goods drew away from the practice.
Thanks for making this video! We were taking a trip near there and stopped by to visit the site and attended the historical whisky seminar. I gained some good information for my suttler presentation that will add more depth and I hope make it more entertaining.
I make cider in my office, simple and easy. But I do wonder how it was made in the 1700's. Sugar wasn't easy to come by for common folks, and you can only get so much out of the natural sugars in apples and other fruits.
West country scrumpy isn't necessarily sweet. Depends on the apples. I accidentally drank 3 pints of 12% once when in Bristol. It was a lovely drop but getting home after that was, 'interesting'.
The heads and tails aren't toxic (at least not any more so than the hearts, ethanol will kill you if you drink enough) and are not discarded. The part that gets discarded are the "foreshots" that come out first, which have a high methanol content. A portion of the heads and tails are blended with the hearts to create a full flavor profile. The remainder of the heads and tails are saved and an amount of it is put into the still in the next batch, which improves the flavor with each subsequent batch.
Backwoods Bladesmith I totally agree with you but looking at the way it was prepared he probably does not have the detailed knowledge you appear to have, just a general overview.
Probably not an expert in distilling. Transylvanian palinka, a type of plum brandy, is also made by mixing the three parts, but omitting the first and last sprits of alcohol.
The problem that was caused by the Washington administration's Whiskey taxes was that farmers, millers, traders and distillers were working in a low-cash economy, especially on the frontiers. The trade in grain for services and goods like flour and distilled alcohol could go on fine with very little actual cash in the process. The tax had to be paid in hard currency by people who didn't necessarily have cash available and it created a hardship.
Whiskey is easier to transport than grain. Whereas grain can get wet and moldy thereby becoming worthless, whiskey ages well. I think you might find it tastes different if you use flint corn instead of dent. I live in an area famous for moonshine in the early 20th century. Have a friend whose grandfather was well-known for it and the road they lived on was named Moonshine Alley. I had some from his last barrel about 25 years ago. He was good. Had from others in the area. Thsee people were all early 20th century immigrants and home brewing was natural in the areas they came from in Europe. Most English farmers use to brew all the time. The better your brewing abilities the better harvest workers you could hire.
Flint corn is the original corn or maize of colonial times. Dent is the modern hybridized, now GMO corn produced. Many times called Indian or decorative corn. This article might help you. www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/heirloom-corn-varieties-zewz1307zpittoday.
Barbara Rickman Sorry the link doesn't work. The article is still there. www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/heirloom-corn-varieties-zewz1307zpit
God, I love this show. How can you be in a bad mood while watching this? Also, I had a question: Is there an 18th century equivalent to Chicken and Dumpling soup? Please keep up the great work, we really appreciate everything!
Love when you bring on guest experts, it always makes for new perspectives and amazing videos! But it was mentioned that to making useable and palatable whiskey, you need to keep the mash and water at specific temperature ranges. How would distillers at that time know that the mash was "95 degrees" or other precise measurements, especially when using wood fires? Also, what separates this whiskey from illegal moonshine?
The term is "blood warm" which for most of us is close enough to 95 degrees for this kind of work. Many brewing receipts of the time use this term as an indicator.
Like cooks regulating the temperature of a wood fired oven they depended on experience. Thermometers weren't even invented until the late 18th or early 19th century.
Most American's are not aware that George Washington maintained and operated a distillery at Mount Vernon. Records showed that he produced Rye Whisky from some of the grains grown on his plantation. One thing that is interesting is that the mash can be saved and reused by being revitalized by using more sugar and yeast to make sour mash whisky. The more times you use it, the sourer the resulting mash.
Sour mash whiskey isn't really sour, it's just a process where after distilling, what you remove from the still gets added back to equate @ 25-30% of the water for your next batch. It adds lots of nutrients to the yeast in the new batch, but it also helps maintain a more uniform taste from one batch to the other. If you don't like whisk(e)y, you won't like the sour mash version either.
You really make the best videos. Out of all of the channels I watch I don’t think I have seen a single video of yours that I have skipped or only partially watched.
I think this still turned out something known as "sipping whisky". You didn't drink a lot of it, but you would sit down of an evening with your friends to chat, smoke a pipe, complain about how bad the weather was for whatever crop... and share the jug. With or without glasses. The purpose was NOT to get drunk, just convivial. It's just good manners to offer your male visitors some tobacco, a chair and a glass.
The Whiskey rebellion was about a practice the farmers in the hinterlands over the Appalachians thought unfair. Grain was VERY bulky to ship before the advent of canals. 4 or 5 bulky hard to ship bushels of grain could be condensed into a couple hogsheads of more valuable easily transported whiskey. When this was taxed it was felt as a slap to all commerce beyond the mountains as this was the easiest almost only way to get money from their crops.
So you're adding malt to the mash at one point. Would a farm like this have had its own malt house too, or would malting have been something they'd have to do elsewhere? Or would they maybe even have to buy the malt?
I live in the home town of the Whiskey Rebellion, we celebrate it every July. They even have a local Distillery make whiskey to commemorate it every year.
My grandfather was a 'small farm distiller' during the prohibition and beyond. It was either that or work in the mines and America needed good whisky and coal. Lets not split hairs about the legalities, it was illegal.
My Grandpa's cousins used to make whiskey. The subject has always fascinated me, and I learned how to do it by watching Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton. I noted the great similarity between his grain bill and my relatives. When I was a child, I didn't know making it needed a permit. I built a still and made whiskey and rum and me and my friends enjoyed ourselves. Even now that I'm nearly 30 and no longer drink, there is still a place for legal bourbon and white whiskey in my kitchen, where I often use them to make extracts of spices.
I live not far from the Bushmills distillery oldest in the world i like bushmills but Jameson and powers are my favourites though Tullamore dew finished in cider casks is great
I loved the history that this mutton-chopped dyanmo was willing to relay while avoiding any potential complications with the redundancy division. Great segment!
I'm always amazed at how sustainable people use to be and multifunctional things were. It seems that common knowledge from then has turned into quite the opposite today. Great video!
"This isn't moonshine, it's unaged white whiskey."
That's exactly what a moonshiner would say.
My friends in rural east TN called it white lightning.
Mitchell Johnson if its made of corn and has never touched oak you can call it moonshine or technically vodka
"Moonshine" just means illegally produced white whiskey.
@@MrEazyE357 I doesn't even have to be illegal. It just has to be unaged.
@@MitchJohnson0110 No, then it's just white whiskey. Moonshine is illegal white whiskey.
Seeing those metal vats for making alcohol got me thinking, it would be cool to have a metal working episode. Maybe show how a traditional blacksmith forged the pots and items used for cooking and food production? Or even how different metals were smelted in the 1700 and 1800's.
They did interview a copper smith in one episode.
Paranormal Encounters n
Great idea
Love this idea. Particularly like to hear about production of pewter, a metal alloy commonly used in 18thC America. At what point was the lead content recognized as toxic? And by the time of the pewter revival in the late 19th, was lead understood to be poisonous?
i never knew mungo jerry was into historical reenactment
In the summertime, when the weather is hot...
Dude.
Dammit. I'm old enough to get that.
I'm 29, its 2020, I googled that and even I know it's an esoteric reference
AHAHAHAHAHA
Another reason the whiskey rebellion blew up is because the tax was designed to protect all the rum makers in New England. (I'm a food historian, and this is a topic on which I speak regularly.) So it was not just the tax, but the protectionism that angered people.
Of potential interest, if you'd like to find out what others are doing, I recently visited Pinckney Bend Distillery in New Haven, MO (they invited me down because my book, Midwest Maize, had encouraged them in their pursuit of heirloom corn), where the owners are making whiskey from heirloom varieties -- with each whiskey labeled with the name of the heirloom corn used -- because they wanted to make whiskey that tastes like it did in the 1800s. There is no blending, and the different types of corn make a considerable difference in the taste. Great fun to find people pursuing this history.
Oh -- and as iconic as bourbon is in Louisville, it was Peoria, IL, that was the whiskey capital of the world up to Prohibition. Staggering amounts of alcohol being produced along Distillery Row -- with taxes providing much of the federal government's income. Because people really drank a lot back then, before water was safe.
I thought in the 19th century the biggest whiskey making area in the US was along the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania? Monongahela rye whiskey was famous, then by 1900 you never heard of it anymore.
The tax was designed to favor the big distillers versus the ordinary people. Stuff You missed in History Class is a podcast with a good episode on this. Stills were taxed on capacity, not on actual production and it was a cash tax on the ordinary person but the Washington's (biggest distiller in the US at the time) could pay in installments.
The tax was imposed while Washington was still president, in 1791, and he didn't start making whiskey until after he retired, in 1797. So it was unrelated to Washington's production of whiskey. Also, while he built it up quickly, he only made whiskey for three years, and then he died. Other than Washington, the only big distillers were making rum.
According to this article, after the Whiskey Rebellion, many of the Monongahela distillers headed for Kentucky. punchdrink.com/articles/the-fall-and-rebirth-of-americas-first-great-whiskey-pennsylvania-rye/ But it was a region, not an individual whiskey distiller, like Washington -- who was only the biggest for one year (that we know of), before being bled to death by the medical experts of his day. Then, by the mid-1850s, the biggest whiskey producing area was Peoria, IL. So it moved around.
Thank you very much for such an excellent summary. Been very hard to explain to people why the whiskey tax was so terrible in their eyes, because it's so hard for people to understand how truly important it was, and how much it favored the north.
as someone who has made moonshine in the hills of Virginia multiple times I can tell you that this is moonshine
I caught that too when he said this isn't moonshine. What exactly is his definition of moonshine? Because what he was showing and describing, sounded like moonshine.
Todd Worley moonshine is basically grain liqour that isnt aged. you can mix it up and add other things to the fermenting grain if you like as well. but generally its corn and sometimes like fruit for flavor if thats what you want, then they distill the alcohol
@@sal-1337 an in the video I agree. and modern moonshine is sometimes even table sugar to give the yeast a lot to feast on and convert in to alcohol. The gentleman in the video kept saying what he was making was "Not moonshine" but it sure looked like it to me. I was curious what he was seeing as different. Cheers!
I think your spouse to age it in the jar
Moonshine is by definition illegal whiskey
My family was still making white whiskey in Kentucky until about 30 yrs ago, of course they weren't doing it on a historical site.
My great uncle still makes peach and pear moonshine brandy in Tennessee lol
As a bourbon drinker I really enjoyed this episode and I would love to visit this historic site.
Mutton man: We don't make whisky that's not what we're doing here at this time.
Mutton man: *proceeds to make whisky*
Mutton man: this is not moonshine! *nervous twitching*
not whisky at all! it's historically accurate food preservation and educational demonstration. Totally about keeping history alive.
"We dont make whiskey here"
Yes I too just have a still in my backroom for if I have an emergency need for paint stripper. You don't?
These videos are really informative and fun to watch! Keep up the good work
Thanks!
I love the history lessons, and the processes they show, even if i can't stand the product... buh, whisky.
wind yeah. Me too. It's only good sometimes in cake, when the alcohol's been cooked out.
just to reiterate... we are not making whiskey.... except.. when we make whiskey lol
@@shabath Unfortunately, it's illegal to distill alchohol in any quantity without a license. You can own a still, but you need either a fuel license or a spirits license, the latter of which is required if you are producing alcohol for consumption.
Edit: If he's actually making whiskey, he's undoubtedly got a license.
@@jessicaslater4243 We see in another video that they are actually taking what they make off site and having it distilled by a licensed distiller.
@@jessicaslater4243 Illegal and enforced are 2 different beasts. Really the reason the laws exist is to preserve the tax revenue. There are PLENTY of people distilling at home, technically illegally, but unless they sell it there's almost zero chance of being arrested for it. There is a fair amount of jawing about "safety" in the laws, but the reality is home distillation is little more dangerous than home canning. You can get sick or die multiple ways from both.
Here in the PacNW we are seeing a small surge in "boutique" distilleries....wonder how they learned to make booze? lol
As I understand it, it's legal to distill ethanol for use as fuel as long as the process denatures the alcohol (i.e. renders it undrinkable). Typically that's done by putting some gasoline in the container that receives the output of the still. I'm not sure if doing that still requires a distilling license, but it's how farmers are intended to make ethanol from corn for use as fuel in their farm equipment.
About 25 years ago there was a serious accident at the Farm Science Review in Ohio when a fuel still that was on display caught fire. A spectator didn't see the "no flames" signs and approached the catch barrel while smoking a cigarette. It ignited the gasoline fumes from the barrel, causing a fire and much damage.
They are a Historical Society that wants to revive an old art but they're dancing around a sensitive topic of alcohol production and those laws.
As a Native Kentuckian, this episode made me smile. History is amazing. Thanks for posting it.
Just want to let you know how much all your effort in making these videos is appreciated. I came home from a long day at work and was happy to see that another video had been uploaded. I love our early history and the personal view that you put on it is just great. Thanks.
I love how it says "we don't do this", then proceeds to do it right in front of the camera. Might as well have winked beforehand. Great video though, loved it.
It might be worthwhile to give a little more detail on why whiskey was so important to farmers of the Federal period. Unless they happened to be near rivers or seaports, early American farmers had no way to bring grain (wheat, corn, rye, barley, etc.) to markets that wasn't slow, dangerous, and expensive. Making the grain into whiskey not only preserved the grain and added value, but it made it much more compact and more portable, so it was much easier and cheaper to get to a market and turn it into money. The same was true of fruit: far more fruit was made into wines and spirits than was eaten fresh in this era. So farmers, especially in the (more remote) western areas of the early United States, saw a federal tax on whiskey as a threat to their economic viability and as discriminatory against farmers who lived farther from major grain markets. Hence the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-1794.
Hey Gary, thanks for the context. I'm a bit lost as to why that increases the value when transferred to liquid form. Is it purely a 'we still get calories when we consume this' thing, or 'we like drinking'? It loses so much utility when it isn't grain any longer. Just looking to understand the area a bit more.
@@AT-wz7ye Alcohol does contain calories, but the increase in value is mainly what Gary mentions. Transporting grain a long way is risky if you're just a small farmer or a small village, as the weather might be against you (you don't want it to get wet) and you might not have enough wagons to make it worthwhile taking a load into town for selling. Farmers closer to town can haul their grain there faster and with less work so they see more profit in it. Converting grain into whiskey will make the finished product take much less room and weigh less so transport becomes easier. Clay jugs or wooden barrels cost some money to get but they keep the whiskey safe from the environment and you can add them to the sales price.
Like they said in the video, it was a way to get some profit from produce that might have otherwise gone bad.
Brian Cushing and friends at these historical sites have the best jobs ever!
Thumbs up from Denmark! Love your informative pieces on American history.
Good to know people are still interested in our heritage and the old ways
I really appreciate the added context behind historical events. I knew about the whiskey tax rebellion under Washington but I had no understanding of how significant whiskey was for farmers.
We have something similar here in Australia. It's called "paint thinner".
Lol you buy your Alcohol at government run bottle shop. You have no idea what you are talking about. Love from your American cousin
You by your a call from a government run bottle shop. You have no idea what you're talking about. Lol from your American cousin
@@jasonthetalker7253 Thanks jason, what will we do without decent healthcare- wait that you lol. Enjoy it.
@@jasonthetalker7253 I also remembered that most americans can't find america on a world map, so I guess we can cut you some slack
@@m2heavyindustries378 We don't have to find it we are already here. We already won.
Ive made plenty of batches of shine, and im not saying they're making shine, but they're definitely making shine.
No no. Can't be. They don't do that there.
Excellent! I really enjoyed visiting Locust Grove when I lived in Louisville. Thanks for going there and sharing all the work they are doing there.
I want more of this guy
A tale of two cakes will appease you, then.
Valerie ikr
😉
Brian killed that voice over of the whiskey making procedure. Awesome job!
Unaged ("white") whiskey is known these days as "white dog." In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the unaged stuff straight from the still was far more prevalent than the barrel-aged products we see today.
Because of the lack of pasteurization I'd guess.
I can not say now much I love those aprons. I love yours Jon and here, Brian is wearing one too. The bib part linking to the top button is charming. Thanks for bringing BC to us Jon, you really do pick cool friends.
These are just getting better and better!
Thanks!
Correct
Brian's description of the development of alcohol / whisky in Kentucky is very interesting and informative. He's clear, concise and his logic is easily followed. Thank you.
Glad to see KY represented on here
There were many uses for the alcohol produced by distilling. It was used medicinally. It was also used as a way of preserving fruits before canning was invented. One would peel and slice up fruit, apples, peaches, pears, or even berries, and pack them loosely into a crock, then cover them with alcohol, and cover the crock tightly. The alcohol would keep the fresh fruit from spoiling. This was an alternative to drying.
This is my favorite Jas. Townsend and Sons episode ever.
Again, another great episode. Love discovering America with my fellow Americans. Hope we always embrace our past heritage. It is a true proud one.
THAT...is fantastic. Thanks for doing this! You guys are GREAT!
Love the Locust Grove episodes. So much fun and info! Thanks guys!
"Corn won't grow at all on Rocky Top/Soil's too rocky by far;/That's why all the folks on Rocky Top/Get their corn from a jar..." :-)
Isn't that the TN state anthem?
Really enjoying your videos - started with gardening - vermicomposting - permaculture - seed saving - soil regeneration - and now the history of it all thanks to you sir. Great videos to relax to after work!!
a terrific young presenter. please bring him on again.:)
Wonderful as always, John! Next time you're in VA you should film at the distillery at Mount Vernon if you can. They're not only active, they barrel and sell to the public!
This is weirdly interesting to me. I love what you guys have been doing, please keep it up its utterly fascinating to myself and apparently a lot of other people.
I like how when they're mashing, they are not worried about the actual temp, but the practical process. Sweet.
the fact that americans arent allowed to distill alcohol is atrocious. we should have that freedom
Then don't make whisky make fuel. Its legal and the same process.
Larry Koziol Whisky is fuel... I can run on it :D
Let's not abuse the definition of atrocious.
In reality, as long as you distill alcohol only for your own personal use, the likelihood of the authorities catching you is about the same as being caught having a poker game with your friends. You might get a small fine, at most. But get caught selling the stuff without a license, and you're looking at massive fines and prison.
@UA-cam User Home Distilling of Spirits is illegal nationwide in the USA. Home Brewing is not.
Learn something new and interesting everytime I watch one of your videos! Thank you and keep them coming and I'll keep watching.
That man is sporting some seriously impressive mutton chops!
Really love how high quality the production has gotten over the last decade. The cut scenes are voiceovers are perfect!!!
Turnt of the 18th century
gamorm pretty ashamed to admit I laughed at this
Me too.
I laughed more than a little at this
I don't get it, did I miss something?
Serjo777 noticed the windir W
Townsends love your videos on documenting the earlier centuries processes of living.
I believe George Washington was the largest whiskey maker in the United States after he left the presidency. They have restored or recreated one of his stills at Mount Vernon. The whiskey he made was rye whiskey. You can buy a bottle of Washington's whiskey made in his still at Mount Vernon with his recipe over a $100 a pint bottle.
Yes - I’ve visited it. Pretty interesting. I asked them how long did Washington age his whiskey - they said “the wagon ride from here to the docks in Alexandria
He was one the richest president after he left
What kind of fool would pay $100 a pint? That’s $800 per gallon
@@mikecastellon3022 I would. For christmas or birthday sipping with friends and family. It's interesting.
I got a pint gifted to me. It was white, and it was rye. Very tasty. Almost tequila-ish.
Man, Brian looks like he was transported from the 18th century .....very cool!!! Thanks for keeping history alive !!
I'm a forth generation brewer (that I can confirm, but it seems to have been a very common practice in older generations) - I've made beer, mead, wine, and sake. I've played around with distilling as well but, officially, I have no knowledge of distilling. I wish more people would home brew - it is a remarkably (and tangibly) rewarding hobby. I resent the fact that prohibition broke the chain of common wisdom about home brewing.
Home brewing was more hurt before the time prohibition started than the ban itself. With fermented and distilled drinks being widely available and produced, it was easier to go down to the local bar / pub and order yourself something to drink rather than make it yourself. Convenience killed it.
Homebrewers during prohibition faced that the gov was trying to kill them by lacing their ingredients, which killed what was left.
Sweet sweet woman, teach me your ways! Lol I've tried to make wine with juice, yeast, and sugar. I don't think I let it ferment long enough and didn't want to be on the toilet for two days, so it was a bust. But I would love to learn to make mead. Isn't that a sweet honey drink?
@@azurebreeze. I have to disagree. Some poor farmer didn't have the extra money, or time to go down to the "local bar" which may have been hours away, for the convenience of ordering something he could make himself, from material he was growing and brewing beer takes much less specialized equipment than distilling. Plus, just like the whiskey they are talking about in this episode, brewing beer was a way to store some of the nutritional value of the grains you were growing and could keep you alive or perhaps sell or trade to a neighbor. There was also cultural traditions to consider, depending on where your people immigrated from, one may have had generations of brewing in the family. Prior to the actual enactment of prohibition in 1920, there were many laws being passed over decades restricting how and what alcoholic beverages one could make in this country. So it may just be me... but I agree with Heather.
@@ashtmw Big disagree. While it was being done at the time, it was already on a downwards spiral. Industrialization hit hard, and it's no different than saying that even bread became more optimal to buy in stores over time, rather than making it yourself. Convenience, having it done right, etc were all big factors in the turn of the century. People will go for the easier road.
While home-crafting of food, fermented beverages, etc had their place, it was replaced by the convenience of having a store nearby. The combination of Prohibition plus the changing of times via industrialization and availability of goods drew away from the practice.
@@azurebreeze. Prohibition, and the laws in the decades leading up to it, did have a huge impact, that was Heather's original point.
Thanks for making this video! We were taking a trip near there and stopped by to visit the site and attended the historical whisky seminar. I gained some good information for my suttler presentation that will add more depth and I hope make it more entertaining.
those are some sweet chops on that guy
Absolutely Fascinating! Thank You John!
Are you ever going to look into historical cider production?
Mr. Stoßtruppen
I'm hopping for an applejack one, he lives in a cold enough state for it
I make cider in my office, simple and easy. But I do wonder how it was made in the 1700's. Sugar wasn't easy to come by for common folks, and you can only get so much out of the natural sugars in apples and other fruits.
Greenscyth22 Make a syrup out of fruit juice or similar? Tbh it probably just wasn't very sweet like we're used to
West country scrumpy isn't necessarily sweet. Depends on the apples. I accidentally drank 3 pints of 12% once when in Bristol. It was a lovely drop but getting home after that was, 'interesting'.
Gr8 idea!
I live 10 minutes from there. Cool place, And great museum there too!
The heads and tails aren't toxic (at least not any more so than the hearts, ethanol will kill you if you drink enough) and are not discarded. The part that gets discarded are the "foreshots" that come out first, which have a high methanol content. A portion of the heads and tails are blended with the hearts to create a full flavor profile. The remainder of the heads and tails are saved and an amount of it is put into the still in the next batch, which improves the flavor with each subsequent batch.
Backwoods Bladesmith I totally agree with you but looking at the way it was prepared he probably does not have the detailed knowledge you appear to have, just a general overview.
Probably not an expert in distilling. Transylvanian palinka, a type of plum brandy, is also made by mixing the three parts, but omitting the first and last sprits of alcohol.
The problem that was caused by the Washington administration's Whiskey taxes was that farmers, millers, traders and distillers were working in a low-cash economy, especially on the frontiers. The trade in grain for services and goods like flour and distilled alcohol could go on fine with very little actual cash in the process. The tax had to be paid in hard currency by people who didn't necessarily have cash available and it created a hardship.
His head is always on a swivel
Mine? Yes; tends to bobble right off into the mash. Inconvenient.
brianjosephcushing hah, I love that you replied. You're cool :)
brianjosephcushing ...Man, those chops tell me you are the real deal but your historical knowledge seals it! Awesome!
Of course it is. He is making moonshin3....err, I mean white whiskey.
@@alexanderh.5814, it's not moonshine until you sell it. But try telling that to Elliot Ness.
That guy is awesome. The energy he has just got me into this.
Whiskey is easier to transport than grain. Whereas grain can get wet and moldy thereby becoming worthless, whiskey ages well. I think you might find it tastes different if you use flint corn instead of dent. I live in an area famous for moonshine in the early 20th century. Have a friend whose grandfather was well-known for it and the road they lived on was named Moonshine Alley. I had some from his last barrel about 25 years ago. He was good. Had from others in the area. Thsee people were all early 20th century immigrants and home brewing was natural in the areas they came from in Europe. Most English farmers use to brew all the time. The better your brewing abilities the better harvest workers you could hire.
We really need to plant some acres of flint corn as a bit of research, don't we?
What is the difference between "flint" corn and "dent" corn? Have never heard of this before.
Flint corn is the original corn or maize of colonial times. Dent is the modern hybridized, now GMO corn produced. Many times called Indian or decorative corn. This article might help you. www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/heirloom-corn-varieties-zewz1307zpittoday.
The information for this link is no longer there.
Barbara Rickman Sorry the link doesn't work. The article is still there. www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/heirloom-corn-varieties-zewz1307zpit
This is my new favorite UA-cam channel. So glad I found it!
Fantastic video as always, thanks
Great video!! I like the connection to ordinary life in the past.
"Not moonshine" idk if he knows or not, but thats exactly how you make shine.
Moonshine can be any illegally made alcohol, it's called "moonshine" because you make it by the light of the moon.
What a great video of the distilling process! And what epic sideburns
God, I love this show. How can you be in a bad mood while watching this? Also, I had a question: Is there an 18th century equivalent to Chicken and Dumpling soup? Please keep up the great work, we really appreciate everything!
Research Pennsylvania Dutch cooking -- if it had dumplings, they had it then and now.
Super fantastic video. Loved seeing the well researched demonstration of how the spirit was made and learning why it was important to a farm.
Love this guys mutton chops, best part of the video
💯
Very happy to see the new "Townsends" logo. That says so much that is positive. Appreciate your sensitivity and ability to change. All the best!
Love when you bring on guest experts, it always makes for new perspectives and amazing videos! But it was mentioned that to making useable and palatable whiskey, you need to keep the mash and water at specific temperature ranges. How would distillers at that time know that the mash was "95 degrees" or other precise measurements, especially when using wood fires? Also, what separates this whiskey from illegal moonshine?
The term is "blood warm" which for most of us is close enough to 95 degrees for this kind of work. Many brewing receipts of the time use this term as an indicator.
Like cooks regulating the temperature of a wood fired oven they depended on experience. Thermometers weren't even invented until the late 18th or early 19th century.
Duncan here, THANK YOU for the short history of a old/come new farm preserve called white whisky !
WOOO! That's some handsome looking facial hair.
You should get more likes .. you have a very valid point.
@ Nicolas Johnson That is what was in style about 1840.
love the sideburns!
Nicholas Johnson That's what your mom said! 👌🏻
Townsends really does a good job of bringing history to life.
Look says 3 packs of smokes a day. Voice says shops exclusively at whole foods.
3 pipes a day*
@@TEEbrownProductions Pipe smokers don't Inhale
@@brandonedwards1181 Doesn't make it healthy
Watching the process in tandem with the explanation was really cool!
Love the new intro! Great work!
That was wonderful! Brian is so good at teaching! Great video guys!
Very informative and a pleasure to watch. I'm really loving this channel!
Thanks for posting Jon.
Most American's are not aware that George Washington maintained and operated a distillery at Mount Vernon. Records showed that he produced Rye Whisky from some of the grains grown on his plantation.
One thing that is interesting is that the mash can be saved and reused by being revitalized by using more sugar and yeast to make sour mash whisky. The more times you use it, the sourer the resulting mash.
Never had a sour mash whisky. I can't stand the normal stuff, but love sour flavors, so may be worth attempting.
Sour mash whiskey isn't really sour, it's just a process where after distilling, what you remove from the still gets added back to equate @ 25-30% of the water for your next batch. It adds lots of nutrients to the yeast in the new batch, but it also helps maintain a more uniform taste from one batch to the other. If you don't like whisk(e)y, you won't like the sour mash version either.
You really make the best videos. Out of all of the channels I watch I don’t think I have seen a single video of yours that I have skipped or only partially watched.
I think this still turned out something known as "sipping whisky". You didn't drink a lot of it, but you would sit down of an evening with your friends to chat, smoke a pipe, complain about how bad the weather was for whatever crop... and share the jug. With or without glasses. The purpose was NOT to get drunk, just convivial. It's just good manners to offer your male visitors some tobacco, a chair and a glass.
I love this channel, keeping history alive. Well done townsends
The Whiskey rebellion was about a practice the farmers in the hinterlands over the Appalachians thought unfair. Grain was VERY bulky to ship before the advent of canals. 4 or 5 bulky hard to ship bushels of grain could be condensed into a couple hogsheads of more valuable easily transported whiskey. When this was taxed it was felt as a slap to all commerce beyond the mountains as this was the easiest almost only way to get money from their crops.
WHO CARES!? - YOU CAN GET THAT RAUNCHY STUFF CHEAP EVERYWHERE.
@@garyklafta3411 I think your caps lock is broken, dude.
I truly enjoy your channel and the amazing people who participate in sharing knowledge.
So you're adding malt to the mash at one point. Would a farm like this have had its own malt house too, or would malting have been something they'd have to do elsewhere? Or would they maybe even have to buy the malt?
without malt theyre gonna be fermenting a bunch of corn mash potatos, no sugars all starch
I live in the home town of the Whiskey Rebellion, we celebrate it every July. They even have a local Distillery make whiskey to commemorate it every year.
My grandfather was a 'small farm distiller' during the prohibition and beyond. It was either that or work in the mines and America needed good whisky and coal. Lets not split hairs about the legalities, it was illegal.
So was prohibition lol. Hence why it got repealed.
My Grandpa's cousins used to make whiskey. The subject has always fascinated me, and I learned how to do it by watching Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton. I noted the great similarity between his grain bill and my relatives. When I was a child, I didn't know making it needed a permit. I built a still and made whiskey and rum and me and my friends enjoyed ourselves. Even now that I'm nearly 30 and no longer drink, there is still a place for legal bourbon and white whiskey in my kitchen, where I often use them to make extracts of spices.
Louisville is my town. It's a pretty great place.
Hello neighbor 👋
This video is fantastic. I love the collaboration with historical sites
Man, check out those sideburns!
Fantastic stuff as always. Thank you so very much.
Things to sell me on clicking on your thumbnail
1) Jas. Townsend and son
2) whiskey
Did you even need the second item?
Excellent piece of history. Thanks for the effort and time to make this video
I live not far from the Bushmills distillery oldest in the world i like bushmills but Jameson and powers are my favourites though Tullamore dew finished in cider casks is great
I loved the history that this mutton-chopped dyanmo was willing to relay while avoiding any potential complications with the redundancy division. Great segment!
Greetings from far away Germany.
You know this stuff as "beirschnapps" then.
I'm always amazed at how sustainable people use to be and multifunctional things were. It seems that common knowledge from then has turned into quite the opposite today. Great video!
Who would dislike this video?
People that don't like alcohol
ATF agents.
Lived in Tennessee for 9 years. Had some excellent moonshine. Shhhhhh......