Methanol Risks – While the flammability of the moonshine distillation process is dangerous in and of itself, the health effects of moonshine-methanol consumption pose an even bigger threat. More people have died from drinking moonshine than by any explosions at stills, despite the few old and handmade stills that are left.
A major risk of drinking moonshine is methanol blindness. Detecting methanol upon the first step is impossible, and consuming more of it will simply get the person drunker. However, it’s eventually metabolized as its toxic metabolite, formic acid, in the body, which can have an extremely harmful effect.
Just 10 milliliters (ml) of methanol is all it takes to cause permanent optic and partial nerve damage, if not complete blindness. As little as 30 ml of methanol is lethal, and, for reference, a standard shot glass in the U.S. holds 40 ml. Old stills use car radiators during the distilling process, which often contain lead soldering and remnants of antifreeze glycol products that could contaminate and add toxins to the moonshine.
Larger batches of moonshine are more likely to contain methanol. Because methanol is vaporized or evaporated at a lower temperature than alcohol, the first liquid produced by the distillation process usually contains methanol. While moonshiners have adopted new ways to discard methanol, some moonshiners will actually add it back into the batch to make the drink more potent.
However, because these processes aren’t regulated, there’s no way of knowing whether the illicit alcohol actually contains any methanol.
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What can happen if you drink moonshine?
Consuming Methanol In Moonshine – Upon first sip, the dangerous potential of methanol is undetectable. It will simply get people drunker. However, after it is metabolized, the methanol can have an extremely harmful effect in someone’s body.10 milliliters (ml) of methanol is all it takes to permanently damage the optic nerve and cause partial, if not complete, blindness.30 ml of methanol is lethal.
For reference, and standard shot glass in the United States holds 40 ml. If less than 10 ml of methanol is consumed then the worst someone will experience is a hangover, (albeit, quite possibly the worst hangover of their life). However, if someone consumes 10 ml or more of methanol, even split up among drinks, that can be enough to cause permanent damage or kill them.
While there are processes today to discard the toxic alcohol that is visually indistinguishable from water, some illegal Moonshiners will add methanol back in to provide a stronger potency. Obviously, without regulation, there is no way to know if illicit alcohol contains methanol.
What is moonshine drug?
MOONSHINE is the cause of more hospital admissions than all other drugs combined. In just six months, around 30 people have been rushed to accident and emergency units in Ayrshire after taking the party drug. The revelation comes just a week after tragic Jordan Kiltie’s devastated mum pleaded with the public to steer clear of the Class B powder.
- A toxicology report confirmed that the Dalmilling teenager died purely of “Mephedrone intoxication.” Health chiefs have joined Mrs Kiltie in urging revellers to avoid Mephedrone, commonly known as Moonshine.
- Dr David Chung, clinical director for emergency medicine in Ayrshire and Arran, said: “Myadvice would be to be verycareful.
“This drug is cheap and readily available, so it’s also being mixed into other drugs, which is very worrying. “It is also unpredictable, so just because you have taken it once and been fine, doesn’t mean you will be fine next time. “We first became aware of an increase in mephedrone-related admissions in our accident and emergency departments in November 2009.
- Since then we have treated approximately 30 patients.
- However, the figures are not exact as people take mephedrone with a cocktail of other drugs.
- We are still seeing more problems caused by this drug than all the other drugs combined, with the exception of alcohol.” Moonshine is a cathinone which means it has similar side effects to amphetamines and ecstasy.
These include over stimulation of the cardiovascular system with risk of heart and circulation problems. Other side effects include over stimulation of the nervous system, with risk of fits and of agitated and paranoid states and hallucinations. It is also showing signs of damaging parts of the brain which control movement.
Does moonshine put you to sleep?
So, Does Alcohol Make You Sleep Better? Nope. – It’s clear that alcohol’s sedative effects are temporary, and drinking it before bed as a “sleep aid” will backfire. Not only will you get less sleep and miss out on the restorative power of REM sleep, but you’ll also put yourself at risk for some of the other side effects discussed in this article.
Does moonshine leave a hangover?
Everything You Need to Know about Moonshine Moonshine carries with it the stigma of a backwoods drink that can double as an engine degreaser. However for those in the know, can also be a top shelf spirit that connoisseurs around the world will gladly put a pinky in the air for a taste.
The number one thing you hear about Moonshine when talking to laymen is, “Won’t that stuff make you blind?” The answer is no, drinking moonshine will not make you blind, At least not any more so than other types of booze, we’ve all had those regretful mornings. The genesis of this concern comes from the fact that a byproduct of distilling, known as methanol, can indeed make one blind.
Combine that fact with Moonshine’s unregulated history and voila. horror stories have long lives. Like so many things, distilling is both science and art, A great distiller has his art down to science, making his product stand out in every way possible. This includes the mash, the temperatures, the timing, and any infusions he may have up his sleeve. When doing a run of Moonshine, you heat your mash to a desired temperature, The mash has been fermenting, and is a slurry of all the stuff you want mixed with a bunch of stuff you don’t want. By heating it, you’re taking advantage of the fact that the stuff you want will evaporate at different temperatures than the stuff you don’t want.
When you begin heating, the first distillate to come out the other end of your still is known as the foreshots, The foreshots are mostly methanol, and they will make you blind. Next, comes the heads, The heads won’t make you blind, but the volatile alcohols they contain will give you a whopping hangover.
The product also smells and tastes terrible, this is because of the acetone that is present. After the heads come the hearts, The hearts are arguably the most important step that separates delicious Moonshine from engine degreaser, Think of this transition as a gradient and you begin to see what makes it so difficult.
Your first and last jars of hearts can be difficult to time, and often what smells/tastes ok to you will be laughed at by a seasoned shiner. Finally we get to the tails, which get oily from water and proteins that are present. If you’re drinking oily hooch, you’re drinking tails. Gross. If you want to learn more about this subject, Mile Hi Distilling has a great article on,
If you check online spirits retailers or if you have a decent spirits retailer near you, chances are good that you’ll find a great brand of Moonshine there. Unfortunately, there’s no way to say what brand is better than another because they all have their own corner of the market.
Maybe you like the traditional sweet-corn taste that comes from a full blown corn Whiskey mash. If so, check out Tim Smith’s Climax Moonshine. Or perhaps you’re into flavored Moonshine made from a sugar mash that is built on a more neutral-tasting foundation. If this is your style, check out, If you have distillers close to you, go give them a taste.
If you smell a sweet ethanol and corn coming off the shine, you’re probably in the right place. We’re here to help people try new things more often. Not only do we send out personalized samples & complimentary bottles, we give people access to rare and original Spirits, invite them to great events, and keep them educated & entertained with booze-themed content. Get the freshly distilled booze news, new releases, and awesome deals in your inbox before everyone else, : Everything You Need to Know about Moonshine
How strong is moonshine alcohol?
Pot still – A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill flavored liquors such as whisky or cognac, but not rectified spirit because they are poor at separating congeners, Pot stills operate on a batch distillation basis (as opposed to a Coffey or column stills, which operate on a continuous basis).
What kind of drunk does moonshine give you?
9. Moonshine: 0-100 Real Quick Drunk – You will be fine one second, then, very shortly after drinking, you’ll be HAMMERED. You’ll feel yourself soaring above the legal limit as you begin to move less like a sober person and more like a marionette controlled by the jerky-handed puppet master known as moonshine. Article continues below advertisement