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Moonshiners Have So Much to Teach Us—About So Much

Making alcohol at home still plays an important role in local cultures—and economies—across the globe.

Published December 26, 2024

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India creek still. All photos: Emilie Kaye Peine

White lightning. Mountain dew. Devil’s brew. Blue-burner. Rotgut. Jungle juice. Joy juice. Firewater. Freakwater. Stump water. Moonshine. 

Moonshine is the stuff of American legend, its sensationalist image only intensified by decades of pop culture treatments of Appalachian hillbillies, illegal backwoods stills, and, more recently, reality TV.

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