Old timers versed in the lore of moonshining will tell you that cattle and hogs are mighty fond of still-slop but that most horses despise the stuff.
They tell a story here in the mountains of a revenue agent who had a sure fire way for ferreting out corn likker stills. This was back over one hundred years ago when mountain folks looked on moonshining as their inalienable right, tax or no tax.
It was in the horse and buggy days and this revenue agent did his still hunting on horseback. His horse was in the habit of drinking a mouthful of water from every stream they forded. If there was the least taint of still-slop in the water, the horse would whisk his nose about and refuse to drink. The revenue agent then had only to follow up stream until he found the still.
Cattle and hogs made it difficult, too, for a moonshiner to keep his still a secret. Back in the old days when they ran wild out in the mountains, they could scent still-slop at a great distance. And since a good part of every farmer’s time was taken in keeping track of his stock, there was no place, no secret but that it was liable to be visited at any time.
In the old days, blockaders used sprouted corn in turning out their whiskey. They would put the corn in a barrel and pour hot water over it until it began to sprout. Then they would take it out and dry it. This sweet corn was then ground into meal. A feller had to have his own grist mill or bribe a miller to grind it for him. The miller was running a risk, for it was just as much against the law to grind sprouted corn as it was to make a run of whiskey.
Once ground, the sweet corn meal was made into a mash with boiling water and let stand for two or three days. Rye malt was added and it began to ferment at once.
Blockade whiskey back in the old days fetched from $2.50 to $3.00 a gallon and corn sold at 75 cents to a dollar a bushel. The average yield was two gallons to a bushel of corn.
All the old timer moonshiners double distilled their whiskey. They called it “doublings”. And that was where the real skill of whisky making came in. But even in double distilling a fellow could come up with a bad run of whiskey. If the second distillation was not carried far enough, the whiskey would be rank, though weak. If it was carried too fair it would be pure alcohol.
After they made a run, they poured out the slop from the still. And it was this still-slop that brought the cattle and the hogs running!