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Food Science

The chemistry of modern moonshine

Whiskey’s rougher cousin gets a makeover

by Kerri Jansen
March 30, 2018 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 96, Issue 14

 

Credit: C&EN/ACS Productions

About a century ago during Prohibition, people cooked up moonshine with jury-rigged equipment to fly under the radar of the law. But today, a new generation of craft distillers are making moonshine—high-proof, unaged whiskey—for the masses. In the latest episode of Speaking of Chemistry, we explore the chemicals that put the “fire” in “firewater” and visit a local distilling operation to see and taste how modern chemistry has changed the production of this potent spirit.

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