The history of moonshine, home stills, ethanol fuels, biogas, and methane gas reflects humanity’s long pursuit of self-sufficiency and energy innovation. Moonshining began as the rural craft of distilling homemade alcohol, particularly in early America, where farmers converted surplus corn and grain into whiskey to avoid taxes and spoilage. During Prohibition (1920–1933), illegal distilling thrived, with home stills—small, often handmade copper or tin setups—becoming icons of rebellion and resourcefulness. Over time, the same distillation methods used for spirits were adapted for producing ethanol, a renewable fuel made from crops such as corn and sugarcane. Ethanol gained importance during fuel shortages and later as a cleaner alternative blended into modern gasoline.
Parallel to this, the development of biogas and methane gas technology offered another renewable energy path. Biogas is produced through the natural decomposition of organic waste—like manure, food scraps, or sewage—in oxygen-free environments, creating methane, a flammable gas that can generate heat, electricity, or vehicle fuel. This process, known as anaerobic digestion, has been used in various forms since the 19th century and is now vital to sustainable energy and waste management systems.
Together, the histories of moonshine, home stills, ethanol fuels, and biogas trace the evolution of human experimentation with fermentation and distillation—from making homemade spirits in secret to harnessing natural processes for modern, eco-friendly energy solutions.
All of the book titles that are included in this DVD are listed as follows:
Our DVD will give you a basis on how to make
ETHANOL FUEL , MOONSHINE / CORN WHISKEY, GIN & LIQUORS ... plus more!
It will teach you how to make a basic still and distilling of the first batch,
with the knowledge gained to help you gain experience in this form of art.
Our DVD contains in detail:
1. Building Home Stills and How to Distill Properly. The best guide on the market.
For starters our CD has 2 diagrams to make the basic stills without welding.
For starters we recommend one of them, very simple and of very low cost, that allows to control the bad alcohols.
For more sophisticated stills, the CD also includes instructions and step-by-step plans and pictures on
how to build pot, reflux and reflux valved stills.
Also included is a link to practical VIDEOS on how to make a copper still and moonshine.
How to operate the stills to distill properly is also explained.
A practical guide on how to correctly solder copper is added.
2. Mash, Fermentation and Moonshine
After building your still, these instructions explain thoroughly how to make and ferment the mash
and make moonshine.
Strictly what is necessary, without introducing any of the myths this subject is usually surrounded with.
No yeast needed unless you want to accelerate the fermentation, and do not expend on turbo yeasts.
A practical table with the quantity of ingredients to use for different volumes of mash is also provided.
3. Activated Carbon Filtering
A good distillation does not require activated charcoal filtering. But a good distillation requires a reflux still and
experience. For those that will use a pot still or the still without soldering that we recommend to starters,
charcoal filtering may be necessary. So how to filter properly with activated carbon is briefly but effectively explained.
4. Alcoholmeter Use and Correction Table
The use of the alcoholmeter or hydrometer for alcohol is pretty straightforward, but some tips are needed
and consequently given, as well as a correction table in case the alcohol you are measuring does not match
the usual alcoholmeter calibration of 68ºF (= 20º C).
5. Mead and Moonshine Recipes
All the usual recipes: Mead recipe, Black beards rum, Stonewall Southern whiskey, whiskey, rye whiskey,
good whiskey, JD's black label whiskey, Indian head-corn whiskey, watermelon-peach moonshine brandy,
watermelon-elderberry moonshine brandy, watermelon-grape moonshine brandy, welches frozen grape juice,
moonshine brandy, apple pie brandy mountain dew, sweet feed moonshine, tangle-foot moonshine,
wheat germ, kill me quick.
6. Treatise on Liquors
This massive work by a French liquorist, written near 1900, contains hundreds of arcane recipes, in addition to the
distilling methods. All the brandies: Armagnac, Saintonge, Kirsch, cognac brandy, etc. Rums. Gins. Absinthes:
white, Portarlier, Montpellier, Lyons, Fougerolles, Besancon, Nimes. Liquors: Anisette de Paris, de Lyon, au d’ Angelique,
cent-sept-ans, curacao blanc, surfin, Hollande, fleurs d’oranger, framboises, mint, eau de Noyaux, parfait amour,
rum punch, liqueurs du Mezenc, maraschino, crème of Moka, menthe, elixir de Cagliostro, liqueur Flamande, etc.
7. How to Make All Kinds of Cider, Fruit Wines and Vinegar
Another massive work with the different methods and processes, recipes, etc., to make ciders, fruit wines and vinegar.
8. Comprehensive Source on Alcohol Distillation, particularly for the farm
A work from around 1900, yet unsurpassed for its clear and thorough explanations on alcohol, mashes, fermentation,
distillation, rectification, malting, the different types of stills, and the processes to obtain alcohol from potatoes,
corn, wheat, rice, beets, molasses, sugar cane. Excellent reading for farmers.
9. Distillation of Alcohol Fuel/Ethanol
The methods to make ethanol fuel: Basic steps in the production, mash recipes, still designs and operation, including
two low cost column stills, and a weblink to an interactive and illustrative video on ethanol production.
The form to apply for the alcohol fuel permit in the U.S. is included.
10. The Practical Distiller, by Samuel McHarry, 1809
McHarry's book is a classic, published in 1809. For some, he is the precursor of Bourbon (proposed the use of 1/3 to full corn)
and of Tennessee whiskey (proposed maple charcoal filtering). This book is a clear introduction to making whiskey, gin,
brandy and many other spirits, from rye, corn, buck-wheat, apples, peaches, potatoes, pumpions and turnips.
The treatment of early American whiskey, and its clarification and coloring, is particularly fascinating.
The book is a treasure chest of distilling secrets.
11. The Art of Making Whiskey and Gin, by A. Boucherie, 1919
How to make a better and purer whiskey and how to convert it to gin following the methods of the Holland distilleries.
12. All the Liquors with Valuable Formulas Starting from the Plants' Leaves and Seeds
This work is a little bible of all the liquors, starting from the very plants' leaves and seeds, with precise formulas and
indications on how to make all the absinthes, sirups, anisettes, brandies, essences, cremes, etc.
You will browse this little book over and over again.
13. Making Liquors without Distillation
Perhaps you also want to make liquors without distilling, and to experiment with flavoring. To that purpose we include
a nice and practical work.
14. Methane or Biogas from Manure and residual Biofertilizer
As alternative energy for the farm, we include literature on methods and plans to make digesters to process methane
from manure, and on how to use and maintain them. Asians are experts on this subject, consequently their digester
construction methods and processes have also been included, as well as the utilization of the resultant biofertilizer.
... PLUS ...
We will include a collection of rare 1800s/1900s Bartender books on how to mix drinks/cocktails ...
The Ideal Bartender, T. Bullock, 1917
Burke's Complete Cocktail & Drinking Recipes, 1920
American & Other Drinks, L. Engel, 1878
Modern American Drinks, G. J. Kappeler, 1900
Bartenders' Encyclopedia, T. Daly, 1903
Beverages Deluxe, G. R. Washburne & S. Bronner, 1914
Fancy Drinks, T. Stuart, 1896
How to Mix Drink, Anonymous, circa 1900
How to Mix Drinks, Winter, circa 1900
How to Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivants Companion, J. Thomas, 1862
Jack's Manual Bartender, 1910
Mixing Fancy Drinks, J. C. Maloney, 1900
New & Improved Bartender's Manual, H. Johnson, 1888
The Art of Blending & Compounding Liquors & Wines, J. Fleischman, 1885
The Complete Bartender, A. Barnes, 1884
When & What to Drink, W. Schmidt, 1892