The Moonshine Apprentice

Apple pie moonshine that tastes like the pie, not like rubbing alcohol.

Follow the recipes now. Write your own when you're ready.
Most moonshine recipes hand you a list of ingredients and leave you guessing. Every recipe here gives you the amounts, the times, and the finished strength, so you can follow it and get a good jar the first time. Every number also comes with the reason behind it, so when a batch goes sideways you can work out why. And when you're ready to go further, Part Eight teaches the same methods used to build all 201 recipes, so you can design your own washes, jars, and drinks, and test them in a pint before you make a gallon.

No still yet? Start with the jars.
156 of the 201 recipes, every flavored jar and every drink, can be made with store-bought alcohol. A table shows how to cut 190- or 151-proof grain alcohol to stand in for shine, and most of the infused jars work with plain 80-proof vodka as it is. When you're ready to run your own still, Part One walks you through it.

It starts with one batch, start to finish. Chapter 8 takes you from an empty fermenter to a finished jar of apple pie moonshine, step by step with drawings. You build an Everyday Sugar Shine wash, read the hydrometer, run the still, make your cuts by nose and taste, proof the hearts, and bottle it. After that, every recipe in the book stays short, because you already know every step.

Inside are 201 recipes:
• 15 washes, from Everyday Sugar Shine to corn, honey, molasses, and maple, plus community classics like Uncle Jesse's Simple Sour Mash and Birdwatchers
• 20 fruit washes, from apple and peach to blackberry, pineapple, and watermelon
• 10 still recipes that carry flavor through a thumper or a vapor basket
• 100 flavored jars: apple pie, cherry, peach, cinnamon, coffee, candy, butter pecan, holiday spice, drunken fruit, and more
• 56 cocktails, punches, slushies, shots, and hot drinks made with shine

You'll also learn:
• How to sweeten and proof flavored shine so it drinks smooth instead of hot
• Which jars keep on the shelf, which belong in the refrigerator, and why
• When to start each jar so it's ready for Christmas, Derby Day, or the big game
• How to package and label jars you give as gifts
• The truth behind the moonshine myths, including why no home test can find methanol or lead

Whether you're running your first batch or your fiftieth, you get honest numbers, plain explanations, and shine you'll be proud to hand a friend.

Part of The Moonshine Apprentice series. For the full range of spirits, from whiskey and rum to brandy, tequila, and vodka, see the original The Moonshine Apprentice: A Complete Guide to Distilling at Home. For whiskey from grain, see The Moonshine Apprentice: A Complete Guide to Making Whiskey at Home.