moonshiner
Backwoods liquor maker
A moonshiner is someone who illegally distills liquor, especially in rural areas.
The term comes from the practice of working at night to avoid detection: His grandfather was a moonshiner in the hills of Kentucky.
Moonshine itself is the illicitly produced whiskey, typically unaged and high-proof.
The word carries romantic associations with Appalachian independence and defiance of federal authority.
Illegal liquor trafficker
- speakeasyIllicit liquor establishment
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
- rumrunnerProhibition alcohol smuggler
- revenuerInformal term for tax collector
raid · smuggling · contraband · Capone · gangster · repeal · teetotaler · G-men
Unmoving, or continuing
- mashCrushed soft mixture
- fermentationMicrobial sugar conversion
- cornCereal grown on cobs
- whiskeyOak-aged grain spirit
rye · barley · yeast · wort · distillation · spirits · bourbon · hooch
bootlegger
Illegal liquor trafficker
- speakeasyIllicit liquor establishment
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
- rumrunnerProhibition alcohol smuggler
revenuer · raid · smuggling · contraband · Capone · gangster · repeal · teetotaler · G-men · underground
still
Unmoving, or continuing
- mashCrushed soft mixture
- fermentationMicrobial sugar conversion
- cornCereal grown on cobs
whiskey · rye · barley · yeast · wort · distillation · spirits · bourbon · hooch · shine
backwoods
Remote, undeveloped rural area
Appalachia · bluegrass · banjos · ballads · old-timers · revenuers · country · ridge · creek · hollers
legends
Traditional stories or icons
fugitive · chase · hideaway · notorious · infamous · folk-hero · storytelling · oral-history
- Prohibition EraProhibition, bootleggers, bootlegging, bootlegger, speakeasies
- Outlawsoutlaw, bandit, desperado, highwayman, robber
- rule breakersrulebreaker, transgressor, violator, offender, lawbreaker
- criminalsmurderer, thief, burglar, criminal, killer
- distillingdistillation, distillery, distiller, pot still, distilleries
- moonshinewhite lightning, hooch, bootleg, shine, copper still
moonshinerrevenuer
Informal term for tax collector
revenue agent · ATF agent · federal agent · Eliot Ness · tax collector
- moonshine stillIllegal alcohol-making equipment
- moonshine runnersIllegal alcohol transporters
- moonshine jugContainer for homemade spirits