Whether it’s due to the temperance movement, car culture, or Southern Scots-Irish heritage, early 20th-century America birthed moonshine – essentially brewing alcohol to avoid the consequences of prohibition.
As this became a staple, some bootleggers even began modifying their cars to outrun the law, which kick-started NASCAR and, in part, the current US car culture.
Now, moonshine is making a comeback in the form of ethanol being used as a fuel to wean the US off fossil fuels in a bid to become more environmentally friendly.
To make ethanol, the feedstock is mainly harvested from the vast corn crops in the Midwest – specifically field corn, which is bred to produce as much starch as possible.
Starch, which is mainly made of up amylose and amylopectin, both polymers of the simple sugar, glucose, is refined and fermented, before being distilled to recover ethanol.
Nothing goes to waste throughout the process, with CO2, nitrogen, corn oil and dried distiller’s grain and solubles all sold to animal feed manufacturers.
