Understanding why moonshine, or homemade wine, can sometimes be poisonous

Moonshine refers to alcoholic beverages that are distilled in ones home rather than by licensed and trained producers. In addition to having questionable quality due to the inconsistencies in home distillation methods, moonshine's safety can also vary from batch to batch and producer to producer, for several reasons.

The number one reason for moonshine being toxic or poisonous is due to poor techniques in distilling the alcohol causing toxins to enter the drink. This can be because of impurities or poor quality of the ingredients, or from the equipment used to distill the booze. When moonshine is produced using equipment that runs on poisonous chemicals or that is made out of toxic substances like lead, these poisons and toxins can wind up in the moonshine, making anyone drinking it sick.

Toxicity of moonshine isn't always an accident. Some individuals producing moonshine will try and dilute the product with other ingredients to increase the volume of alcohol cheaply. One common and very poisonous additive is methanol, or wood alcohol. Methanol has a similar odor and taste to ethanol, which is the type of alcohol we drink, but methanol in small amounts can cause severe problems, from permanent blindness to death.

In most places it's not legal to produce alcohol without a license and it's definitely something you shouldn't do yourself.

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