The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible (Paperback)

by Leon W. Kania (Author) "Making alcoholic beverages is a simple and natural process practiced since condominium meant cave, but for safety and best results, there are some things the..." (more)
Key Phrases: cups vodka, pore boy, cup honey, The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible, Cup Simple, Pot Still (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Book Description How to make beer, wine, liqueurs, cider and moonshine whiskey. The author dusts off over 30 years of experience to tell you how it's done. He not only tells how to make darned near any kind of beer, wine, liqueur and whiskey you can imagine, he also tells you how to make the equipment to do it with. Ever wondered how a still is made? There are 8 types illustrated in this book and though it's illegal to build or possess a still, the illustrations are so complete, you could easily do it! This book includes plans and operating instructions from underground moonshiner manuals used in Mid East oil fields. Some are built with components found in most home kitchens. From moonshine, homebrew, wine and liqueur recipes, to stills, make your own cappers, kegs, scales and even a malt factory from an old freezer, it's all here!

Easy to read and humorous, this book entertains you with Alaskan tales and bootlegger's lore while you learn to make everything from beer and blossom wines, to horse turd whiskey and bathtub gin. If you could buy only one "make your own" book for the rest of your life, this is it. It's like getting a whole shelf of books for the price of one!

About the Author
Never nominated for sainthood, the author has spent his life in the most "gawdawful" places with some of the most interesting people imaginable. "Making your own" often meant using local ingredients and improvising your equipment. This thirst induced ingenuity produced some amazing and sometimes hilarious results. The characters, recipes, plans and instructions in this book are real, only the names have been changed to protect the guilty. The war stories are all true and growing daily.

An ex-Green Beret, Leon came to Alaska in 1973. Assigned to the U.S. Army Northern Warfare Training Center at Ft. Greely where he met his wife Scottie. The crew now includes a son, Leon Jr. studying for a degree in Computer Science and an incorrigible little green bird named Jessie who "punctuated" almost every page of the draft book.

The aim of this book is to explain how to make all types of alcoholic beverages in an easy to understand and entertaining manner. It stresses the arts, not the science, steers you toward using wholesome natural ingredients, rather than chemicals and shows you how to make, rather than buy most of your equipment. It has an Alaskan Bush flavor by virtue of many of its tales and recipes, but the "how-to" information is universal and applies anywhere in the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: Happy Mountain Publications (June 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967452406
• ISBN-13: 978-0967452401
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,438 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #7 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Beer
  #10 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Wine > Wine & Winemaking
  #14 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Spirits

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Foundation - Super Value, April 10, 2003

By A Customer

I found this book to be extremely valuable, both in it's content and well - it's value! The author presents the art of making Wine and Beer in a simple yet entertaining package. This is the book to begin your quest for fine spirits. This book is a teriffic "How To" on a budget. Following the Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible I was able to create my first batch of Wine for under $20.00! I have since read numerous other "acclaimed" books on the subject and find myself returning to this book. Bottom it's money well spent for a lifetime of hobbies

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for bootstrap beginner's, April 20, 2005

By	Justin M. Park (NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the first reference I purchased about a year ago when I began thinking about making my own booze and it's been invaluable. I can see down the road wanting something more technical and detailed, but this really captures the heart of making booze out of whatever you can. The processes are explained in a very folksy way that should make sense to anyone, but offers enough instruction to use as a how-to guide when making batches of whatever. This book is for people that just want to make booze, not for people looking for a glorified manual to their high-end brewing or winemaking kit.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alaskan Bootleggers Bible Is GA-A-REAT!!, October 4, 2000

By	Jon M Speak (Calhoun, GA United States) - See all my reviews

If you have ever thought about homebrewing, or do it now, this is the book for you! Mr. Kania shows his true mastery of the subject. He gives simple, precise instructions on setting up your own home-brewery or winery with lots of simple and rudimentry homemade equipment for the beginner on a budget. This guy is the dang McGuyver of homebrewing and winemaking and he shows you how to be one too!! The book also doesn't just bore you with good information, instructions and drawings. It's full of intresting and comical facts about alcohol through the ages like, 'Horse Tird Whiskey' and a jury that was indicted for drinking the evedence in a moonshine trial. The book even has an intresting section on home distillation (illegal in the U.S. but not all countries).