Post by New Dornalia on Dec 3, 2015 22:46:10 GMT -5
Moonshining is a military man's fine art. No question. However, Dornies being Dornies....we got creative.
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Background
Alcohol is normally fairly easy to get in the Armed Forces of the Colonial Republic of Earth. It can be purchased on on-base PX's, although selection is limited and clerks and cashiers have to keep a record of who's buying what per order of the Medical Corps. It can also be purchased off base, obviously.
However, say one is not on a shore installation or base--what then? Captains are allowed to dispense alcohol rations of beer and rum at their discretion--many choose to do so, but there are many who don't for one reason or another (either religious or sheer logistical fuckups are the two biggest). Soldiers, meanwhile, are allowed to carry alcohol, but are limited in terms of a personal supply and in practice, this gets messy.
Plus, Dornies being Dornies, they're always willing to indulge in a little lawbreaking.
So....cue the moonshining!
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Types:
"Colonial-style" or "Hawkeye" style--the classic rotgut bathtub gin or in the Dornie case, whiskey, made in a still. The tradition was dying out until the Unification, when the Colonials brought it back. It stayed behind in the post-Schism era, with distinctly Dornie touches.
Stills are placed in bulkheads, crates, what have you, and are Rube Goldbergesque miracles of alcoholic ingenuity. The product is absolutely varying in quality, tastes like hell, and may or may not include what some Dornies call "chaser"--additives which can be things like real whiskey used to add some class or outright dangerous substances like trilithium resin. Most will say the best doesn't need it.
"Swipe Wine"--a type of moonshine first pioneered by Hawaiian plantation workers, and then introduced into ND's navy by an unknown Hawaiian where it stuck. While the exact methods vary by vessel and crew, it generally involves ceramic or glass jars, hot water, sugar or pineapple juice, and stolen baking yeast all mixed up and put next to a heat source for a week. It's cheap, easy, and so simple any Dornie sailor has made it. Occasionally--although many noobs and even some old timers skip this step--it can be distilled to produce really potent stuff.
Like the first example, you will occasionally find people who add "chaser" to it. This practice is less common, as swipe wine on many vessels tends to be SERIOUS BUSINESS. So serious, it needs to be in all caps and is governed by an informal code by those "in the know" known as "The Rules of Swipe." Yeah, serious business .
"Collinsaide," "Henny," "Potcheen," "Boston Juice."--a variation on Irish poitin moonshine, made with some kind of potato substance (either flakes or fresh mashed taters) and distilled in the same stills as the first type three times, in some kind of sick parody of Irish whiskey. It's named after Henrietta Collins, Civil War leader extraordinare and a person who loves booze a lot.
It's the most potent, and most prized due to its rarity--its hard to get right. In fact, one of the best poitin moonshiners, a Canadian named "Stout" O'Shaugnessy, made Collinsaide so powerful and clean it was not much different from commercial export models; in fact, it was licensed as Stout's Shipborne Miracle Cure for official sale. Otherwise, it's an outlaw spirit.
Most Collinsaide examples are not doped with chaser. EVER. However, a common drink to make with it is the Auntie Jessie, named after a Dornie misinterpretation of the name of Henrietta Collins's loyal friend and ally, Jeishka the elf, where one gets Collinsaide, a little milk, and a little Jagermeister and downs it all in one go--apparently, the taste is thought to emulate her graceful, yet deadly fighting style.
-----------------
Legal Consequences
Naturally...this is illegal. CRE Uniform Rules of Military Justice mandate an automatic sentence corporal punishment of some sort, administered with either a rattan cane or a running of the gauntlet involving rifle butts, and confiscation of the offending material. to be destroyed.
However, in typical Dornie fashion, the shiners try not to get caught. Closer to populated systems, Dornie shiners take elaborate measures to keep things under wraps. In remote areas and patrols, shiners get away with more, as they tend to be tolerated for providing a valued service for bored sailors everywhere--including to officers, whom on long journeys come to appreciate the stuff and have likely actually tried their hand at making it once.
---------
Background
Alcohol is normally fairly easy to get in the Armed Forces of the Colonial Republic of Earth. It can be purchased on on-base PX's, although selection is limited and clerks and cashiers have to keep a record of who's buying what per order of the Medical Corps. It can also be purchased off base, obviously.
However, say one is not on a shore installation or base--what then? Captains are allowed to dispense alcohol rations of beer and rum at their discretion--many choose to do so, but there are many who don't for one reason or another (either religious or sheer logistical fuckups are the two biggest). Soldiers, meanwhile, are allowed to carry alcohol, but are limited in terms of a personal supply and in practice, this gets messy.
Plus, Dornies being Dornies, they're always willing to indulge in a little lawbreaking.
So....cue the moonshining!
-------------
Types:
"Colonial-style" or "Hawkeye" style--the classic rotgut bathtub gin or in the Dornie case, whiskey, made in a still. The tradition was dying out until the Unification, when the Colonials brought it back. It stayed behind in the post-Schism era, with distinctly Dornie touches.
Stills are placed in bulkheads, crates, what have you, and are Rube Goldbergesque miracles of alcoholic ingenuity. The product is absolutely varying in quality, tastes like hell, and may or may not include what some Dornies call "chaser"--additives which can be things like real whiskey used to add some class or outright dangerous substances like trilithium resin. Most will say the best doesn't need it.
"Swipe Wine"--a type of moonshine first pioneered by Hawaiian plantation workers, and then introduced into ND's navy by an unknown Hawaiian where it stuck. While the exact methods vary by vessel and crew, it generally involves ceramic or glass jars, hot water, sugar or pineapple juice, and stolen baking yeast all mixed up and put next to a heat source for a week. It's cheap, easy, and so simple any Dornie sailor has made it. Occasionally--although many noobs and even some old timers skip this step--it can be distilled to produce really potent stuff.
Like the first example, you will occasionally find people who add "chaser" to it. This practice is less common, as swipe wine on many vessels tends to be SERIOUS BUSINESS. So serious, it needs to be in all caps and is governed by an informal code by those "in the know" known as "The Rules of Swipe." Yeah, serious business .
"Collinsaide," "Henny," "Potcheen," "Boston Juice."--a variation on Irish poitin moonshine, made with some kind of potato substance (either flakes or fresh mashed taters) and distilled in the same stills as the first type three times, in some kind of sick parody of Irish whiskey. It's named after Henrietta Collins, Civil War leader extraordinare and a person who loves booze a lot.
It's the most potent, and most prized due to its rarity--its hard to get right. In fact, one of the best poitin moonshiners, a Canadian named "Stout" O'Shaugnessy, made Collinsaide so powerful and clean it was not much different from commercial export models; in fact, it was licensed as Stout's Shipborne Miracle Cure for official sale. Otherwise, it's an outlaw spirit.
Most Collinsaide examples are not doped with chaser. EVER. However, a common drink to make with it is the Auntie Jessie, named after a Dornie misinterpretation of the name of Henrietta Collins's loyal friend and ally, Jeishka the elf, where one gets Collinsaide, a little milk, and a little Jagermeister and downs it all in one go--apparently, the taste is thought to emulate her graceful, yet deadly fighting style.
-----------------
Legal Consequences
Naturally...this is illegal. CRE Uniform Rules of Military Justice mandate an automatic sentence corporal punishment of some sort, administered with either a rattan cane or a running of the gauntlet involving rifle butts, and confiscation of the offending material. to be destroyed.
However, in typical Dornie fashion, the shiners try not to get caught. Closer to populated systems, Dornie shiners take elaborate measures to keep things under wraps. In remote areas and patrols, shiners get away with more, as they tend to be tolerated for providing a valued service for bored sailors everywhere--including to officers, whom on long journeys come to appreciate the stuff and have likely actually tried their hand at making it once.