History Main / MilitaryMoonshiner

* The ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Vulcan's Glory'' establishes that producing "Engine Room Hooch" was almost universal on early Starfleet vessels. Predictably, [[TheAlcoholic Scotty]] was very skilled at producing hooch of the highest quality. Even by-the-book officers like Number One looked the other way (in exchange for having the first squeezings from the still, of course). However the batch in the novel was accidentally contaminated by radiation from the warp reactor, which made it ''much'' stronger than intended. This had the fortunate side effect of bringing their attention to a damaged reactor that they would have missed otherwise.

Well, more or less secretly, depending on how strict regulations are. Usually [[IllPretendIDidntHearThat]] winked at all around. Especially by those who drink it. [[OfficerAndAGentleman Officers]] sometimes find it hard to find out how to get a bottle for themselves, or they may disdain the sketchy hooch because they have access to LuxuriousLiquor on the BlackMarket.

A military unit has one member -- usually low-ranking -- who secretly distills liquor.

Well, more or less secretly, depending on how strict regulations are. Usually winked at all around. Especially by those who drink it. Though [[OfficerAndAGentleman officers]] sometimes find it hard to find out how to get a bottle for themselves.

If he's not TheScrounger, he gets his parts (copper tubing, large pots) from him. The moonshiner may need to negotiate with the CampCook to [[FellOfTheBackOfATruck creatively obtain sugar, fruit juice, and other ingredients. ]]

A military company has one member -- usually low-ranking -- who secretly distills liquor.

Well, more or less secretly, depending on how strict regulations are. Usually winked at all around. Especially by those who drink it. Though [[OfficerAndAGentleman officers]] sometimes have an interesting time getting connections to it.

Often produces it for a toast ToAbsentFriends.

If he's not TheScrounger, he gets his parts from him.

** Another defector, Viktor Suvorov, wrote in his semi-autobiographical book how during the invasion of Czechoslovakia, his unit came across an alcohol plant. Next day, all the soldiers were a bit drunk. The commanders conducted a search, and everything that could hold water turned out, naturally, to be full of alcohol. They poured it all out, yet soldiers kept turning up drunk. No one could figure out where the alcohol was... until Suvorov bribed one soldier to reaveal that [[spoiler:the radiators of the APC's were filled with alcohol instead of water.]]

*** In ''Starfighters of Adumar]]'', one pilot mentions that he knew their new diplomatic liaison when said liaison was a pilot. He didn't make his own alcohol, but he smuggled it and all manner of other things in.

[[folder:Films]]

* A not-quite-as labor-intensive version was the fatal flaw/clue in a ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' episode. There was only one place on the campus of the military school where the bottle could be seen: the site of the murder.

** In ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]'', one pilot mentions that he knew their new diplomatic liaison when said liaison was a pilot. He didn't make his own alcohol, but he smuggled it and all manner of other things in.
** And in Wraith Squadron, when the squadron mechanic looks at a hastily-cobbled-together ship he just out built of a smuggling compartment ripped from a shuttle and the ejection seat boosters from a crippled fighter, he says it's the second most hazardous thing he's ever made. The ''most'' hazardous was his first still.

-->"Yeast!" Paris grimaced. He had been raised on raw yeast mush in the Unemployment Barracks and had a visceral loathing of the stuff. "Only if it's been used to ferment glucose."\\

* An exploding still is a minor plot point in ''Series/GenerationKill'' when it nearly blinds one of the Marines.

* ''Rocketship Voyager''. Tom Paris buys a squeeze-tube of booze from the ship's cook, and explains to B'Elanna Torres that there's a vacuum-still hidden somewhere on Voyager (or maybe outside the hull) that their Master-At-Arms hasn't tracked down yet. It also helps that the crew subsist on [[FutureFoodIsArtificial yeast-based food]].

* In Creator/SandyMitchell's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Scourge the Heretic'', when Kyrlock and Drake are standing guard at the beginning, Kyrlock produces drink distilled by one of the tank drivers.

** Distillers of ''poitín'' in Ireland had a superstition that the first glassful of any new brew out of the (lead) pipe of the still was for [[FairFolk the faery folk]]. Any human incautious enough to drink this sacred offering would be cursed, by the Sidh-folk, with blindness and insanity. Actually the first use of the still flushed out toxins[[note]]including methanol, which can cause blindness when consumed[[/note]], poisons and lead salts that really ''could'' kill somebody: after the system had cleansed itself, the subsequent distillate was as safe as it got.

* TruthInTelevision: the novel about American marines in the Pacific in [=WW2=], ''The Thin Red Line'', describes how the first PX stores to be set up in places like Guam and Guadalcanal to provide troops with extra comforts very quickly sold out of two items - cheap cologne aftershave and tinned pineapple juice. On investigation, it was discovered the American soldiers were getting round the "no alcohol while on campaign" rule by ''drinking'' the aftershave for its alcohol content. The only thing that made it palatable and masked the taste of perfume was the pineapple juice. In real life, submarine crews used ''the alcohol-based torpedo engine fuel'' to make [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpedo_juice "torpedo juice"]]. Cases of poisoning from drinking it were not unknown.

** Not ''quite'' military, but in ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', an overheard conversation on Ryder's first visit to The Nexus implies the A.P.E.X. Strike teams have been doing some of this (squadmate Liam can be heard talking with one of them, and notes she's brewed something fierce. When he asks how she made it, she just replies "you'd be surprised.")

** Hawkeye and Trapper John (and later BJ) have a still in their tent on . They say that they're distilling gin (hence the martini glasses), but what actually comes out is little more than high-proof grain alcohol.

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'':
** Hawkeye and Trapper John (and later BJ) have a still in their tent on . They say that they're distilling gin (hence the martini glasses), but what actually comes out is little more than high-proof grain alcohol.
** Colonel Potter once mentions that he had had a still in Guam during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII that exploded and injured him. He got a Purple Heart for the wounds he suffered when said distillery explosion occurred.
** This very still received a ShoutOut in ''Series/{{Community}}'', where the TV-obsessed Abed constantly compares Jeff Winger to Hawkeye. Jeff immediately orders a "Hawkeye still" be built in his editorial office.

* Not military, but still a strictly regimented, all-male institution. A ChristmasEpisode of ''Series/{{Porridge}}'' features one of the prisoners distilling hooch in one of the shower blocks. Served in a disinfectant bottle, its taste causes Fletch to comment that [[ItTastesLikeFeet they should have taken the disinfectant out first]].
* An exploding still is a minor plot point in ''Series/GenerationKill'' when it nearly blinds one of the Marines.
* Averted in ''Series/BandOfBrothers''; Easy Company lacks a moonshiner. The biggest drinker among the main characters has to smuggle his booze in the luggage of a known teetotaler, and later resorts to looting when his supply runs dry. As they were fighting through France and into Germany finding left-behind alcohol wasn't too hard.

* Chief of Security Tony Verdeschi from ''Series/{{Space 1999}}'s'' second season spends his off-duty period trying to brew beer using Moonbase Alpha's hydroponics equipment, resulting in varying degrees of failure.
* Referenced, but never seen, in ''Series/SeaQuestDSV''. [[TheScrounger Lt. Krieg]] manages to purchase and assemble a still aboard ship, only to find out that the [[FutureFoodIsArtificial genetically modified barley]] on offer doesn't yield alcohol when mashed and distilled, a failure Lucas teases him for.
* Brody assembled a still from the lab/kitchen tools aboard Destiny in ''Series/StargateUniverse''. The drinks usually taste horrible (most likely due to being brewed from alien flora), but the crew doesn't complain too much because hey, alcohol!
* The prisoners of G-Wing in ''Series/BadGirls'' brew up a batch of "Chateau Larkhall" using fruit, powdered drink mix, and yeast tablets nicked from the prison kitchen. Winds up tasting as good as it sounds (that is: horrible), but at least it's alcoholic. It's later consumed [[spoiler:at an impromptu wake for Monica's son.]]

* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': In "Cabin Pressure", Harm & Mac are sent out to a ship to investigate the death of a moonshiner.

* In TabletopGame/Twilight2000, a still is essential as a source of fuel, and the game includes rules for distilling alcohol. Keeping a still supplied and functional is frequently a full-time job for TheScrounger.

* A couple chapters of ''Manga/KuroganePukaPukaTai'' feature a sake-brewing ring aboard the ''Unebi''. It's run by several officers: [[spoiler: the ship's doctor, the chief engineer, the purser, and the gunnery officer]], and was almost discovered when a fermenting container exploded in a storeroom.
* Ryoko Sakaki in ''Manga/FoodWars'' is a trainee chef, who specialises in fermented ingredients, and also makes "special rice juice" (read: illegal homebrewed sake) for dorm parties. The setting is a boarding school rather than an army base, but the "making illicit alcohol in a strictly controlled environment" is still there.

* ''Fanfic/PeaceForgedInFire'': Morgan has a side business brewing Romulan ale, and Praetor Velal is very impressed at the quality of her product. She also mentions she had a vineyard on Virinat before the Tal Shiar and Elachi destroyed the colony, and in another scene speaks hopefully of one day going back there. Unusually for the trope, she's a flag officer (her rank of ''khre'riov'' is equivalent to a rear admiral).

* Dozer in ''Film/TheMatrix''.
-->'''Cypher:''' It's good for two things: degreasing engines and killing brain cells.

* One - Corporal Harrigan - appears in the movie ''Film/{{Jarhead}}'', providing the supplies for the party in Iraq.

* Updated in ''Film/BuffaloSoldiers'' (2001). Ray Elwood doesn't make moonshine; he bakes heroin.

* In ''Film/RedPlanet'', Commander Bowman discovers that two of her crewmembers have made a still in the lab after the computer tells her that the lab's thermostat is set a little high. She confronts the crewmembers... and then asks for a drink. She downs the shot in one go and, at the crewmembers' shocked expressions, reminds them that she was in the Navy.

* In Creator/SandyMitchell's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Scourge the Heretic'', when Kyrlock and Drake are standing guard at the beginning, Kyrlock produces drink distilled by one of the tank drivers.

* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', Sgt. Jackrum manages to find some moonshiners and buy a bottle of rotgut liquor known as "hangman" (because [[GargleBlaster "one drop, and you're dead."]]). He doesn't actually ''drink'' the stuff, he just washes his mouth out with it to give the illusion of a harmless drunk while helping Polly and Shufti steal some clothes from a group of {{Camp Follower}}s to use [[DisguisedInDrag as disguises]].
* ''Literature/TheUnknownSoldier'' features the soldiers brewing alcohol during a stalemate. They nickname the container it's brewing in "Boy".
* In Creator/SandyMitchell's first Literature/CiaphasCain story, a soldier tells Cain, THE HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, he's not what they expected. Cain laughs and reels off all the things they doubtlessly did to prepare for his arrival -- including dismantle the stills.

* ''Literature/TheForeverWar:'' William Mandella has virtually nothing in common with his unit by the time he becomes a Major. Except that one of the cooks has cobbled-together a still and is selling booze to the troops. More than anything, he's amazed at how they got the raw materials out of a closed-system. They pulled it off by offering crewmen their products in exchange for sugary desserts to use as feedstock.
* ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye'': Captain Blaine always has a good supply of Irish Mist, supplied courtesy of Sergeant Maloney and his vacuum still. Officially, Blaine doesn't know where it comes from. [[spoiler:It has a part in the climax, when a Motie imitates the captain, but doesn't know about the still.]]
* Moloch, in the {{novelization}} of the ''WebComic/GirlGenius'' wecomic, ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheAirshipCity'', is revealed to have been this, making him relatively popular amongst his peers. A later volume, ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheVoiceOfTheCastle'', states that some of the engineers on Castle Wulfenbach have managed to distill vodka [[GargleBlaster so powerful that it spontaneously ignites when exposed to direct sunlight]]. The Baron's chief administrator is fully aware of this... and drinks it regularly.
* While they were never actually shown in a scene, a later ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' novel has Miles commenting that in his ten year career in the military, he has never once seen a spacecraft or station larger than a courier or personal transport that didn't have an unauthorized still on it somewhere.

* The ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Vulcan's Glory'' establishes that producing "Engine Room Hooch" was almost universal on early Starfleet vessels. Predictably, [[TheAlcoholic Scotty]] was very skilled at producing hooch of the highest quality. Even by-the-book officers like Number One looked the other way (in exchange for having the first squeezings from the still, of course). However the batch in the novel was accidentally contaminated by radiation from the warp reactor, which made it ''much'' stronger than intended. This had the fortunate side effect of bringing their attention to a damaged reactor that they would have missed otherwise.
* On the ''Literature/ArkRoyal'' The chief engineer has a still, which provided most of the booze Cpt. Smith drank while the ship was stuck in orbit. Newcomer Commander Fitzwilliam is momentarily surprised to see unlabeled rotgut served openly at his first briefing with the senior crew, then remembers that he hadn't seen a ship yet where the crew wasn't fermenting something.
* In the chronologically first ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' novel, the now ex-Navy personnel who are part of the newly founded Pern colony note that the first two types of plants that people look for on a new planet are ones that can be distilled into liquor, and [[MustHaveCaffeine ones that can be brewed into a coffee substitute]].
* ''Literature/EarthCentAmbassador'': Joe has a sideline in homebrewing and his products are served at a number of bars on Union Station. It evidently dates back to his mercenary days, since he's able to barter permission to land at a merc encampment when he offers several kegs to an old war buddy.
* The ''Literature/{{RCN}}'' novels have slash, which is literally distilled from the alcohol-based hydraulic fluid used in ships' power rooms. The RCN attitude toward it seems to be benign neglect: as long as the crew aren't drunk on duty the officers are fine with it and will usually partake themselves. (Daniel being asked to partake of native liquors will usually elicit some comment to the effect that he's tasted slash that was a hell of a lot worse.)
* Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser, in the ''Literature/McAuslan'' stories, relates how his first independent command involved marching eighty Scottish soldiers through miles of Libyan desert to garrison an ex-French Foreign Legion fort and "maintain a presence" there. At first naive enough to think his men aren't likely to get drunk in such an isolated posting, [[AuthorAvatar Lieutenant Dand McNeill]] soon discovers the wily Scots have managed to obtain arak, the extremely potent Arab liquor distilled from dates...
* In the ''Literature/AlexisCarew'' series, larger ships brew [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_beer small beer]] ''legally'' in vats to give off-duty crew an alternative to ship's water, which tends to taste bad after being cycled through the ship's treatment plant a jillion times.
* Trying to run a "dry" army in ''Literature/TheCitizenSeries'' essentially just means that the men avoid being drunk on duty; they'll otherwise make tonk with anything that has cellulose.[[note]]Technically possible, but you need to involve the gut bacteria of ruminants, as ordinary yeast isn't capable of breaking the type of glucose linkages found in cellulose. Yeast is then needed to finish turning the glucose into ethanol. Which is why most brewers in RealLife start with ''starch'' instead, which is also a polymer of glucose but with linkages that are a lot easier to break.[[/note]] Hawthorne at one point combines the moonshiners' output (from sea algae in this case, and it tastes exactly as horrible as it sounds) with lubricating oil to make {{Molotov cocktail}}s. He obtains the liquor by telling the senior NCO that either the liquor "miraculously" appears outside his quarters in the middle of the night, or he tears the base apart until he finds where the still is hidden (taking it as a given that there is one somewhere). The requested miracle occurs.
* While commanding the war effort at Alwa Station, Literature/KrisLongknife relaxes several regulations on conduct aboard ship, including consumption of alcohol off-duty (she had run a "wet" ship as a previous command due to a mixed crew of sailors, Marines, and various civilian contractors, and had no problems). This is met by general approval from the rank-and-file sailors, except usually by one leading chief per ship who is suspected to run the still.
* A DiscussedTrope in ''Literature/StarmanJones'', when Sam Anderson explains to the title character why it's convenient for all concerned to turn a blind eye to such activities.
* ''Assignment Gestapo'' by Creator/SvenHassel. 2 Section have spent the past few days lugging their dismantled still around Russia, with the contents distributed among their water bottles until they can get it fully fermented. Their officers know better than to interfere, but one feels the need to mention the fact that they're not filtering it.
-->"Not worth the trouble," said the Legionnaire.\\
"But my God, you drink it in that state and you'll be bowling about the ground in hoops!"\\
"So long as it's alcoholic," said the Legionnaire calmly. "That's all that matters."\\
Lt. Ohlsen shook his head again and retired with Spat. Clearly they did not give much for our chances.
* The novelisation of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' has an administrator of the terraforming colony on Acheron noting that his assistant is chewing something illegal. He doesn't raise it because too much insistence on rules and regulations on a colony far from Earth can get you lost outside without a communicator. Besides he's hoping to score some himself.
* In ''Space Doctor'' by Lee Corey, several riggers turn up to see the doctor and quickly lapse into a coma after drinking orbital moonshine.

* Ryoko Sakaki in ''Manga/ShokugekiNoSoma'' is a trainee chef, who specialises in fermented ingredients, and also makes "special rice juice" (read: illegal homebrewed sake) for dorm parties. The setting is a boarding school rather than an army base, but the "making illicit alcohol in a strictly controlled environment" is still there.

-->-- '''Sergeant Jack Jackrum''', ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', by Creator/TerryPratchett

* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'', Sgt. Jackrum manages to find some moonshiners and buy a bottle of rotgut liquor known as "hangman" (because [[GargleBlaster "one drop, and you're dead."]]). He doesn't actually ''drink'' the stuff, he just washes his mouth out with it to give the illusion of a harmless drunk while helping Polly and Shufti steal some clothes from a group of {{Camp Follower}}s to use [[DisguisedInDrag as disguises]].

* The [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns Chauchat]] machine gun was notorious for being more of a danger to its operator than the enemy. However, parts of it ''were'' really good for kitbashing stills.

* In Creator/SandyMitchell's first Literature/CiaphasCain story, a soldier tells Cain he's not what they expected. Cain laughs and reels off all the things they doubtlessly did to prepare for his arrival -- including dismantle the stills.

** Distillers of ''poitín'' in Ireland had a superstition that the first glassful of any new brew out of the (lead) pipe of the still was for the faery folk. Any human incautious enough to drink this sacred offering would be cursed, by the Sidh-folk, with blindness and insanity. Actually the first use of the still flushed out toxins[[note]]including methanol, which can cause blindness when consumed[[/note]], poisons and lead salts that really ''could'' kill somebody: after the system had cleansed itself, the subsequent distillate was as safe as it got.

** Distillers of ''poitín'' in Ireland had a superstition that the first glassful of any new brew out of the (lead) pipe of the still was for the faery folk. Any human incautious enough to drink this sacred offering would be cursed, by the Sidh-folk, with blindness and insanity. Actually the first use of the still flushed out toxins, poisons and lead salts that really ''could'' kill somebody: after the system had cleansed itself, the subsequent distillate was as safe as it got.

* ''Assignment Gestapo'' by Creator/SvenHassel. 2 Section have spent the past few days lugging their dismantled still around Russia, with the contents distributed among their water bottles until its fully fermented. Their officers know better than to interfere, but one feels the need to mention the fact that they're not filtering it.