 over time you repeat this process and you end up with 30 proof hard cider.
Marissa: That’s smart!
Sarah: That’s so interesting.
Cody: Now the reason we don’t do this today, and the reason it’s not very common, is because you’re not getting rid of a lot of the impurities within ethanol and within alcohol that you want to get rid of. And so, the reason that we heat things up is to get rid of all the impurities and one of the main issues with this cooler method is that you don’t get rid of them. The reason that is relevant, the Whiskey Rebellion as a whole really shapes the alcohol industry and it becomes much more federally regulated and I think that was ultimately a good thing. Um, because at the end of the day alcohol is a substance that people can abuse and uh, you know, misuse, and so it’s just interesting to me that the Whiskey Rebellion is really the first time that we see alcohol being regulated at this federal level. And sort of the impacts that it had long term for that.
Sarah: That’s a really interesting point, and I’d never thought of the Whiskey Rebellion in those terms. As the federal government exerting it’s right to regulate a domestic product. One other thing that you made me think of- even though I think all of that is accurate, one of the areas where you continue to have a culture of individual alcohol production is Appalachia. Right, with uh moonshine. They do continue to make alcohol on their own and specifically try to hide it from regulators and government control.
Marissa: Well that’s funny though because one of the most highly regulated states, when it comes to alcohol sales at least, is Pennsylvania.
Sarah: Today. Yeah. Can’t buy beer in the grocery store and it’s annoying.
Marissa: And you have to get it from a state store and they close at 8pm…
Cody: Wait hold on, I’m really curious about this. I live in Utah and we have a lot of regulations as well. So we have state stores and all that stuff. Can you go into all the regulations that you guys have in Pennsylvania?
Marissa: Yeah state stores you can’t buy beer in any old place. But in Pennsylvania you can go through a drive-through and buy beer in a drive through, which is so weird to me. But you can’t buy beer after 8pm on a Saturday. It’s a very strange- it’s so interesting that every state has its own culture.
Sarah: Right like in Main you can buy liquor at the grocery store. In New York State you can only buy beer and wine coolers at the grocery store. How much more convenient would my life be if I could buy wine at the grocery store?
Marissa: Right super convenient.
Marissa: That’s like one reason to live in Florida. You can just buy wine wherever you want.
But that’s just sort of interesting- there is in Pennsylvania there is this strict overbearing control over alcohol sales but at the same time there is in backwoods areas there is that same culture.
Sarah: I would say that the people that fomented the rebellion are the ones moving inland later. Because today, Western Pennsylvania does not consider itself part of Appalacia. But if you go over the border into West Virginia, that’s where you will start to see more of that culture around moonshine. Not in Pennsylvania. My husband’s from Western PA and he is certainly not a moonshine culture type.
Marissa: No, but at the time they were sort of the yokels I was mentioning in the 1790s.
Cody: Ok, so I’m kind of interested to get you guy’s thoughts on taxation. Different ways that people protest. Maybe your thoughts on the rights of individuals to protest taxation. The rights of the government to quell a protest. I know, maybe this is an area that you can speak a little bit more to. Can you share your perspective on that?
Marissa: Right. Well for me I’m originally a British historian, so I’m thinking of it- there’s a long complicated in France and in Britain in protesting taxation. Especially excise taxes, and protesting against local magistrates and people like this- the whole tarring and feathering, that’s not like obscene in any way. There is a long culture of protest that was seen as an accep