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3:54 p.m. • 5-18-13

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Posted: December 30, 2008
Updated: March 9, 2009

300 gallons of mash seized from Warren Co. still

Warren County authorities raid illegal still

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Manson, N.C. — Warren County deputies and Alcohol Law Enforcement agents seized at least 300 gallons of mash Tuesday and smashed the still that made it.

Authorities said they had the site, in a wooded area near Culpepper Road in the town of Manson, under surveillance for two weeks.

The still's alleged operator, Dennis Johnson, 49, 656 Burchette Road, Manson, has been charged twice within the past 13 months – Sept. 15, 2007 and June 11 – with misdemeanor unlawful manufacturing of alcoholic beverages. Those cases are pending.

Johnson now faces a third charge, which is a felony. His whereabouts, however, were unknown Tuesday afternoon.

Deputies and ALE agents destroyed the still, as well as seven barrels of mash, described by authorities as a sweet beer that eventually gets heated and processed into moonshine, or corn liquor.

Investigators said they are trying to determine how many customers Johnson might have had.

Reporter: Beau Minnick
Photographer: Robert Meikle
Web Editor: Kelly Gardner

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68 Comments

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This is just another instance of the government hitting up the little man, why, because he didn't pay the state their due and he forgot to grease the local wheels. Give me a break, is this not the land of the free? Where is our freedom then, we can't even make our own booze because the state didn't get their cut!

CJjunkie
January 1, 2009 12:53 p.m.

Is this the same Sheriff whose daughter was driving drunk, driving on the wrong side of a 4 lane highway, cussing out deputies, throwing her political "weight" around and generally made a mockery of law enforcement UNTIL the D.A., SBI and others got involved? Just asking, that's all.....

Tarheel born
December 31, 2008 8:54 p.m.

Funny this comes up today. I was just watching a show last night on the History Channel about Rumrunners, Moonshiners and Bootleggers. They told exactly how to make the stills, and one of the men being interviewed rattled off a recipe for the mash.

I agree that wasting taxpayer money for two weeks of watching this still was disgraceful. We need law enforcement money and manpower spent more wisely than this. I think if I lived in that county, I'd be asking for an accounting of officer time. Who knows how many other low-priority tasks payroll is being wasted on?

2headstrong
December 31, 2008 7:09 p.m.

the man was just trying to make a living. can't get help from DSS or the state because he is here legallly and has a right to be but because of that he has to resort to some type of work to feed his family.

tiredofgovtwaste
December 31, 2008 3:26 p.m.

Amyrn - That stuff that you saw them pouring out wasnt the liquor, it was the mash (see article heading). The mash is the "wine" or "beer" that is put into the still and the alcohol is extracted from it, the same way you would purify water. So the finished product isnt nasty looking at all. Mash usually includes, in the case of moonshine, cracked corn, water, yeast and lots of sugar. It is mixed together in a barrel and set aside for a few weeks to ferment.

TheDude abides...
December 31, 2008 2:10 p.m.

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