There is no doubt that home manufacturing of alcoholic beverages has become easier through the years. Charlie Papazian’s groundbreaking book The Complete Joy of Home Brewing facilitated brewing beer and thousands of people make their own wine. Throughout America’s history citizens have been building stills and manufacturing their own grain alcohol. One of the primary types of homemade alcohol is called “Moonshine.”
While home-crafted alcohols can be delicious, it can also be deadly to both the makers and the consumers.
4 Dead from Bad Booze
Hence this blog entry about 4 Russian tour guides who died after drinking bootleg alcohol in Turkey. The Russians died Monday after consuming fake liquor during a yacht tour in the Aegean Sea. The three other Russian tour guides died for the same reason earlier, including one who passed away shortly after returning to Moscow.
The cause of death in this case was methyl alcohol which is often used to illegally produce cheap liquor. It makes less expensive to manufacture by avoiding government controls and high taxes.
In 2009, such alcohol killed 11 people, including three German students who had travelled to Turkey on a class trip. In 2005, three Turks were sentenced to eight years in prison for distributing bootleg liquor after more than 20 people died of it.
The motto of this story is be careful if you making alcohol or consuming an alcoholic beverage that is homemade.