‘Lead Burns Red and Makes You Dead’

“Lead burns red and makes you dead.”

Ever heard the saying “lead burns red and makes dead” before? While it’s not nearly as popular as it once was back in the early 1900s, there are still plenty of people who use it when referring to moonshine stills. The phrase is used to describe the flame color of moonshine when it’s set on fire. A red-burning flame usually indicates the presence of a toxic chemical or element, and as such, it should be avoided at all costs.

Back in the early days of moonshining, stills were often constructed with automotive parts, such as radiators. Unfortunately, this buildups of lead and other toxic chemicals in the moonshine. Moonshiners and consumers would use the lead burns red and makes you dead test to determine whether or not it was safe to drink. If the flame burned red, they would toss the moonshine out, believing there were toxins present. If the flame burned blue, it was safe to drink.

To perform the test, moonshiners and people looking to buy moonshine would pour a small amount into a spoon and set it ablaze with a match. Moonshine is naturally flammable due to its exceptionally high alcohol by volume content, so it doesn’t take much effort to set it on fire. Once the moonshine caught fire, it would produce a flame that was usually either blue, yellow or red.

The conventional wisdom supporting this phrase suggests that red-burning moonshine is the direct cause of lead. When lead is present in the moonshine, it burns red; therefore, it was common belief that red-burning moonshine was produced with automotive radiators.

But red isn’t the only ‘dangerous’ color associated with moonshine. If it burned yellow, it was usually tainted with some other foreign chemical. There are literally dozens of foreign chemicals that may trigger a yellow-burning flame. Ideally, moonshine should burn a smooth, clear blue with no other colors.

The problem with the  lead burns red and makes you dead method is that it doesn’t reveal the presence of methanol. Methanol burns invisible; therefore, it’s not easily detected using this method. Even if a batch of moonshine burns blue, it may still contain the highly toxic chemical known as methanol.

The good news is that modern-day stills are typically produced with high-quality pipes and materials to reduce the chance of foreign chemicals.