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Prohibition's Grape Bricks: How to Not Make Wine

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2024-11-15 08:00:06

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Grapes were a hot commodity in the 1920s and 1930s. Shipments of rectangular, brick–shaped packages traveled from California to the East Coast and flooded the market. Included on the packaging was a peculiar and highly specific warning:

“After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine.”

The bricks, wrote Megan Suttner, librarian and owner of the 1920’s blog “A Smile And A Gun,” were sold “brazenly, with a wink and a nod.” The grapes even included flavors, such as burgundy, sherry and port.

Despite the reservations printed on the label, home wine making during Prohibition was completely legal. A loophole in the Volstead Act allowed people to make and consume up to 200 gallons of wine in their home, which comes out to a little more than two and a half standard 750 ml bottles per night, per household, per year. This wasn’t the level of consumption the Noble Experiment was aiming for.

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