At top: A moonshiner peeks out from his cook shack as he makes a batch of moonshine in southern West Virginia.

I’m stoked to share my first assignment for ESPN on West Virginia’s unique culture around moonshine, football, and the Mountaineers. I met some truly awesome and fascinating people who taught me the economic and legal history of the strong stuff, the difference between sugar shine and shine made with corn whiskey, and in a yellow-leaved holler in the dark of night, how to make it in small batches. Mostly, I got to see how moonshine is a point of pride that brings people together and marks times to celebrate.

From the story by Jake Trotter: “Don’t take West Virginians as nothing but hillbillies that drink moonshine blah, blah, blah. That’s not who we are. Moonshine is a way to bring generations together… and West Virginia’s one big family.”