Haha, James, that reminds me of when I was a kid, about ten. I worked at a trading post and one of my jobs was to go down a homemade ladder into a DARK cellar and pour a pan of water into the big barrel of "Home Brew" every so often. I couldn't see in the dark so I had to feel around for the water bucket and then feel the edge of the barrel and hope I got the water in there. Being a kid it never crossed my mind to take a flashlight. 
Oh yes, you bet I tried that "Home Brew". MAN was it nasty!!!!!!!!! Yeesh! It's no wonder I don't care for any hard stuff . Good way to teach kids to leave alcohol alone. But back in those days everybody made it and everybody drank it. No big deal then.