In this hilarious and surprisingly fascinating episode of True Crime Culinary, host Leah dives into the real-life story of a liquor-store break-in unlike anything you’ve heard before — featuring a very drunk raccoon, a bathroom floor, and a trail of shattered whiskey bottles that left employees wondering if they’d walked onto the set of The Hangover: Woodland Edition.

From that chaotic crime scene, we follow the pawprints into a deeper look at the history of prison alcohol, better known as pruno, hooch, or jailhouse wine. Leah breaks down how prison-made alcohol works, why inmates started making it centuries ago, the surprisingly creative ingredients (including fruit, bread, candy, ketchup, and rice), and the science behind illegal fermentation.

You’ll learn about:
• the viral story of the drunk Virginia raccoon
• why pruno became notorious in modern prisons
• the evolution of prison alcohol from the 1700s to today
• how inmates innovate with limited food supplies
• the real dangers of jailhouse fermentation (including botulism!)
• the strange-but-true world of candy wine, rice wine, buck, and “toilet wine”

This episode blends wild animal antics, true crime storytelling, and food history in a way only True Crime Culinary can. If you like funny crime stories, weird food facts, or quirky prison history, this is the episode for you.

References

• PunchDrink. A Handy Guide to Drinking in Prison. https://punchdrink.com/articles/a-handy-guide-to-drinking-in-prison/
• Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site. History of Eastern State Penitentiary. https://easternstate.org/about/history-of-eastern-state-penitentiary
• The Atlantic. How Not to Die of Botulism. 2013. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/how-not-to-die-of-botulism/281649/
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / NIH. Outbreak of Botulism After Consumption of Illicit Prison-Brewed Alcohol in a Maximum Security Prison — Arizona, 2012. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7182035/
• The Guardian. Drunk raccoon found passed out in Virginia liquor store. 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/03/drunk-raccoon-virginia-liquor-store