Sly grog trouble is brewing in Aurukun

HOME brew fermented in wheelie bins in at least one Cape York community has the hallmarks of a prison recipe.

Aurukun Council has clamped down on the sales of sugar in response to a surge in consumption since the coronavirus lockdown blocked road access to the town.

In doing so, police denied sly groggers an access corridor into Aurukun.

Up to 16 bags of sugar were being bought at a time through the Aurukun store, prompting police and council concerns that something sour was brewing.

Earlier this month a backyard moonshine operation was busted in the community and a 37-year-old Mornington Island man was arrested.

A former corrections system worker said the recipe – using sugar, rotten fruit and other ingredients – was typical of those inmates used in prisons.

He said prisoners would ferment the mix in a bin liner that was sandwiched inside other bags of garbage and left for days. Prison moonshine was also known to have been fermented in the S-bends of sinks and toilets. The problem was considered so serious that several key ingredients were not available in prison canteens.

Police are now tracking overall sugar sales in Aurukun.

The potent home brew – often fermented for days in backyard wheelie bins – is known to cause severe side effects including blindness, kidney and liver damage.

“At various stages it has methanol and alcohol,” Aurukun community co-ordinator Duane Amos said.

“It is a very crude product.” In some cases levels of up to 95 per cent methanol had been detected in home brew.

“People can be seeking a hit after going through withdrawals,” Mr Amos said.

Mayor Keri Tamwoy said the problem was not a new one.

“There needs to be more educational material out there about home brew and the damage it does,” Ms Tamwoy said.