15 Moonshiner Tips Everyone Should Know

Summary

• Moonshiner role offers profitable, slow-paced gameplay suitable for patient outlaws.
• Stronger moonshine brews yield more profit; consider condenser upgrades for efficiency.
• To maximize profit, complete Bootlegger and Moonshiner missions to decrease mash price and add flavor to moonshine.

Red Dead Online is the wild west version of GTA Online. Players are immersed in a beautiful activity-filled world set in 1898 where industrial innovation is about to reach its peak. With the absence of cars, outlaws ride the mountains and river valleys in awe of a much simpler time. Rockstar added roles to Red Dead Online – The Trader, The Collector, The Bounty Hunter, and recently, The Moonshiner.

The roles are a good source of cash and gold for players who want to earn quick money. The Moonshiner is fascinating; being the only role with a set of story missions. The Moonshiner role is slow-paced and rewards patient outlaws who stop and smell the flowers. Developing the right strategy, picking the right upgrades, waiting for the right customer, and maximizing profit are the characteristics of a successful Moonshiner. Here are 10 tips every Moonshiner should know.

Updated on March 07, 2025, by Gerardo Molina: Red Dead Redemption 2 is already great, but with the addition of Red Dead Online, things have been taken to another level. The online version of this title is just as extensive if not more than the non-offline game, which makes it fascinating and attractive for players who have fallen in love with the franchise over the years. The Moonshiner role in Red Dead Online is really fun to play as it allows those who are interested in bootlegging liquor to both create their own product and go across the American Wild West to sell it to eager customers looking for an interesting experience.

17

Ride Carefully

It’s Better To Arrive With Undamaged Goods Than To Arrive As Quickly As Possible

The art of selling moonshine is not just about getting the right ingredients for a good recipe. As they sell their product to their customers, players will also have to be very careful during transportation since goods can be damaged, which represents considerable losses and unhappy customers. To ensure that their moonshine arrives to its destination unscathed, players will have to make sure that they take roads that are not bumpy.

Planning a delivery trip beforehand is crucial to mapping out the best route. Getting to players’ destinations is important, but riding carefully takes more precedence. After all, it’s better to arrive with undamaged goods, than to arrive as quickly as possible with a bunch of broken products.

16

Sell To Bert Higgins During Tough Times

He Pays A Lower Price, But Is Always Up For Buying Moonshine

Although he’s just a minor character in Red Dead Online, Bert Higgins can be a lifesaver when times are tough. He’s part of the customer list of the moonshine business. However, unlike other patrons, he’s more than willing to buy any kind of moonshine players produce, regardless of the flavor or the quality of it. Granted, he will pay a lower price than other patrons for the product, but if players are looking for a reliable customer who’s always up to get a few drinks, Bert is the way to go.

Whether Bert’s habits are healthy or not is up for debate, but it’s undeniable that he can get players out of a tough spot at any time. A fun fact is that he’s almost always holding a bottle of moonshine upon delivery, which means that he has not run out from previous deliveries and instead simply prefers to keep his moonshine inventory well stocked.

15

Don’t Change Flavors

Consistency Is Key For Customers

Gamers can assign a flavor to their moonshine while it is being distilled. People will, of course, want to choose the most profitable flavor if the ingredients are available. However, there are no mixed flavors of moonshine. Selecting a different flavor will replace the initial flavor that was chosen. If the new flavor is worthless, players will miss out on a decent amount of cash when they sell the batch. Additionally, the ingredients for the initial flavor will be lost. Once a flavor is selected, it is best to stick with it.

There’s a total of 10 different Moonshine recipes in Red Dead Online, which are:

• Agarita Sunrise Moonshine
• Apple Berry Crumb Moonshine
• Berry Cobbler Moonshine
• Berry Mint Moonshine
• Evergreen Moonshine
• Poison Poppy’s Moonshine
• Spiced Island Moonshine
• Tropical Punch Moonshine
• Wild Cider Moonshine
• Wild Creek Moonshine

Naturally, each one requires different ingredients and some will also task players with obtaining certain ranks in the Moonshiner role to unlock.

14

Go To Madam Nazar For Herbs

Cheap Herbs For More Profit

Madam Nazar is a one-stop-shop for all of the Moonshiner herbs. All of the herbs for sale are only one dollar each. Considering how much moonshine sells for, that is not a bad deal. Gamers will want to pick up as many free herbs as they can while traversing the map, but Madam Nazar is always there just in case. It will often be worth the price to avoid having to fast travel, ride to the location of the herb, and search for it.

Madam Nazar’s location changes every day. Here are the most common places where players can find her:

• Beecher’s Hope
• South of Twin Rocks
• Southend of Wndow Rock
• North of Manteca Falls
• Black Balsam Rise
• Emerald Ranch
• Plainview
• Bluewater Marsh
• Horseshoe Overlook
• Bolger Glade
• Hanging Dog Ranch
• O’Creagh’s Run

As stated earlier, buying herbs from her is a lot easier than searching for them in the wilderness, but if players are having trouble finding her, it might be the only choice left.

13

Stronger Is Better

Customers Prefer Stronger Beverages

In life and in RDO, stronger is better. The stronger the brew, the more money players will net with each sale. As people rank up in the role, they will have the opportunity to brew stronger batches quicker with the Master Distiller skill. Stronger moonshine takes longer to distill, but pays a lot more. On the other hand, weak moonshine is quicker and grants more XP. After reaching rank 15, there is no reason to brew the weaker stuff.

12

Best Shack Locations

The Fewer Bumps In The Road, The Better

Choosing a good location for the shack is important because moonshine can be damaged during transport. Places like the Grizzlies have too many bumps and winds on the roads, and product will be damaged along the route. Tall Trees and The Heartlands have the flattest roads, making deliveries a lot easier. Bayou Nwa is a great location too, although the foggy bayou is not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing location in RDO.

11

Play Moonshiner Solo

This Means More Work, But Also Higher Profits

The Moonshiner business is a lot less profitable when playing with friends. Anyone helping the Moonshiner will only receive 20% of the proceeds from a sale. Also, players will receive only half of the experience when completing deliveries or distilling.

There are plenty of roles in the game that are better suited for co-op play. While RDO is more fun with a posse, the RDR2 Moonshiner role is a solo gig. Those completing Moonshiner tasks with friends are wasting their time.

10

Become Familiar With The Trader Role

Both Roles Complement Each Other

The RDO Moonshiner role is very similar to the Trader role. A prerequisite to becoming a Moonshiner is to be a Trader first. Upon reaching Trader Level 5, or completing a sell mission, the player is given the option to start Moonshining.

A useful tip to becoming a successful Moonshiner is becoming familiar with the Trader role since there are not many differences between the two. Just like trading, the player collects ingredients and invests in materials to churn out some goods. Once the goods are done, they are sold to a buyer. Some would say that moonshining is easier than trading.

9

Become Familiar With The Location

Learning The Road Towards Deliveries Is Critical

Delivering and making a sale is an important part of moonshining. To make a sale, the player drives a delicate wagon that loses goods when damaged. Driving carefully and making haste is of the essence, but Revenue Agent Checkpoints and rocky terrain are major obstacles in making a sale.

If the player is lucky, the Checkpoints would let them pass, avoiding the collateral exchange of bullets. The terrain would still be challenging, however, so in order to make haste without damaging the wagon, a good Moonshiner must know the shortcuts and the best paths to take.

8

Don’t Purchase Mash for Full Price

Focus On Bootlegger And Moonshiner Missions To Drop The Price

No Trader would ever purchase materials for $20. He loses the chance to earn XP and wastes money on something he can do for free. The same rule applies to Moonshiners. Mash required to produce Moonshine costs $50, but it could go all the way down to $10.

By doing Bootlegger Missions and Moonshiner Story Missions, the original price of the mash gets cut by $20 each mission the player does. The player is allowed to do one Bootlegger and one Story mission to lower the price of the mash. Not only does this increase profits for the sale, but it grants XP as well.

7

Upgrade The Condensers

More Upgrades Means Higher Profit

Condenser Upgrades significantly increase potential profit. The upgrades allow the production of stronger mashes with no change in mash cost. Weak, average, and strong mashes will always cost the same. The only difference between them is the time required to produce them, which are 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and an hour respectively. This time is reduced once Moonshiner Level 15 is reached.

The Condenser Upgrades for Average and Strong Moonshine cost $825 and two Tokens, and $875 and three Tokens respectively. A Moonshiner could easily earn back the amount he collectively spent on Condenser Upgrades with about 10 Strong and Flavored Moonshine sales.

6

Purchase The Bar Extension Early On

A Considerable Investment For Sure, But It’s Well Worth It

The similarities between a Trader and Moonshiner don’t end with the produce-and-deliver mechanic. Just like the Stew Pot in the Trader’s camp, a Moonshiner has the option to purchase a Bar Extension. Costing $850 and two Tokens, it allows the Moonshiner to indulge in their produced Moonshine, Almonds, and some Coffee.

This gives them Gold Health, Stamina, and Deadeye depending on the strength and flavor of their produced shine. Additionally, the Bar is a nice ambient place to hang out with the posse. The Band is purchased separately though.

5

Make a Habit of Picking Herbs

Nature Can Also Be A Great Supplier

When on missions, exploring, or hunting for treasure chests, a player is sure to run into herb-filled areas. A good Moonshiner would take some time to pick up herbs during their journeys. Even when doing other tasks such as hunting animals for Trading or finding collectibles for Madam Nazar, a successful Moonshiner would have the patience to take down two birds with one stone and pick up herbs in the area of objective.

Among the necessary herbs for Moonshining are Vanilla Flowers, Wild Mints, Currants, Ginseng, Berries, Creek Plum, and Agarita Flowers. Having these fill the satchel makes for effortless Moonshining. These are necessary ingredients for flavoring; an add-on that significantly increases sale price.

4

Loot As Much Food as Possible

A Good Moonshiner Is Also A Good Scavenger

Flavoring also requires some liquor, fruits, and canned goods. Much like a good Moonshiner’s approach to herbs outdoors, he should also search for ingredients indoors and on people. After clearing all enemies in a hideout, make sure to loot all cabinets, drawers, and corpses. *The catalogue is a great resource for moonshiners too. People can use it to purchase any of the items they can’t find organically.

Even when doing other objectives, the Moonshiner at the back of a player’s mind should still be present. Ideally, a player should be looking for canned fruit, different fruits, and liquor bottles which could be easily found after a raid, robbed off NPCs, and from horses’ saddlebags. A regular visit to the nearby General Store also does not hurt.

3

Always Add Flavor

The Better The Taste, The Larger The Customer Base

Good Moonshiners will always flavor their Moonshine. Flavoring increases the sale price by a respectable amount. If there’s no available flavoring to make due to the lack of ingredients, it’s always worth going to the nearest General Store to pick up some much-needed ingredients.

If a three-star recipe calls for canned strawberries, then a ride into town is very much necessary. Canned fruit doesn’t cost too much, so the profits obtained from selling Flavored Moonshine will always be worth the extra effort.

2

Take Advantage of Rockstar Role Events

Stay Tuned To Gain Massive XP

Oftentimes, Rockstar would roll out special limited-time events that award specific roles with huge XP boosts. When this happens, a player could jump from role Rank 1 to Rank 20 in less than two days. A good idea is to keep updated on the latest Rockstar News since these events are not rare.

Along with the XP boosts come huge discounts for upgrades, role-specific Tools, clothing, and much more. As a Moonshiner, keep on the lookout for Moonshiner Events and pounce on the discounts for upgrades and expansions. Sometimes, the General Store will have discounts as well so keep that in mind.

1

Play the Other Roles as Well

Being A Jack Of All Trades Can Be Quite Profitable

Red Dead Online roles are most profitable when done in conjunction with each other. In order to maximize profits, other roles can be prioritized while the mash is still being produced. A lot can be done during the hour of production or while waiting for the buyer’s reset timer to count down.

A player can search for collectibles near them, catch bounties as a Bounty Hunter, hunt some deer for Cripps, and even look for treasure. The profits obtained from the other roles are essential to running the Moonshining business or buying some Moonshiner clothing and accessories.