Bekonang, a small village in Mojolaban district, Sukoharjo, Central Java, is known for producing ethanol. However, the village is also well known as a producer of ciu [local liquor], a byproduct of ethanol. The popularity of Ciu Bekonang often extends beyond the regency.

In Bekonang, the first bootleg liquor was made in the 1930s after a Dutch ruler introduced a technique to produce alcohol. The Dutch trained locals to make liquor out of fermented sugarcane juice, left over from the Tasik Madu sugar factory in Karanganyar, Central Java.

“At that time, the bootleg liquor was produced to cater to the needs of the Dutch ruler,” said Sabaryono, chairman of the Community of Bekonang Alcohol Producers.

Later, liquor from Bekonang gained popularity among Dutch residents and officials of the Surakarta sultanate. Its warmth and unique smell attracted customers from many areas.

Until today, the bootleg liquor production uses traditional equipment, from a brick stove to distillation pipes and metal tanks. It takes five days for sugarcane juice mixed with malt to ferment. 

The fermented liquid is then distilled by placing the tanks on a stove to release vapor, which is channeled to cooling tanks through pipes. The initial result produces liquor with 35 percent alcohol. It takes a week to produce ethanol, which contains 90 percent alcohol.

In the 1990s, the government banned bootleg liquor production, saying consumption of the alcohol would harm social morality. Ironically, after the bootleg producers stopped making their homemade liquor, branded liquor flooded the market.

Home industries in Bekonang are only allowed to produce medical-grade alcohol for hospitals and public health clinics. Aside from alcohol, the sugarcane juice can also be transformed into liquid fertilizer, cigarette ingredients and traditional herbal medicine.

The home industries now face a double whammy after the regional government issued licenses for the operation of large-scale alcohol factories. The presence of big players with strong capital has threatened the existence of homemade alcohol producers.

“Every day, one home industry can produce 300 liters of alcohol, far below the 3,000 liters of alcohol produced by a small factory using machinery. We lost on all fronts,” Sabaryono said.

Some home industries in Bekonang have gone bankrupt. From 140 facilities in 2013, there are now 60, on the back of dwindling demand and soaring prices of sugarcane juice as a raw material.

Two years ago, one kilogram of sugarcane juice was sold for Rp 700 [5 US cents]. Today, prices can reach Rp 3,000 per kilogram.

Home producers also admit they have lost many customers as they cannot keep up with rising demand, which requires them to produce bigger quantities of alcohol in a shorter period.

JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi