Hiya gang!

New to distillation, or simply new to the HD forums.
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JudgeBot
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Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:09 am

Hiya gang!

Post by JudgeBot »

I am currently in Texas but grew up in Greenfield Indiana. At the time it was a rural community and the name was pretty descriptive of what you would find there. The bus ride to school was mostly framed in corn fields.

When I was a kid I helped with some family runs, but never had a still myself. Most of the family are Mellungeons from the Appalachian rim.
I have been doing Google image searches and I see a lot of rigs that look nothing like what I grew up with and am curious as to what the heck has changed and where all the worms and worm boxes are.
I ain't never seen somebody put a tower with windows on their still until now. Color me intrigued.

My experience is with hastily built and as quickly abandoned pot stills. Using a wood fire, we would have a slop to catch the burps before getting to the thump keg. It's hard to regulated the boil when the wood first catches, and by hard, I mean you can't. So some is likely to boil over the neck at first. So that slop catches it and keeps the thumper keg from fouling. The slop has a feed back to the boiler so in theory it runs dry most of the time. So that's where I am on the knowledge tree. Probably stuck in 1800's compared to what I am seeing online. But I can tell you it works. :ebiggrin:

I do brew corn beer, but so far I have just bottled it and drank it. I use prickly pear fruit and pepper corns for flavor and...it's pretty good.

Divorced with a dog and I got the house. That pretty much sums me up square.
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Bushman
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Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:29 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Hiya gang!

Post by Bushman »

Welcome, you sound like you have a rich history. Things have really exploded in the last 5 or 6 years with forums and the internet as members have shared ideas. The introduction of reflux stills have changed more than the traditional pot stills with methodology and designs. You have some catching up to do but it is a fun and exciting journey.
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Bigbob
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Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: SE Oklahoma

Re: Hiya gang!

Post by Bigbob »

Welcome JudgeBot! Lots to catch up on like Bushman says,but this hobby can be simple like a pot still(like me) or some much more complicated. It's all up to you. Read and enjoy!! :wave:
If you wear underwear then it's a dress!
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=62150 How I run a small still
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moosemilk
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Re: Hiya gang!

Post by moosemilk »

Welcome to the forum. As you can see, much has changed. Can't stop progress. But with that, much remains the same. Many are in this hobby to not only make a superior drink, but to keep alive an almost lost way of doing so. Even those using modern methods. You'll still find many pot stillers here. And probably find some rigs like those you speak of. I have a 12 gallon pot, banged out of sheet by hand. No thumper or slobber box though. Yet.

Enjoy the reading and see how things have come along, and maybe reminisce when you see things that haven't changed. Always nice to hear experiences from those who witnessed the traditional ways.
JudgeBot
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Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:09 am

Re: Hiya gang!

Post by JudgeBot »

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I have pretty much decided on a traditional copper pot still.

I just need to find some information on hammering copper into bowl shapes, and cutting dove tails to get something of a turnip pot built. My grand just chewed my ear off on using root magic to protect my still. LOL
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superdaveva
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Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:07 am
Location: mountains of va.

Re: Hiya gang!

Post by superdaveva »

All the info is here, check out the search function top right. Have you been to clawhammerstills? Good luck
just deal with it bitches
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moosemilk
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Re: Hiya gang!

Post by moosemilk »

Like superdaveva said, it's all here best way to learn though is jump on in and get to it! Just take your time and be patient.
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