Home Distiller

Thanks for the kind and thoughtful words. I'll give it the consideration it deserves.

The pot is stainless steel; the dome is nylon, covered on the inside with copper foil, as I said. But I plan on finishing my "real" still soon anyway. Oh, I forgot to clarify that the 2nd thru 4th generation UJSSM was done as small 1 gallon batches of wash, mostly to see what kind of flavo...

I finally made my first runs a few weeks ago. I was using a modified 4-qt.water distiller that a friend let me have cheap, so I decided to try it out until I got my pot still completed. I lined the dome on the inside of the still with copper foil to keep the vapors from contacting the nylon in the d...

Greetings! I, too, am from that taxified state, but over on the dry side of the mountains. I am getting active again; I haven't been on in quite a while. been doing a lot of reading in the forum, tho. Excellent advice here! just don't get paralyzed with all the info intake; build something eventuall...

Welcome, hillfixit, from a fellow Pacific NW'er. So much good and interesting information on this site, take care you don't get a cerebral meltdown! btw, Roger Miller still rules. Good to know there are still some folks out there who remember some of the oldies and goodies!

Hey, Maliaki, I think you should send that envy-inspiring device to me, so I can,,,um...test it extensively. This process may take some months or more. Especially since I won't be able to stop grinnin' long enough to do much testing for the first couple of months. Awesome.

I nearly got sucked in by those two shysters when I was first looking for information on distilling. Using "desolate" for "distillate" was one tipoff, I thought, among other things. Fortunately I discovered this site before I rushed headlong into I knew not what :D . Thanks again...

Am still reading up on all aspects of distilling. Man, I'm gonna have to just go for it pretty soon, but there is just sooooo much good info on this site... Thank you all who have contributed your knowledge and experience. An old-timer told me once that some less-than-scrupulous moonshiners would wa...

"Alcoholism is a mental condition which is called STUPIDITY" Not sure I would go as far as to say it is always only stupidity. It is not a good thing, I agree 100%, but having been on the edge at one time myself, it can be a way a person chooses to cope with psychological pain. I reiterat...

A few musings: (1) I agree with the "paranoia" about lead levels (remember, it ain't paranoia if they really are out to get you :wink: ) especially since it is so easy to avoid lead if you are doing the soldering yerself; however, I am suspicious of anything underwritten by the BATF. (2) I...

Welcome QM. For 2" copper, also check at a scrap yard/recycling center if you are within reasonable distance of one. The one I go to sells beautiful 2" at scrap price.

Some Gents make it a bit more softer and some Gents make it a bit more like dough. Some gents even use canned bisquets with bits rolled into lil snakes. Some gents make kinda loose and stuffit in to a sandwhich baggie with a hole in the corner and apply it alah caulking gun;/squeeze bag style. What...

Howdy, Polly. I think you will find this hobby addicting (in the best sense, o' course ) I am also from somewhere in the Inland Empire.

Howdy and welcome, klondike. "...very entertaining form of civil disobedience." I like that! I am pretty new here myself; there is so much good information on this site... btw, do you really mean to boil the enzyme with the grain? I think that would de-activate it

(Sigh) OK, I got it figured out with more reading,Thank you all for putting so much information out here! Am gonna start with a simple 5-gal. pot still. Lid secured by clips & flour paste (seems to work for everyone else), 6" riser 1" diameter, reduced to a 1/2" liebig condenser 2...

Welcome, Moorea! I lived near Rio Verde, Goias, for 5 or 6 years, back in '80-'86. We still get some good ol' pinga when we find it around here; I'd like to try replicating Velho Barreiro or some such, but without fresh cane, I'm not sure I can duplicate the flavor. I am just starting out, myself. I...

@ goose eye: I have some uncles and cousins that went to the Land of Very Bad Things in the 60's and 70's. It was a damn @#%&?!! shame the way our guys were treated by the American public once they got home. Sounds like you had a particularly rough time over there. I was not there, but I've list...

Some country, from when it was still country; some rock (AC/DC, KISS, Lynnrd Skynnrd come to mind); SOME classical; good southern gospel; some bluegrass; everything by Warren Zevon; everything by Johnny Cash; everything by Johnny Horton. Everything by Creedence Clearwater Revival. ZZTop. Some Brazil...

Interesting thread; I'm new here,but I reckon I'll leave my thots on it. I don't know if it's always true that alcoholics are born, not made. I know several examples where one member of a family is a "problem drinker" and all his family and cousins for 2 or 3 generations never tasted any a...

Almost forgot. Heat from a 1000W electric burner, adding a drop-in immersion type 1000W element for the pre-heat. --10/07/10: Did even more research here, and now there are so many good ideas that I don't know if I'll ever be able to choose the best of them and actually settle on a design. For somet...

Hello. There are so many good ideas, and I am learning even more than I thot I would. Thank you everyone for your questions, answers, and thots. I tried opening the pictures of stills in this thread, but all I got was computer code. Must be a glitch in my system. I haven't got around to getting set ...

Lol. And the nitro was just taking an idea to it's extreme limit, just for fun.

No offense taken. Ever since my first snipe hunt, I've been a little leery...lol. I appreciate the condenser plans, bgrizzle and myles. I did some more reading and I see the point about keeping the distillate warm for further evaporation of the funky stuff, but I guess I was more concerned about los...

Thanks, Dndrhead, and the rest. I don't know for sure what the joke is, but like she said on prom night, "I reckon I'm about to find out". I will send youse a bucket o' steam when you mail me a metric, left-handed pipe wrench to help with the still build. 8) Oh, I found the triple-wall con...

Interesting thread. I reckon I'll stand on my hind legs and let my let my noobish palate shine out for one and all. Just think, you all can see the evolution of taste perception from beginning to finish :) I mentioned Jack Daniels' already, that is what I buy when I think of "the good stuff&quo...

ScottishBoy, are you implying that the product of Lynchburg is not that great, or that carefully crafted homebrew can be even better? (JD is my comparison standard; if there is something better out there, then I want some!)

Sorry, I forgot to post my age. Let's just say I remember watching Armstrong's small step and giant leap. And the first half of my life was spent among teetotaling fundamentalist control freaks.

Hello. I have found many answers in this forum, and I will keep looking, but if anyone has time to help me with these, I'd sure appreciate it. I have read the "Rules We Live By", and FAQs, and will keep on reading. These questions are regarding a pot still of 3-4 gallons, 1" copper tu...

Hello. I have been avidly reading on this site for a while now, thot I'd actually check in now. I am kinda new at this, tho I did some distilling in college chem and have been (sneakily)making wine off and on since I was 13 :twisted: I have been thinking of a simple pot still to get started and am g...