Home Distiller

Hey Tater!

Good to see you are still at it!

I have a pear tree in my yard these days. I made a great batch of cider a couple years ago. This year is even bigger pear crop. I just crushed and mushed and started a ferment on 6 gallons of fresh pear juice. Sunday afternoon stuff.

I have not been around in a while. Good to see this place is still thriving. I just wanted to say Hi!

I had an old 1938 farmall b. That was a great tractor.

wish I never sold it...

It is so nice to see this thread. Not been here in a while and I am super happy and proud about some of the things I see posted... I can totally relate to the joy and fun and learning that comes with this hobby. Congrats to everyone who's made some fine shine... Keep it going Y'all.

He posted in the rogers thread. He is making a spirit from agave syrup and white sugar. I'd love to hear why he believes a wash made from sugar and a highly refined syrup is unlike a rum. He states that it smells different... well, it is different. It is sugar and agave syrup, instead of sugar and m...

making an agave spirit out of refined agave syrup is no challenge at all. It tastes nothing like tequila tho. Go look at Ian Chadwicks site on how tequila is made. The flavor profile comes from the pina and how it is roasted, steamed, smoked or otherwise processed. It is fundamental to the process. ...

I think that would take away half the fun of making this drink. Harvesting an agave, cutting your way to the heart and slow roasting it is a hell of an adventure all on its own. I am trying to wrap my head around an actual dollar amount for doing that and shipping it somewhere. It would be so hard t...

Id be willing to ship a pina to someone, but the cost would be outrageous.

There are many varieties of agave used to make mezcal. I used agave americana with good results. I want to try sotols next...

Fair enough, friend. I have never had bad results with bread yeast. Maybe its just been my dumb luck. I guess we agree that one should use a more appropriate yeast than one isolated for bread baking. That said, figs are really fun to work with. Easy to get, easy to ferment, and sooo traditional. I r...

Now why do you say bread yeast will ruin it? I have not tried bread yeast, but I dont believe for a second that it would be detrimental. There may be better choices, but ruin it? My fig experience was good. It is a little rough at first... give it a year to age and all is good. I froze my figs in ga...

Grape press. Once, I had 30 something gallons of crushed and fermented apples. I wanted to get most of the solids out so I thought I would line wooden slats with an old sheet to keep the small bits from squeezing out. Everything was working fine until there was a loud rippingsound and a huge spray o...

I'd bet that's a waxed barrel...

Sturgill Simpson. Life of sin...

Like Waylon...but different.

Couple days ago I cooked up 34 gallon zip lock bags of figs. I cooked then with some honey and a bit of molasses. They got boiled for a while and dumped into the big 40 gallon fermenter. It was sealed up and set in a cool place. Next morning pitched a big starter of kv-1116. TO'Day it smells awesome...

Ha!

Good luck!

Let me know if ya need a hand! that sounds like a lot of fun.

I'm a big on the grain advocate. One reason is that its just too easy to mash, cool the whole thing, and pitch yeast. After fermentation, let it all settle and drain the clear liquid off the top of the grain with a siphon. Harvesting yeast is simple to do. A lot easier than sparging... I've done it ...

Hominy is available in dried and canned in liquid. The dried version takes a lot of cooking to soften it up. You can get some cool varieties in the dried form. Locally there is a red hominy and a couple of others. I've used the red hominy and couldn't tell you I thought it tasted any different from ...

If you have it in you to write up the reasons the mill gave for variations in stainless, I'd love to read about it.

I agree with those that think you had bad scrubbers. Fix that and you should be set.

already rotting and already fermenting are two totally different things.

Many old hobby distillers live for a huge score of ripe fruit...

That, to me, was what this hobby is all about...

Best of luck!

my only try with watermelon came out awesome. Like all fresh spirits, it takes a little time to come into its own. If you needed more flavor then diluting your low wines with fresh watermelon juice for the spirit run is a great idea. Spraying the outside of the melon with kmeta is a good thing too. ...

a few bugs won't hurt anything... but a bunch of rotten apples will yield a spirit that tastes like rotten apples. Its pretty much all in the name... you are producing a spirit... Its a new juice, but with the flavor and character of what it was made from. If your apples are rotted, the spirit will ...

Well, yes. You can make a brandy from it. If its what you have then use it. Even if its mediocre, its something that you made with your hands and work and that makes it special. And thats good enough... I'm no apple expert, but I'm pretty sure the variety of apples is a bit different for brandy maki...

Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony was nothing special but the reception was excellent...

http://www.cnet.com/news/space-whiskey- ... ry-please/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

No one that I know of is smoking the pina. I used a smoker to provide heat to cook as I don't have big ovens. Mescal is distinct from tequila in one way, it has a smoky flavor to it because it is cooked using fire. The pinas are buried under a large fire... An amazing process. Check out Ian Chadwick...

great to see you around!

Thats a good yield! Glad it came out!

I don't think sweet potatoes even belong in the tequila discussion. Agave based drinks are just that... agave. The only appropriate comparison is that cooked agave vaguely resembles a cooked sweet potato. but only very vaguely... Dood, working on the fibers is the only way to go. Using agave nectar ...

uh, what?

yeah, don't sweat it too much. I think too much time gets spent on cuts. Its not bad to get some heads and tails in the mix. Proper aging will take care of any negatives you might initially think you have. Over time they just might become awesome flavors. If I were making 100% barley I would add lot...

damn straight, proper blade...

uh, what is that nice chunk of damascus?