New from Missouri

[ripcrd]

First time post. Apparently the mods won't let me reply until I do one of these.
I've been brewing beer (extract & all grain), wine, cider and mead for over 2 years. I've gotten lots of positive feedback on different styles and I'm always making something different. Ready to try my hand at distilling.

My grand dad was my inspiration to brew. He left behind old brown bottles in the basement and an old crock he used to ferment in with a towel over it. My dad has lots of stories of grandpa's friends coming over to try homebrew. Grandma had stories of her own. She had relatives from Tennessee that shined in the hills and dodged revenuers.

I've built a hybrid pot still with a short column that leads to the arm. The arm turns into a long copper- sheathed chiller / condenser. We will be running cold ground water thru the condenser.

Eventually going to make a parrot, it doesn't look hard.

My buddy and I are a couple of DIY guys and can fix or fab about anything. I love seeing everyone's still pics and hope to share mine soon. My brew partner is finishing up part of the still and we hope to at least make our cleaning runs soon. After that, I have a sugar wash to run thru it. The wash hit 19.38% just in initial fermentation. It wont be for drinking, just another experiment to check the still and see how to make cuts. I have about 12 lbs of 6-row for our first real batch to make some scotch.

[Bigbob]

Welcome ripcrd, your brewing experience will help in AG. Give crankys spoon feeding for new distillers a read. It's in novices right at the top. It's full of helpfull advice and tips and will give you a step in the right direction. Your wash I realize is going to be a sacrificial run, but just to let you know if you don't, a high gravity like that can produce off flavors. Enjoy the forums!

[S-Cackalacky]

Welcome to the forums. There's a link to the reading material Bigbob referred to in my signature along with a couple of other links that you should read.

Turbo yeast is best used for making ethanol fuel. It won't produce a quality drinking likker. Good for a sacrificial cleaning run, but not much else. You can find a good recipe to get you started in the "Tried and True Recipes" section of the forums. Take a look and find one that you think you might like to try.

Good luck to you and stay safe.