Signing on

[ThomSimone]

Greetings.

As required, this is my first post on the HDF site. I am not sure exactly why so I guess I will just yack away on my experience in the art of making alcohol.

I am old and retired, but not necessarily in that order...

I started brewing my own beer in 1991 or 2, meads in 97. By the time I moved to TX, I had had it with bottling beers so I have my own fridge in the utility room with 2-3 Cornelius kegs on tap. Vinification of wine started about in 2011. Bought the parts for a still in 2012. I now own a stainless steel fractionalization still that (all parts attached) is 8' tall and completely filled with mash, raschig rings, copper gauze, is, well, too darn heavy to pick up. Why stainless steel? Because using various parts, I can distill extremely high quality vodka and turn around and thump whiskey like the best of them.

Since then, I have never had to buy a present for a friend or a housewarming, we always drink homemade versus store bought, and there is always dozens of gallons lying around.

When my son started college a while back, some of his mates asked him if he wanted to get some beers. "Nah, Dad's is better and it's basically free for me." Along with engineering and woodworking, he has decided to follow in my footsteps in these pursuits.

I never sell my wares. Not being snobby here, I just never want to feel like my product are monetized. Stop in sometime - I readily share. The only thing I ask is bring my glassware back. I don't like scraping wine bottle labels off and mason jars can get expensive.

There, I blathered on for long enough for the moderator to decide if I have been drinking too much of the foreshots to be allowed to post further on this site.

[acfixer69]

Welcome to HD. Glad you found the forums.

[Rum Agol]

Welcome to the forum. I look forward to reading about your experiences in distilling.

[SmokyMtn]

Welcome. Enjoy the read

[Saltbush Bill]

Welcome Aboard ThomSimone.

As required, this is my first post on the HDF site. I am not sure exactly why

Let me assure you that there is good reason, It allows the Mods and Admin to sort what we think are going to be genuine members from the riffraff that just want to use the site to post spam.
For that reason you will rarely ever see spam on the pages of this forum.
It also helps the members here know a little about you, what you do know and what you dont.....if you own a still or not, many other things that help us to help you if need be.

[jonnys_spirit]

Welcome home ThomSimone! Don't drink the foreshots lol

(Even though we do drink them in beer and wine)...

[subbrew]

Welcome. Depending on the part of Texas I might take you up on the share offer. I used to travel to TX regularly and hope to again in the near future. Nights in a hotel can be boring so I usually go looking for a new drink.

[Dr Griz]

Welcome! I really empathized with your comment about selling -- sure, it's illegal (and seems to be what draws the ire of law enforcement more than the making of it), but more than that, it's just good to have something in life that isn't fungible, dammit!

[Yonder]

Hey neighbor. Hope you have a goodly stock. Must be near 50 of us hanging around these pages.

[Oldvine Zin]

Welcome in, next time I'm Texas I'll give you a shout.

Stay safe
OVZ

[Archee72]

Welcome