Finally I can say hello :wave: . Hello!

[VideoRich]

I've been frequenting HD for well over a year and I haven't been able to successfully register my account until now. Hi I'm Richard, from Toronto, Canada and I began brewing as a means to supply my indoor hydroponic vegetable garden with extra CO2. After finding that adding some yeast to brown sugar water was one of the most cost-effective ways to make CO2 I couldn't bring myself to dump the fermented water and ended up finding HD through some extensive Google searching.

First off, thank you very much to all the contributors, donors and moderators for making this seemingly never-ending abundance of distilling knowledge and experience available to the public. Information, without which, I (and many others I'm sure) would have given up after a few failed attempts.

I'm happy to admit that I only had one batch I would consider a failure when I burnt the grains trying to distill on them. Even though I just ran it through enough times that the burnt flavour was gone and only a small trace of burnt smell was detected. Then mixed with some Top Shelf flavorings.

I started out on sugar washes in gallon jugs and moved up to a 15 gallon wine fermenter and 5 gallon pot still w/water heater element on induction cooktop(sometimes with a thumper, lol) with copper mesh stuffed column and shotgun condenser. This forum has been a game changer and a life saver for me, like when I found the screws I used in my still turned black cuz they were SS coated zinc. I also have timers setup to shut off hourly in case I fall asleep distilling.

Wanted to get into AG rye whiskey but felt I lacked enough experience so I dived into my own version of Pugi's Pugirum, quite successfully. That 5th batch is right where the sweet spot is and I've been saving a gallon of my 8th and final run for a special occasion. Now I'm running my all grain batches with malted rye, Patagonia and Munich and they're tasty right off the still. All thanks to everyone who posts here at HD. Truly priceless information and an excellent collection of concoction connoisseurs!

And secondly I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to read my welcome post. You all are awesome!

[NormandieStill]

Welcome. Glad you found your voice. From your post your co2 production must be up to spec now!

[IdontKnow]

Welcome looks like you have a good system going. Plants must be happy.

[VideoRich]

Welcome. Glad you found your voice. From your post your co2 production must be up to spec now!

Thanks, NormandieStill! Yes, it's off the charts now and requires extra ventilation to get enough oxygen for human inhabitants.

Welcome looks like you have a good system going. Plants must be happy.

Thanks, IdontKnow! My secret to success: when in doubt, click the search button right up there ↑↑ read, and then read some more, lol

Actually I failed miserably at the hydroponic vegetable garden. Maybe I could have been successful had I found the HomeGardener's forum like HD. But I am not a quiter, I'm still producing lots of CO2!

[Demy]

Welcome! A very curious thing ... generally it ferments to produce drinks by discarding CO2 but you have made the reverse path ... a big greeting from me.

[NorthWoodsAb]

Hello and welcome to HD. Interesting intro.
Cheers