Where did you get your knowledge?

[Kareltje]

Me was asked the question:

Just was asking about your hands on experience regarding distilling.As you answer several posts I was wondering how much was read and how much was hands on .?

I did not really know how to answer that question, because it was very hard to trace back.

Does anyone recall how he/she got his experience/knowledge?

[Kareltje]

Of course I started with my own experience.

1) I learned a lot from reading or hearing. The principles of distilling were teached to me during classes of physics and chemistry. Later, when I started the hobby, I went to the library of the university and read books. That was about 1975. No internet, then! Just paper cards and paper books.

2) I got my knowledge with thinking and modelling. I did take notes from the very start and made graphs. More recently I made models for a pot still and for a thumper. And I tried to test some formulae for %ABV of fluid vs %ABV of vapour. Excel is a great program when you want to try formulae!

3) I got my knowledge from experience with my stills. I like to test at least two comparable situations. For eaxmple: someone suggested a slow and long run with an air cooled condenser would take more energy than a fast and water cooled run. I agreed with him: expected the same. So I did a series of three runs, plotted the results and there was no difference.

But after all: it is hard to discern where my knowledge comes from. After I find a fact by experimenting, I try and find the theory about it. The sources of knowledge mix up.
But that is only my view and experience. I am curious to hear about yours.

[Pikey]

Yes I remember. It was less than 10 years ago - a mate and I were "Jawing" on his website (Different subject matter) and another guy from US who carried a picture of "Popcorn S" as his avatar joined in a bit. My mate opened up a private section and we shot the Shyt in there.

Anyhow my mate and I decided we would "Have a go" at making equipment and he went down the "Propane and worm" path - I went electric - 'cos it's what I knew (And I bought a second hand tea urn as cheap as a stainless "cook pot").

I made a Temperature controller so as to hold the temperature at just above "Ethanol boiling point" - He just used a thermometer and shut his runs down when the head temp got into the mid '80's C.

Somewhere he found a picture of a "Reflux still" and I built it as best I could from the picture.

It was basically a "Nixon stone offset" a it like this ;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gin-and-Vodka- ... SwPCVX7IRi

But I never did understand then, what the "Return pipe" was for, but it was supposed to make your "Drink stronger" by some voodoo mechanism ! - and the whole time I have been using it, that valve has never been opened.

Anyhow one day I calculated the amount of alcohol my yeast should have made, and the amount in my jars - and went looking for the missing Litres !

My mate never did get to that stage - At least, when we lost touch he hadn't, but he did join HD at that stage and got ripped to shreds for saying something or other. (probably about temperature and pot stills )

He never came back and it was a good few years of "Lurking" before I had the "Bottle" to join up after his experiences !

I guess I was lucky - because I did understand fermentation very well - and He used "Turbo yeast" - which he "Discovered some years before and used to make "Turbo Cider" - It must have been dreadful - but he was just bothered by the strength of it I think.

I did do ONE run of wash using "Turbo" at one time at his insistence - well I'm sure we all know how that tasted !

I must go looking - see if I can find the old boy

So that's it - Never had a real tutor, just worked it out between the two of us and later learned about "Cuts" - in fairness the American Guy did tell us about "Foreshots" - so we always dumped the first few Mils.

[Shine0n]

I got mine from my grandpa (sorta) Well I knew he made likker and went to jail a time or two in his prime for doing so. I used to fetch the water for him at the age of 5-8 on the west side of Charlotte North Carolina.

I remember alot of sugar and that's about it! I started around 23 because of curiosity, alot of sugar and cracked corn with bread yeast. Rot gut... yup but did the trick.

4 years ago I found this place called HD, I read a bit and did my experiments with limited success and read a bit more about what people were doing wrong and right and some more playing around. I finally joined a little over 2 year ago and took off like a rocket, learning everything I thought I knew but had no idea.

Today I make a fine rum, great AG bourbon (Thanx SCD) and when available a nice white fruit brandy (thanks Cranky)

Now I have some knowledge that I can pass around but I still learn everyday THANX HD!!!

[cede]

I have an heritage from my grandfather. He had a licence to distill as we had wineyard and orchard. When my grandfather died, my father inherited of it but did not pursue as they decided to sell the yards because it was too much work for my grandmother and the farm helper. We also had milking cows, pigs, chicken and rabbits.
The thing I remember the best from this time are the odours and tastes.

But it's only many years later that I went back to distillation with a bok, then read here and in other forums, some sites found on search engines, old books , all this until eyes bleeding, experimented a few things and gave up because I could not find spare time for this.
I have a background of all grain beer brewing too.

So that's a mix of learning from others, learning from reading and learning from fails.

[Antler24]

Everything I know I learned here. Was always curious about it, and had been brewing AG beer for few years. Hit a rough patch and had to sell of my $1500+ of brewing equipment, when I got back on my feet I knew it was time to try distilling. Read on here for 2yrs before joining. Slowly collected stuff and built a pot still. Owe it all to you guys!

[jon1163]

It began with my brother. He told me he was making moonshine and it got me interested. I make all sorts of things bath salts, raised my own beef, have a little garden, do beadwork, woodworking, anything with my hands basically

Well my brother was home on leave and he told me he was making moonshine and wanted to do it in my kitchen. He showed me his little still and we made some moonshine a little Chinese doohickey that he brought over.

Now he and I are a little bit different both in temperament and demeanor. I always remember that as a kid he could never be hurried along. He was a great golfer both in high school and college I remember we would play and he would be behind us all the time. Just moseying along going at his own pace, that was him. That's probably why he was much better golfer than I am.

Now the laxidasical attitude is fine for some things but me I was always more of an A type. I join the military at 17 did a whole lot of other stuff after that. I'm one of those people who's pretty meticulous - if I'm not 15 minutes early I'm late.

So I remember being in my kitchen with him and we were slicing up apples for this moonshine that he said he was going to teach me to make. I remember asking what his recipe was and he said to hell with it just throwing a little brown sugar a little white sugar let's drop these apples up and boil them for a while... Old guys with no teeth used to make this in the woods it's not that hard.

We ended up getting liquor out of that still but it sure tasted terrible. I should also mention that it was a turbo yeast special. Thank God we took out the foreshots but that was it.

I ended up buying my own still and a book to go along with it. I won't mention the books name but it was pretty terribly written and difficult to follow. I began my internet search and soon enough found home distillers. I began to read and was blown away by the depth of knowledge that goes into making a good drop.

Well the creativebug took hold and I ended up buying a bigger still, an 8 gallon Dual Purpose still from Mile High it served me very well. I still hadn't joined homedistiller because I didn't know exactly what I didn't know. When I started using the more professionally built still that's when the fun in the hobby began to materialize. With the Chinese still I had to stand over the steel for the entire run and constantly toggle to valves for the inlet and Outlet on the bowl for the worm to prevent it from going dry or overfilling.

When I began to get more into the hobby buy just making sugar washes with recipes that I found on the internet I haven't really decided to join HD... it seems that almost every search on the internet that I did kept bringing me back to this website.

When I really do love DIN and started reading the required reading I stopped distilling for a while because I realized I didn't know Jack.

Well I've since got my feet under me and this is the only website that I go to for answers. A lot of you have helped me out a whole lot and I've taken, stolen really, ideas from a lot of you. I can't say how much I appreciate everyone's help and dare I say company.

[BayouShine]

Moonshiners...

[goose eye]

The sites the smell the sounds the feelins.
Sittin up with the kettles all the ghosts of
thems that gone. Like one of them movein
picture fraims that shuffle pictures like playin cards.
Folks want to learn with 100 questions
and you shoo them away cause it ain't only
bout likker but sitin in the presence of long lost kin and friends
. All the jokes near diastors an sweat an mosquitoes an yellow jackets
An pranks an liein up a storm bout girls an tractors an cars
Truly hope one day it means this much to y'all.


So I'm tole

[The Baker]

Thank you for that, Goose Eye.

Geoff

[fizzix]

All so interesting. Makes my story pale.
The subject of distilling came up while talking around a campfire jamming beers down our necks.
I was the only one to pursue it and found the Parent Site, along with some of its then-outdated information.
A spate of turbo yeasts through a Magic Bucket and a pressure cooker, I knew there had to be something better.

Hmmm... what's this "forum" link? Began reading and talking to Rick from Brewhaus and acquired a proper still and T&T recipes.
Nothing but success and good sipping ever since. There-in lies my education and my loyalties.

Now my campfire buddies all want to know what I'll be cooking next. Patience, boys.

[thecroweater]

The forums have advanced my knowledge exponentially. I can't really get into where other experience might be from. I guess I can mention my ex's father as he passed away suddenly yesterday. I had a lot of good times listening to his stories from his very interesting life. Some of those stories were told to me on his porch while sitting around distilling, just. Me, him and one of his old Nam buddies

[Bushman]

All so interesting. Makes my story pale.
The subject of distilling came up while talking around a campfire jamming beers down our necks.
I was the only one to pursue it and found the Parent Site, along with some of its then-outdated information.
A spate of turbo yeasts through a Magic Bucket and a pressure cooker, I knew there had to be something better.

Hmmm... what's this "forum" link? Began reading and talking to Rick from Brewhaus and acquired a proper still and T&T recipes.
Nothing but success and good sipping ever since. There-in lies my education and my loyalties.

Now my campfire buddies all want to know what I'll be cooking next. Patience, boys.

, I belong to 6 forums and have learned from all but this is where I get the bulk of my information and owe my loyalty.

[HDNB]

mine was bourne from necessity. i had just bought my first house, my daughter was born...then i lost my job (misnomer, i actually told the guy he was a lying thief in front of his whole company, needlessly added he could stuff his job and stormed out of the meeting)

two things were clear after that.
1. i needed a drink
2. i couldn't afford one.

so jr.high chemistry and encyclopedia Britannica to the rescue!(that's the old analogue interwebbies for all you young guys)

made rot gut fruit infused rum and not very well...but like someone said, it worked.

fast forward many years and finally learned the craft part of craft booze...right here.

now i know what i need to, to make what i like. the next step is to actually know what i know, but that may take the rest of days based on my learning curve. I think i'm at that stage where i know just enough to be dangerous.

[pfshine]

Well it all started with me and my brother talking about making and selling stills when the moonshiners show first came on air. I had already thought about getting one and learning to use it for SHTF purposes. My brother and I are pipefitters by trade so making them would be easy for us. I started researching and got deeper and deeper into the hobby as my brother lost interest in the venture.

I already knew how to work metal and flow pattern, hydronics and lots of math calcs from school and hands on field work. This site and some others helped integrate what I knew and the tons of info I was learning. After building my first still and learning how to work it, is where the real fun began.

Lots of thinking, drawings, more thinking, more sketches and of course lots of building. I would lay awake at night constructing new awesome stills in my head and new ways to do things. Most were not note worthy but the thinking about how everything interacts is what was important. Eventually some of those thoughts were turned into reality.

With tools in hand, blood and sweat on the floor, that, is where most of my knowledge is gained. Whether it's a plated column or an inline Carter head or a simple airlock to shoot a thumper, everything thing you build will give you tons of info to digest.

As for fermentation, I knew absolutely zip. It has all been learned here, other sites and talking to people in the beginning. Then lots and lots of hands on experience.

[Pikey]

I've had my say, but reading through the rest of your experiences, I was particularly impressed by Goose-eye and croweater's posts, the heritage aspect I found really touching. Sadly for me this has been a pretty solitary enterprise and I wish it had been something "handed down" - Even my old Dad died before I produced anything and he would have LOVED this game. My kids don't seem interested, so I don't even know who to leave my kit to - I guess It'll just get "weighed in" for scrap.

Having said that, the forums at least give me access to people with the same interest and that has to be a positive - thanks lads (and ladesses )

[Kareltje]

I agree Pikey: there are surprisingly nice stories.

I browsed my old notes and found I had two periods of active distilling: one from 1975 to 1977 with about 18 recipes with a maximum of 5 l mash or wash. I guess I moved, but I am not sure.

Later, in 1987 I took it up again, until 1991, running about 40 recipes, but with much lager volumes. Once I processed 15 l of a wine of a friend. Or a crate of beer of another. All in a 7 l iron boiler with 50 cm long iron riser, sometimes filled with copper curls and/or pebbles. Made 92 %ABV at times. And I took some pride in drawing my labels myself, still pretty good.
In 1991 my boiler developed small holes, so eventually I stopped distilling. But I stored my still and a copper kettle for further use.

In 2015 I got some leftover wines and tried to distill them: miraculously my iron still was healed! But after some runs it got serious holes in it, so I had to finish my copper boiler. Much easier to find parts than 40 years before, with internet and all.
Of course I made notes again, but did not count anymore. Since 2015 I learned a lot more about stills and recipes and theory. And of course my knowledge and skills have grown through the years.

The most difficult part now is making cuts. I think my smell and taste have diminished the last decade, maybe partly due to medicines.

As I have no children, let alone grandchildren, I don't know to whom I have to leave my stills. There now is a lively trade in secondhand and homebuild stills on the internet, but a lot of my stills are gas fired and the government wants to phase out the use of natural gas. But we will see about that in due time.

[ga flatwoods]

We are all, at this very minute, the cullumination of all we have experienced through all of our senses, actions and lack of actions, formal and informal educational settings, musings, abusings, trials, temptations, loves and loss therof, studying, reading, watching, testing, hands-on experiences, videos, books, magazines, web sites, forums, beer, whiskey, and wine drinking, telling tales and listening to others including mothers, brothers, scholars, illeterates, and just plain figuring it out for ourselves. Of all i have aquired, Fat Ass Fanny probably taught me the most.
Glad you asked.
Georgia Flatwoods