What advice would you give new distillers?

[Single Malt Yinzer]

For the Beginner's Guide, what advice would you give? I put some stuff below. Please feel free to critique what I wrote or add your own.

Some advice for those new to distilling:

*Relax and read. Distilling can be as simple or as difficult as you want to make it. It can be overwhelming. If you don't understand something right away don't worry. Search the forums, google it, or then ask the question on the forums. We're here to help, we just ask that you do a a little research before you ask a question. It may take reading something a couple times before you understand it. In the end it's a lot simpler than it sounds. Seriously. You're heating something up and then cooling the steam back down to a liquid. That is the essence of distilling. Where you go from there is up to you.

*Don't buy a still and then try to figure out how to use it. Different still are better or worse at producing certain spirits. Until you understand better what spirit(s) you want to produce you really won't understand what still is best for you.

*Take notes when you read. Take notes when you ferment. Take notes when you distill. Take notes when taste your product. Does it taste good? Mission accomplished. If not or if you want to do better look at your notes and think about how to change/improve your process. Don't know how? Ask on the forums. Keeping notes is the best way to review and improve your product.

[Saltbush Bill]

Different still are better or worse

Should be a s on still I think.

[StillerBoy]

Take note of the thread heading, with foot notes on the thread.. then bookmark the thread in a folder.. so you can go back to it for comparison or refreshing on an idea for whatever it is your researching..

Mars

[jonnys_spirit]

Buy a bigger still than you think you’ll need for stripping runs. Get it with two heating element ports, a drain port at the bottom, and an access port at the top in addition to the column port - copper.

Get a small/mini still for gins and infusions.

Cheers!
-jonny

[shadylane]

Don't go down this rabbit hole.
It's a hobby, that will turn into an obsession.

[metalsmith]

Don’t tell the blond at the bar you make moonshine. It will not impress her and it will be the only thing she remembers after you piss her off.