noobie "yooper"

[northcountry]

Hello to all from the up of Michigan Found this site a day late, got took by stilldrinkin. Will try to contest the cc payment. We've just got into wine and mead, and ready for a step up. The 4 batches of wine-mead we have going (wild grape, fig, apricot, cranberry) are all going well and taste decent even tho they are fresh. Brandy would be good, and we do like tequila. Bought some organic blue aqave but will need to know how to add in the distill process. Look forward to scoping out the info here and learning.

[carl1078lewis]

Welcome from one noobie to another. Sounds like fine aspirations you have there.

A zen poem for you:

I recommend saving your agave
until you've run several runs,
so you can make your cheap mistakes,
rather than expensive ones!

Sugar wash would be a sight cheaper than agave or home-made, good-quality wine. I've started out using the Gerber wash (in the Tried and True Recipes forum) and have found this to be a very cheap and reliable way to start to learn about all the things that make distilling an art rather than a mere process to apply a math equation to. I'm looking forward to sour mashes and oaked bourbon in my future, but I would hate to put out big bucks for some good corn, spend weeks making washes and babysitting the ferments, and then go and mess it up in the still because I didn't know what I was doing (and that's probably exactly what I'd do right now if I went and tried it). If you make wine already, fermenting a sugar wash will be easy for you, and after a few you could then do a fancy ferment from more expensive ingredients and make the cuts with some confidence.

This is a great hobby, welcome to the forum, before you know it hopefully you'll be giving me advice too.

[northcountry]

Welcome the input, with the zenish flavor. Got into the "mistakes category" last night and had some good laughs, tho do see the messages and realize could get blown to the next realm.

Haven't checked it out yet, but thinking of adding the agave after and when cutting down proof?

Variation of the theme-
A step down with stilldrinkin,
lost a few bucks.
But everything always perfect,
even when it sucks.

[blanikdog]

Welcome to the forum, northcountry.

blanik