Hello from Portland

[alcoholic_bp]

I am in the Portland area of the Northwestern USA. Despite what my screen name says, I am not an alcoholic (at least not yet). I just enjoy tasting different types of alcohol and sharing them with friends. As I already like to learn about different types of alcohol and how they are made and where they come from, I thought it would be more interesting to actually make some myself.

What I have done already:
So far, all I have done is setup a gallon of cranberry juice and a gallon of apple juice in my closet with balloons used as "airlocks" and a cup of sugar and some yeast in each. I am waiting for these to finish fermenting so I can see just how they turn out.

What I want to do:
Experiment a little with making homemade alcoholic beverages. In the near future, I am going to be building my own still. Preferably a reflux still, as I have found from my research that a reflux is best for unflavored alcohol like vodka. I'd also like to setup a pot still so I can experiment with making my own rum. I like rum.

Anyway. I'm glad I found this forum. I am still reading up a lot on distilling and I hope to gain much knowledge and experience with the help of this community.

[Bushman]

Welcome to the forum, I live north of Portland. You have a store in Portland I really want to visit that sells Alembic Pot Stills, here is their URL if you are interested.
http://www.essentialoil.com/copperdistillers.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
It was closed last time I was down there on the weekend. They sell copper stills for ""essential oils"". I am curious how your fermentation goes, if your juice has any preservatives added you may have trouble getting it to ferment. Good Luck!

[mash rookie]

Welcome aboard. While you are reading up on stills and fermenting, find your local brew supply shop. Learning to make beer and wine will give you a solid knowledge base when moving on to distillation. Most sell distillation supplies too. Dont tell them what you are planning. By the time you are ready to buy or build a still you will understand much.

MR

[rtalbigr]

Went through Portland back in the late "60's visitin. They took me to Ferrells (sp?) and ordered the Portland Zoo, course I didn't have a clue. Liked to s*** when the sirens started blastin, thot the building was on fire or sumpin. I've never seen, before or since then, a bigger bowl of ice cream. H***, they carried it in on a strecher. I've never ate that much ice cream in one settin before either.

Big R

[OlympicMtDoo]

Welcome al from Portland, there are several of us web footed moss backed rain loving PNWers on this site, Im about 2 hours north of you. Good luck and welcome.

[rubber duck]

I'm a little south but I've still got the foot disorder.

Welcome aboard.

[wildrover]

Welcome from the dry side of the cascades!