First timer-total failure. What happend

Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper 8)

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Mopar-SRT
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Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 6:21 am

First timer-total failure. What happend

Post by Mopar-SRT »

Hi everyone,
Well, im a total noob to this. Several months ago I started getting interested in the idea of distilling. Its something i had never done and didnt know anything about and wanted to learn, as the whole process is exciting to me. So i read over the internet, all over, and alot on this site. Trying to gather as much info as I could and not get too lost in all the super scientific type info and opinions.
So anyhow, i decided I wanted to try to make a whiskey/moonshine as this seemed to be the easiest for beginners, and cheapest.
I built a 8 quart still from a pressure cooker. Made a condensor with about 15 ft of copper in a 5 gallon bucket. I fermented about 2 gallons of product in a stainless steel container. I first ran the still after i made it with water to make sure everything worked ok. Everything did. Once it got to 212.5F it spit and sputtered and water came out.
Then, came time to run the real deal. I was nervous, excited, cautious, ready.
I let her rip...watched, watched, watched...temp went over 195F...and nothing ever came out. I shut her down before I started to boil water.
What did i do wrong???? I know you are going to need some specific info to help, so hit me with what you need to help me figure it out. Im very dissapointed I failed so bad.

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