Ian Smiley's "Pure Corn Whiskey"

[LWTCS]

Glass lined pieces of junk where I live in my opinion.

Thats all we get over in my neck of the planet too.

[kiwistiller]

thats a beaut stripping boiler aces, congrats

[Aces High]

A mate of mine owns a company that installs solar hot water systems here in Australia. hey also takes down the old ones and scraps them. Some of the older ones are full copper, I almost grabbed the copper one, but decided to grab this stainless one instead.

He had about 20 to choose from just sitting out back of his property. There is basically 4 types in Australia copper, stainless, enamal plated steel & Glass (although no one makes the coppper ones new any more cause they're too expensive)

thats a beaut stripping boiler aces, congrats

thanks Kiwi, I've just received in the mail some 4" ferrules so I am making a 4" stripping head once i scam the copper (from another mate )

[MuleKicker]

Im soooo jealous. That is a beauty AH! Ive heard rad talking about the copper heaters. I have never seen one.

[HookLine]

Agree with Manu. Some of you are being a little hard on Mr Smiley, and then some. Not the most impressive thread on HD, I gotta say. He deserves more respect than that.

Sure, hot water boilers can be problematic if you get the wrong one, and leaving a running still unattended is, well, not smart in my view. But the book does contain a lot of very useful & accurate info.

The Compleat Distiller describes how to use hot water boilers. Are Nixon & McCaw useless fools too?

I'd give Smiley's book 8 out of 10. Worth reading, especially for newbies wanting to make all grain whisky. But he should have also discussed alternative boilers, especially stainless stock pots, and should have been a little more safety conscious.

And nice boiler, AcesHigh.

[lacedspirits]

Apparently we're getting the short end on water heaters over here in The States.
As for Mr Smiley, the man knows his whiskey, I'll give him that. I just wouldn't let him build my next still. Unless maybe he brought over one of those Aussie type h20 heaters. Even smart guys have bone-head ideas. There was no disrespect on my part.
I think if Smiley/Nixon/Stone are anything like us, they could take a good ribbing and hold their own. For as much as I razz 'em, I own both digital copies and hard copies of both books and refer to them often. I have said before that, especially Compleat Distiller, will give anyone a solid foundation in Distillation Theory and Fermentation Science. It just goes to show that a good education is a well-rounded education. There is no one place to learn it all.
ls

[ammo man]

Let me clarify what I posted earlier. When I said Nuts to hot water distillers, I was talking about what we have here in the states, and I did give Mr. Smiley his credit

the man does know for the most part what he is talking about. I still refer to the book ...

I agree with Hookline, but my rating would be 4 stars out of 5.

Bert

[blind drunk]

Ah yes, the cool and kind voice of Hookline

The way I see it, I read it and even though there are "mistakes", it's all part of learning. The fact that one can pick out the errors etc just means that one is making progress in the the overall pursuit of distilling nirvana. I've read many many books over the years on all sorts of subjects and no one person ever got it all right. Never. Even the Bible drops the ball now and again. This hobby is a dialogue and we each correct each other.

The problem with a book, in principle, is that once it's written, it can't be changed, except in a different edition. I think we should let Smiley respond and see what he has to say about the criticisms brought up here. That could be interesting.

My two bits, cheers, bd.

[ScottishBoy]

True. When I read the part about the hot water heater, I had never known that there were copper boilers made. So to someone who uses water heaters with copper boilers in their area, this would seem more practical.

I would like to know what he would write differently about it if he had a chance to give it another go.

[Kentucky shinner]

does anyone here in the states know what company's used copper boilers or stainless?

[Dnderhead]

many years ago they had "add on" but I believe their all gone.

[MuleKicker]

Ok, I kinda got hung up on the water heater thing. The book is not a total wash. I think I said near the beginning that the man knows his stuff on mashin/fermenting. I will give him that. If he made something out of a water heater like AcesH has, that would be cool. Im not calling the man a retard by any means, and yes there has been alot of bantering about that waterheater. I would have to say, if that book started out teachin ya how to build a nice LM, or boka, I would give it a 10. Its just that when you hear the word "professional" you think of the best.
If I wrote a professional book on how to build a kick ass race engine, but told you to cut pop cans in half and use them for pistons. all the race guys would have my throat.
There is 2 ways about it.

[HookLine]

Just for the record:

I got no problem with folks questioning authority and conventional wisdom, and making legit technical criticisms, especially over safety issues. Indeed, as most of you already know I have always encouraged that approach. It is how the hobby grows and improves.

Just don't see the need for it to get personal. Doesn't help anything.

Mr Smiley is on our side, let's try to keep him there.

[MuleKicker]

I understand that hook. Not tryin to make waves. I will admit things got heated. Now let them cool off

[HookLine]

I hear you.

[rubber duck]

I'll stir the pot, I've been reading his book and so far I'm not impressed. I think he has taken advantage of a untapped market.

The cover is a total misrepresentation of it's contents, ( A professional guide for armature and micro distillers).

The first 50 pages discusses building a still. If you a micro you have a still, if your a hobby distiller that wants to do all grain whiskey you have one or you know what you need to build one. Not only that but the info on building a rig is a little outdated and substandard but it looks like that horse has taken a beating.

On page 60- 61 he states that bakes yeast can't make a good whiskey. BULL SHIT you damn well can make a great whiskey with bakes yeast. He also gives the impression that brewers yeast is for the most part undesirable.

On page 61 he starts the infomercial on prestige whiskey yeast,(this goes on through the rest of the book). Prestige whiskey yeast is over hyped, over priced, and easily out done with a little knowledge.

The emphasis of the book is on using flaked corn. At a dollar a pound who the hell uses brewers grade flaked corn? I can't afford that. I would have liked to have seen more info on cooking corn and a lot more info on malting corn. More malting would have made the book valuable.

No talk about aging that I have seen.

Most of the info is vague and disappointing to me.

So that's the bad.

These are the good things I found about the book.

Most of the info although vague is solid,( I agree with a lot of it ). With this book alone you can make a good whiskey.

I haven't seen any big safety issues.

It's far better then the Bootleggers bible.

I have no dog in this fight other the the 20 bucks I spent. This isn't a full review as I haven't studied the book in depth, but this thread keeps growing so I thought I should give some kind of impute.

I think a revised addition with 30 or 40 more well thought out pages could make a good armature book. As for a micro distillers guide it has a long way to go.

RD

[Marshwalker]

I was about to order that book before I found HD...I read something new in here everyday and doubt I will run out of usefull information any time soon... If I was to order or buy any books about the craft from here on out, it will be more about the history and stories rather than stilling... All the information, experience, constructive criticism, help and knowledge I think I will ever need is within this forum. Really really glad I stumbled across it!!!

[mash rookie]

It does impress me that newer members are really reading deep into old posts. There is some really good info if you dig. I learned a lot from members that have long ago moved along. Rubber Duck is surely missed and hopefully will return after his tour overseas.

[LWTCS]

Duckey will be back,,,,,he luvs us.

[Prairiepiss]

MW I wouldn't rule any books out this early in the game. Depending how far you take this hobby? There are some good books out there that can fill some voids. The thing is you got to know which books are worth buying. That will give you usefull info that's not available here. But yes this place has enough info to keep a noob busy for a long time.

Duck will be back. You know he can't stay away.

[Marshwalker]

Roger that.. need to get a book soon i guess... gonna get a batch going here soon, thanks to the help of walkin wolf, so i need something to read while smellin, tastin, burnin, reading meters and fillin jars..

[WalkingWolf]

Remember -- don't take more notes than you can eat.

[Prairiepiss]

Remember -- don't take more notes than you can eat.

That's good advice right there.

[LWTCS]

Sounds like a Goose Eye saying to some degree

[Marshwalker]

Remember -- don't take more notes than you can eat.

[blind drunk]

Remember -- don't take more notes than you can eat.

Write your notes on edible rice paper, melts in your mouth ...

[MuleKicker]

I don't know of any book that is the " holy grail". This book does have a lot of good theory, recipes aren't bad. The book is not a wash. I was just spouting off about the choice of still produced.... Seems there was more to it then. Caused a little controversy. Didn't know what to think when I saw this thread revived.

The truth is, I have talked to mr. Smiley a number of times on the phone lately, on a few different things. The guy is very knowledgable.

[blind drunk]

The truth is, I have talked to mr. Smiley a number of times on the phone lately, on a few different things. The guy is very knowledgable.

For sure. Hell of a guy too. Very honest, not a huckster.

[Marshwalker]

Well that's good to hear