Every silver lining has a cloud.

[T-Pee]

What is it that you enjoy the least in distilling spirits?

I just got done airing out my first shot at an All-Bran and realized that I don't particularly enjoy making cuts.
Maybe it's the uncertainty of screwing up. Maybe the taste of raw, white liquor. I dunno so I thought I'd ask the rest of you.

tp

[Rastus]

I just really hate waiting for slow ferments in the winter,
and i hate having to keep it a secret.

[bellybuster]

Cleaning fermenters. I hate it so much I built a pump driven keg/carboy/fermenter cleaner contraption. Now I just upturn the empty fermenter on top and run hot oxy lean through it. I can now walk away and come back when ever to a clean vessel. A quick rinse and done. Majic

[The KYChemist]

Cleaning fermenters.

+1... If I knew how much "dish washing" I'd have to do, getting into this hobby, it may not have ever happened. Sometimes, though, you just have to embrace "the suck". My bucket and utensil cleaning procedures are a lot more efficient than when I first started, at least.

[firewater69]

I hate squeezing grain, it's not really that bad, but it's what i dislike the most.

[yakattack]

I hate squeezing grain, it's not really that bad, but it's what i dislike the most.

Simple solution for you. Salad spinner. Works as a centrifuge. Little work but should work well. Use a little cheese cloth if the slots allow the grains through.

[cranky]

The only think I hate is sitting around for 16Hr running to get neutral. I'm working on something much larger so spirit runs will go faster. It might not be a big deal if I didn't have so much else that needed done but right now it irritates me.

[Brutal]

Hate cleaning up all the messes I make, hate the potential of going to jail, hate not knowing anybody that can show me how to do things sometimes. I read until I fall asleep at the computer but sometimes seeing someone do something makes it much easier to understand. Nobody posts videos of them breaking the law though, and people where I'm at don't know shit about this.

[cranky]

Hate cleaning up all the messes I make, hate the potential of going to jail, hate not knowing anybody that can show me how to do things sometimes. I read until I fall asleep at the computer but sometimes seeing someone do something makes it much easier to understand. Nobody posts videos of them breaking the law though, and people where I'm at don't know shit about this.

+1 It would be nice to see good videos and actually talk to people about it face to face and have someone to go to when things aren't working right. Also when I have the answer sometimes it would be nice to be able to stop by and show someone the way I do it.

[T-Pee]

Videos are handy but when I did the vid for "Oaking and Aging the T-Pee Way" siting on the back porch my wife gave me some pretty funny looks.

tp

[dstaines]

My least favorite part is spending about 4 hours breaking down 30+ lbs of peaches, filling my kitchen with fruit flies while the wine ferments out, waiting sometimes 2 weeks before I have a free day to run it, and slowly slowly dripping that entire day away, getting more and more excited about how good it smells and tastes, airing, smelling, tasting and blending the cuts, and finally setting it aside to calm down a little for a month or so only to discover that I fucked it up AGAIN on blending the cuts and went a little too deep in the tails. AGAIN.

It's hard to build on my experience with blending because I only get to make at most 2 -3 batches a year of white stonefruit brandy (at harvest time). Just keep at it I guess, but it's frustrating.

[S-Cackalacky]

T-Pee, it DID look kinda funny - a grown man sittin' there burning little sticks with a butane torch. You know you're a stiller when you do shit like that.

Just sayin',

[S-Cackalacky]

I hate not having a stash.

[Bigbob]

My least favorite is setting up and taking down. I live in a small space and don't have much room, so I need to take everything and put together and pull apart and put away.

[Jimbo]

The worst part for me is squeezing and clearing the wash from the grain. I do 70lb batches now, and its just flat out exhausting dirty hard work pulling 2 strippers, 26 gallons, off the grain, squeezing one scoop, about half gallon, at a time, then making multiple trips to the compost pile, then cleaning all the goo'd up barrels and buckets and mop bucket and scooping pitchers and strainer bags and floor and pants and shoes and....

When I get frustrated I look at my stash and remember why I do this size batch now Stash is good. Stash is aged likker. My other favorite part is walking in the brew room when a ferment is on. They need to make a perfume that smells like that.

[firewater69]

Jimbo, i love the smell too! And i do 25 lbs of grain per batch, usually 2 batches and squeezing sucks. I am gonna build a centrafuge, i dont think a salad spinner will cut it for me unless they make a 5 gallon version.

[T-Pee]

It's called a "washing machine". Not SOH's either.

tp

[bellybuster]

de-ja-vue???

[Jimbo]

It's called a "washing machine". Not SOH's either.

tp

Yes indeed. Even has a pump to move the liquid to the still Only need 1 button, spin cycle

[firewater69]

It would work, i just dont have the room for it in my shed. I used one to seperate oil from metal chips in a machine shop, it held up for a year or so.

[thisguy]

The fact that its illegal irritates the hell out of me. The fact that I have to hide it from people, minus the trusted friend I share the fruits of my labor with. The fact that I cant talk about something that is as big apart of my life as distilling is with people face to face also irritates the hell out of me. The fact that this is illegal when so many other things should be illegal is irritating to all hell as well.

The other would probably be squeezing grains. When I finally get out of these apartments ive been living in I plan on getting a mop bucket type dealio for it, but right now its just too much to move plus all the other equipment I have for it, when I move as frequently as I do, its kind of annoying. I plan on building a padded case for the still parts so they're all in one box. Make the move a little easier.

Everything else that irritates me is just a lack of efficiency, which can be improved upon. So its just a challenge, and I like those. But squeezing grains will always be annoying, no matter how "clean and efficient" you make it.

However, the result is worth the hassle. Obviously, otherwise we wouldnt be doing it.

[Fastill]

My cloud is winter. I can't do anything in the winter here, my condensor freezes up so Stilling is a spring, summer, fall thing. And half of spring and half of fall are pretty much out of the question also.

[Twinrivers]

Seems like every time I meet at a bar with friends and really having a craving for a glass of good whiskey, I am always disappointed by the usual bar stock of crown, Jack Daniels, dewars, and V.O. So I just down a few beers and have to wait until I get home for a good night cap.

[SassyFrass]

I hate that stillin' is illegal. I cant discuss particulars with folks and I have to wait until the cover is on in the spring to run a batch or ten. I'm a little luckier than some though, I got my in Father in law and my wife's uncles to chat about it with.
It'd be nice to sit around a fire, with a few like minded folks, shooting the bull and learning something from each, and maybe sharing a little of what you've learned too. And of course, someone has to pass a jar around.
Oh, and I hate snow and winter. Makes my rods, screws, plates and bones hurt more than usual.

[Tokoroa_Shiner]

I hate the cleanup. And the fact that now I can't drink commercial spirits. Lol

[sdpoage]

I hate that the few friends I have, who know, think that I am the free liquor store.

[T-Pee]

I've cut a couple of those off.

"Sorry. It's all in the process of aging."

tp (and the truth)

[cranky]

I hate that the few friends I have, who know, think that I am the free liquor store.

Don't have to worry about that myself since I don't have any friends. As far as people that know it's my wife and you guys here and all you guys make your own

[thisguy]

I hate that the few friends I have, who know, think that I am the free liquor store.

I just tell em to frigg off. Then they dont get anymore from then on out. Its kinda one of those things where if its around great, if its not STFU or get out. Cause if its not around, its for a damn good reason. If they dont like it or understand, then they werent my friend to begin with. Houston, thats their problem....

[Jimbo]

I hate that you sumbitches are so damn far away.