Tell us about your mistakes.

This hobby is fun & enjoyable, but it is not tiddlywinks. Be safe!

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Truckinbutch
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Truckinbutch »

NZChris wrote:That sucks.

I have ruined a dunder pit by stupidly adding too much, but that's not a great loss.

I've always stirred the bejeezus out of a ferment after adding slaked lime, it doesn't take long for the lime to be fully reacted and if a wash gets alkaline, there is a good chance rotting flesh type flavors will appear, plus I don't want my yeast dying in a a layer of caustic.
You bring up very good points that were foreign to our initial learning process for those of us novices that started here .
We are going to have to start thinking ahead of our guns (William Holden in The Wild Bunch).
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Bushman »

This morning as I am viewing the different threads I noticed at the time of this post that we have 1200 posts and 109,151 views. This struck me as odd as we tell members that they can save time and money by doing there research and learning from different members here to prevent mistakes. Just an early morning observation that I found a bit odd as I believe members here have taught me a lot and I have avoided tons of mistakes (not saying I haven't made a few).
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Pikey »

Last night I ran out and fancied a drink so I went and had a look in the store cupboard to see what was in there I'd forgotten. There I found a demijohn of dark brown stuff - about 3.5 Litres. - Hand written label said "Rum" so I poured a glass :D

:? Rum it wasn't, far too much sugar. I do a fair bit of fruit liqueur infusions in the back end each year and thought it could have been sloe gin, but no it didn't taste quite right. HAwthorne whiskey maybe ? Don't think so. :wtf:

I was getting a taste a bit like figs or dates and I remember putting some in an ageing rum at one point, but this is way too smooth and has a sweetness. Even as I type this I'm racking my brains trying to think what it might be ! All I know is - It's damn nice and it's over a year old (haven't made anything like that in a year).

Perhaps I'll never work it out, which is a bit of a shame 'cos then I can't repeat it :(

I must remember to put labels on stuff ! :roll:
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by faste »

Was selling my wife's car and had the kids clean everything out of the car and put in a box. Well in said box was a water bottle that had been in the trunk quite sometime. My mother in law had just moved in with us from the Philippines and seen a bottle of water on the table and be a thrifty person she is didn't want to waste it so she pours it into a carafe coffee maker.
Next morning my wife brings me a cup of coffee that blew top of head off . Wow


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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Deerhunter »

I should have built a bigger still!
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Bobbywolf »

Had a crappy one the other night.

I was finished a stripping run and disconnected the whole tower from the boiler, so I could dump the keg outside. I usually prop the tower against the wall. Well I managed to hook a cooling line, and the tower came down, clearing off several litres of alcohol in glass containers with it.
20170313_012640.jpg
I made a quick run to shut off the garages oil fired burner, then began the cleanup. Some damage to the boka needs to be addressed, yay.

Points to take away from this? Secure the tower to the wall, or just disassemble it for emptying the keg. What I really need to do however is install a fill and drain port on the boiler, so I can pump in, and out of it with something like a stainless chugger pump. I'll be doing this before I run again. I'm also not getting any younger and toting around a filled keg is getting real old.

It was a big mess, and shows that just because you aren't running, bad things can still happen.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by joeymac »

I had a hot keg incident bout 2 weeks ago.

My keg boiler doesn't have a drain port, so I usually just tip it over and let it drain. I carry it about 50ft away to dump it. Problem is carrying a cold keg ain't nothing like carrying a hot keg. A cold keg you just pick up and lean back and walk with it against your body. My run just finished so I got my welding gloves and hoisted up the half-full hot keg, leaned back, and learned REAL fast that my shirt didn't quite cover my all of my stomach. Laid that hot keg right into the exposed bottom part of my belly and had to drop the thing right there. OUCH. Damn lucky I didn't break a foot cause I was wearing sandals.

I added a drain port to it this past weekend used a welding spud and some stay-brite silver solder.
"Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks" - God (Isaiah 5:22)
So evidently, God wants us to drink our whiskeys single barrel and our Bourbons neat.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

joeymac wrote:I had a hot keg incident bout 2 weeks ago.

My keg boiler doesn't have a drain port, so I usually just tip it over and let it drain. I carry it about 50ft away to dump it. Problem is carrying a cold keg ain't nothing like carrying a hot keg. A cold keg you just pick up and lean back and walk with it against your body. My run just finished so I got my welding gloves and hoisted up the half-full hot keg, leaned back, and learned REAL fast that my shirt didn't quite cover my all of my stomach. Laid that hot keg right into the exposed bottom part of my belly and had to drop the thing right there. OUCH. Damn lucky I didn't break a foot cause I was wearing sandals.

I added a drain port to it this past weekend used a welding spud and some stay-brite silver solder.
Lucky your hot keg lesson didn't become a hot dog lesson :shock:
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by shadylane »

This mistake has nothing to do with distilling, just an act of stupidity on my part. :oops:
I drove my tractor into the shop and let the front end loader down on an extension cord.
Didn't cut the cord into, but did make it to the hot wire. So there was 120 volts on the tractor.
As I got off the tractor, I touched the metal shop wall, that finished the electrical circuit and knocked the snot out of me.
Tested and troubleshot how the building had become electrically hot, but couldn't replicate the problem :?:
Figured the problem out, when I was sitting on the front end loader bucket and touched the grounded metal lathe :shock:
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by spiff »

Oh jeez, glad that wasn't worse! I electrocuted myself plenty of times too, mostly when working as a contractor for a cable company, drilling into customers walls. Hot wire indicators are only so accurate.. fried a couple drills hitting hot wires and knocked myself back once.

Then there was the time I drilled into someones set of original volumes because I thought I was drilling through an exterior wall and come to find they had a fancy schmantzy hidden library ala hidden bookcase door. Never did note the books I drilled through but the whole library was about 500sq feet of originals, so the owner said. I was like, Man! What kind of wall is this packed with over a foot of solid paper!? DOh!
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by muscashine »

shadylane wrote:This mistake has nothing to do with distilling, just an act of stupidity on my part. :oops:
I drove my tractor into the shop and let the front end loader down on an extension cord.
Didn't cut the cord into, but did make it to the hot wire. So there was 120 volts on the tractor.
As I got off the tractor, I touched the metal shop wall, that finished the electrical circuit and knocked the snot out of me.
Tested and troubleshot how the building had become electrically hot, but couldn't replicate the problem :?:
Figured the problem out, when I was sitting on the front end loader bucket and touched the grounded metal lathe :shock:
Ow. I feel your pain.
I used to mess around with radio frequency tube amplifiers and transmitters back when I was younger. I grabbed the hot side of a 1000v 500ma plate transformer in an amp once. It stood me up out of the chair and I fell over, which broke the connection. I learned real quick the hazard of having too many similar looking plugs in a socket that's hard to reach. A few minutes later I got up, glad to be alive.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by joeymac »

We had a dude working with us overseas who was a real clean freak. The kind of guy that like to busy just to be busy... cleaning and wiping stuff down constantly. Mega OCD. He took the hazard guards off a 208v to 2kV step up transformer housing (2kV @ 2-3 amps!) and started dusting it off... cause "it was dusty in there". He proceeded to dust everything until he got to the terminals and it threw him across the room.

He said, he didn't think it'd be a problem since the rag was dry... :crazy:
I feel like Darwin must''ve been asleep at the wheel, there
"Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks" - God (Isaiah 5:22)
So evidently, God wants us to drink our whiskeys single barrel and our Bourbons neat.
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Still Life
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Still Life »

I had an Amazing Still.
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cranky
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by cranky »

Last night I made a pot of tea. I mostly only drink iced tea and water and I drink a lot of tea so I have to make a 3 gallon pot of it every day or two. My normal procedure is to fill the pot, add tea bags, turn the burner on and set a timer, than go to the living room and when the alarm goes off turn the tea off. Well, last night I forgot to set the timer, then I forgot about the tea and went to bed. Some hours later we woke up to a house full of smoke and a burnt pot.
POT #1 - C.jpg
Not just stuff burnt to the pot but actually burnt up
POT #2 - C.jpg
The copper bottom is completely destroyed and the aluminum plate that was sandwiched between the copper and stainless steel was melted all over the stove top
POT #3 - C.jpg
It wasn't a cheap pot either. Fortunetly my wife has a thing for stock pots and when she finds a good one cheap she buys it so we have a couple more.

I guess the lesson here is never leave a pot (of tea) unattended. :roll:
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Mikey-moo »

cranky wrote:I guess the lesson here is...
Buy an electric kettle :-)
Best place to start for newbies - click here - Courtesy of Cranky :-)

If you have used this site to save money by making your own top quality booze at home then please consider donating a couple of dollars to help keep this site running. Cheers!
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Jimbo »

cranky wrote: I drink a lot of tea so I have to make a 3 gallon pot of it every day or two.
:shock:

You're clearly not drinking enough alcohol son.
In theory there's no difference between theory and practice. But in practice there is.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by cranky »

Mikey-moo wrote:
cranky wrote:I guess the lesson here is...
Buy an electric kettle :-)
Electric kettle won't keep up with the amount of ice tea I drink every day. For A while I had a big old coffee urn I used but it was really kind of a pain and took up too much space so I quit using it, so stovetop is about the only thing that works for me.
Jimbo wrote:
:shock:

You're clearly not drinking enough alcohol son.
You might be right there Jimbo but I can't drink alcohol at work so it's either tea or water and quite frankly I need my caffeine :roll:
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Truckinbutch
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Truckinbutch »

Don't drink the water , Cranky ! Fish fornicate in it !
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
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cranky
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by cranky »

Truckinbutch wrote:Don't drink the water , Cranky ! Fish fornicate in it !
That's why I like to boil it first and add tea bags. I suppose I could drink apple juice but that seems like such a waste of perfectly good apple juice when it could be fermented and turned into something magical :D
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by The Baker »

Then there was the time I boiled some eggs.
Forgot about them.
Did you know they can explode?
And STINK!
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HDNB
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by HDNB »

Cranky, I'd like to share my hatred for insuranxce companies with you...and let you know that: that would be an insurable loss as it's a "house fire" and smoke damage....you can get the entire house cleaned, repainted, all your furniture, carpets and clothes replaced. etc.etc.
If you have paid a premium you are entitled to make a claim.
if you can even smell a hint of smoke, they have to keep cleaning/replacing.

good on ya for having photos. put the screws to 'em.

(i met a lady a few years ago that put a ham in a pot on the stove, left the house for a few hours and had the entire house stripped and reno'd to new courtesy her insurer...from the "smoke damage")
I finally quit drinking for good.

now i drink for evil.
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cranky
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by cranky »

HDNB wrote:Cranky, I'd like to share my hatred for insuranxce companies with you...and let you know that: that would be an insurable loss as it's a "house fire" and smoke damage....you can get the entire house cleaned, repainted, all your furniture, carpets and clothes replaced. etc.etc.
If you have paid a premium you are entitled to make a claim.
if you can even smell a hint of smoke, they have to keep cleaning/replacing.

good on ya for having photos. put the screws to 'em.

(i met a lady a few years ago that put a ham in a pot on the stove, left the house for a few hours and had the entire house stripped and reno'd to new courtesy her insurer...from the "smoke damage")
I'm not much on actually using insurance. Other than the pot and having to figure out how to remove a big aluminum slug from the catch pan no real damage was done. Fortunately my wife insisted on a coil top stove when we bought this one so no real damage was done to the stove. If it had been a glass top stove I would have been out shopping for a new stove today.
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Truckinbutch
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Truckinbutch »

HDNB wrote:Cranky, I'd like to share my hatred for insuranxce companies with you...and let you know that: that would be an insurable loss as it's a "house fire" and smoke damage....you can get the entire house cleaned, repainted, all your furniture, carpets and clothes replaced. etc.etc.
If you have paid a premium you are entitled to make a claim.
if you can even smell a hint of smoke, they have to keep cleaning/replacing.

good on ya for having photos. put the screws to 'em.

(i met a lady a few years ago that put a ham in a pot on the stove, left the house for a few hours and had the entire house stripped and reno'd to new courtesy her insurer...from the "smoke damage")
UMHUM . You go ahead and make your claim for sompin that was your fault and they come in to survey the damage . They got carte blancsh or what ever to survey all that they have insured .
Any inkling of illegal activity is enough for them to deny all claims and any further obligation to insure the property .
Some of you people that want to take no responsibility for your own actions just leave me lost for speech .
Cranky , you was not included in that group . You assumed responsibility for your actions like a real man would . I will go no further with that thought .
Rest of ya be guided by your own conscience .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
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Cleco
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Cleco »

Amen TB.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Jimbo »

Unfortunately I have a new entry to make here.... Some days I feel pretty close to winning that Darwin award....

Ill just point ya here to avoid typing it again, and it'l give me a second to run away in shame....

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 11&t=57158
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Kareltje
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Kareltje »

The Baker wrote:Then there was the time I boiled some eggs.
Forgot about them.
Did you know they can explode?
And STINK!
Geoff
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Been there, done that!
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bilgriss
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by bilgriss »

I finished a spirit run last evening of Honey Bear Bourbon. All my little jars lined up and covered to air out, and I wasn't sure after the last whether I might go one more, as the tails had a fairly muted aroma. I looked for my alcoholometer to give it a check and weigh into my thinking, and couldn't find it. Looked some more.

It was in the boiler, where I had used it to dilute to 25% before starting.

Funny thing is, it was fine. Floating and waiting to be removed. All the wax had melted at the bottom, but no other issues. I let it cool upright, and measured some distilled water at exactly 0%. It will live to see another day! I've broken a few, but never boiled one.

I guess it was one of those perfect storms. I had made the decision to not measure anything during the run, just to use smell, feel and taste to get a feel for how it went (until the end). Normally I will measure the amount of alcohol in each jar as I go, to get a feel for how fast it's dropping.
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nuntius01
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by nuntius01 »

well, had one today. got everything set to run. turned on the controller for my heating element. somehow i managed to twist the wire leading into the thermocouple. couldnt figure out why i was getting an error code. bummer part it will take two days to get a new part and where it broke, i'm not sure i can fix it. lesson learned have a back up on certain parts
I'm just the bank and the mule

post your still pics here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=66917
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NZChris
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by NZChris »

nuntius01 wrote:well, had one today. got everything set to run. turned on the controller for my heating element. somehow i managed to twist the wire leading into the thermocouple. couldnt figure out why i was getting an error code. bummer part it will take two days to get a new part and where it broke, i'm not sure i can fix it. lesson learned have a back up on certain parts
Having a thermocouple on a controller for a heating element sounds like a mistake all by itself. What temperature are you controlling?
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nuntius01
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by nuntius01 »

NZChris wrote:
nuntius01 wrote:well, had one today. got everything set to run. turned on the controller for my heating element. somehow i managed to twist the wire leading into the thermocouple. couldnt figure out why i was getting an error code. bummer part it will take two days to get a new part and where it broke, i'm not sure i can fix it. lesson learned have a back up on certain parts
Having a thermocouple on a controller for a heating element sounds like a mistake all by itself. What temperature are you controlling?
actually it's not. it's a safety feature on my heating element. that way i dont burn it out
I'm just the bank and the mule

post your still pics here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=66917
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