New distiller in St. Louis

[JPolsgrove]

Y'all must get a kick out of ding dongs like me that show up, sign up and go straight to asking a question without reading the rules! Which I have NOW read . Apologies for wasting somebodies time with my first post! I'll get this figured out at some point! I appreciate your willingness to help a newbie out. I'm here in St. Louis trying to figure out bourbon distilling...and probably a run or two at tequila.

I am actually NOT a bourbon drinking person, but the challenge of being able to do this is very exciting. I have read "the Joy of Home Distilling" , by Rick Morris. I have been on this (and many other) boards/forums, and concluded that there are so many discussions because there are 100's of different ways to this, and you just have to figure out which way is the best for you. I tried to pull together a process that included the most common and agreed upon processes, which led me to my first process of 18 steps from milling to aging. I track all the times/temps/steps and readings for each run. I will nicely label my first attempts as "somewhat" successful. As I said, while not a bourbon aficionado, my family seems to enjoy bourbons with a corn/wheat/Malted barley grain bill. So that is where I'm going first. I have a 20 gallon brew pot, a 15 gallon fermentation pot and a 13.5 gallon still.
Thanks for volunteering your time, expertise and knowledge.
JP n STL.

[sadie33]

hello and welcome. Check out the Honey Bear Bourbon in Tried and True. It was my first and only bourbon so far and it was easy and tasty!!

[Wildcats]

Welcome aboard man. Nice introduction. Have fun and stay safe.

[Nanacooks]

Hello and welcome! Fellow Show-Me rez, a little ways west of you. There are some great brew shops I’ve found up there, and a few more I still need to check out. Enjoy the rabbit-hol… I mean ride! It’s been great so far!

[Bradster68]

Welcome and . Yeah....I was never a bourbon drinker either. And look at me now. You'll find everything you need to know here about "everything ". Hate to sound like a broken record.... but start reading. It's been 3 yrs reading for me, and still finding valuable info buried in here. Have fun and stay safe.

[jonnys_spirit]

Welcome to HD JP. There are many benefits to being an active member and none of them include receiving or contributing a monetary stipend lol. Thoughtful contribution of experiences and similar are of course appreciated and encouraged

There are a number of T&T recipes with a few bourbons included to help get you started or as reference if or when you might prefer the rogue approach.

Cheers and good luck down the rabbit hole.
Jonny

[Demy]

Welcome