A little spoon feeding *For New & Novice Distillers

[Garouda]

The way I understand this is: BEGINNERS do not bother the big gurus and please go through the whole forum by yourself, we professionals are amongst ourselves in our private club and very happy Admin edit see no reason for this kind troll post.Post nice or just try not posting .

[The Baker]

The way I understand this is: BEGINNERS do not bother the big gurus and please go through the whole forum by yourself, we professionals are amongst ourselves in our private club and very happy

Not so.

Geoff

[Twisted Brick]

The way I understand this is: BEGINNERS do not bother the big gurus and please go through the whole forum by yourself, we professionals are amongst ourselves in our private club and very happy

Not so.

Geoff

+1

If you are here any length of time you will regularly see even the most experienced guys stopping to help out with the most basic questions. There are a bunch of us that feel compelled to answer some of the beginner/intermediate questions that we know the answers to just so the 'big gurus' don't have to, for the 40th time. Kind of a way to perpetuate the craft and advance the website as a thank you for the hours put in by the more knowledgeable folks.

If you take the time to research your question before asking it here, you will undoubtedly find the answer and understand it better because you did the search work on your own. If you reach the point where you read every new post and randomly research 5 posts relating to the original question, you will see that the answers do indeed exist, and become like a bunch of us here: addicted to learning.

[CuWhistle]

Post your question, but still try to find the answer yourself. Sometimes you'll find it before someone has the chance or opportunity to offer help. This has happened to me many times. Partially because of being 10 hours ahead but also because I looked a bit harder. This is a very helpful place but don't expect miracles. There is a certain amount of expected knowledge here. If you don't have it yet, don't play yet, and don't expect your problems to be instantly solved. It doesn't happen that way. This isn't a cooking forum and even if it were, your questions wouldn't be answered immediately. Just not going to happen for you or me.
Reading, lots of reading, as recommended is good, but don't expect it to answer everything. There is contradictory information in plenty. Sometimes answers only make more questions.

[cranky]

The way I understand this is: BEGINNERS do not bother the big gurus and please go through the whole forum by yourself, we professionals are amongst ourselves in our private club and very happy

You understand completely wrong! This is the complete opposite of that and came about as the result of that sort of attitude.

This post began back in the dark days when people were not likely to answer newbies questions. They would just say "We don't spoon feed. Do your research" but I personally found it difficult to find those answers because they were scattered all over the place and at that time the parent site contained badly outdated and even dangerous information. This began as my own personal list for my own use as I learned how everything worked and when I got tired of seeing people refusing to answer questions because people weren't bothering, or perhaps were unable to dig through the mountains of information and were just getting told "We don't spoon feed" I decided to post links to the information so it was easy for a new distiller to find.

Even back then there were many times I answered that same old question that had been asked a million times even though at times I seemed to be the only one. HD has become a much better place since then with people being much tolerant and more likely to answer questions that have already been asked and answered thousands of times but I believe this post still serves as a helpful guide to find that information necessary for the beginner.

All of that said many of us have only a small amount of time to share our knowledge so having a thread to send people to is beneficial.

[Danespirit]

I couldn't have written it better, Cranky.
Your "spoon feed " thread is epic..!

[The Baker]

I couldn't have written it better, Cranky.
Your "spoon feed " thread is epic..!

Well said, Cranky.

Geoff

[Garouda]

The way I understand this is: BEGINNERS do not bother the big gurus and please go through the whole forum by yourself, we professionals are amongst ourselves in our private club and very happy Admin edit see no reason for this kind troll post.Post nice or just try not posting .

Sorry, It's not a troll post, no insult, no bashing of any kind or similar, just a light criticism, just MHO. The fact that you react like this is already a good indicator...
You may have noticed I stopped giving updates on my project.

[Sunshineer]

Post nice or not at all should be the motto around here. Haters will always find a reason to hate feel sorry for them for they find no joy in life.
Remember the only one who was ever perfect we hung on a cross.
Great read Mr. Cranky thank you for your hard work

[Garouda]

When I saw that post I tought, waow I found a gold mine, but no, just dozens of links to threads with some of them not very interesting, so I got bad feelings after that.
Well, I just expressed what were my feelings reading that long post with lots of links... no welcome attitude, lack of friendship, in all the following posts.
In fact searching the forum by myself is what I did at the beginning, and that's just normal.
Saying you disagree with something should be allowed other inquisition isn't far away.
Sunshiner you wrote "haters" that's an extreme qualification, no hate at all in my post but a lot of intolerance in yours, I'm sorry.
You don't know the age nor the qualifications of the people who visit your forum for the first time.
Already the post title, spoon feeding is looking down at beginners by comparing them to babies unable to eat by themselves...
Think about it and the world will be better.

[cranky]

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. The fact is this thread has helped both novices and old timers alike.

[Sunshineer]

Sorry you took it that way when I said haters I was in no way meaning you. And maybe not all of it helped you but it has helped many not as far down the road as you . I took a couple of hard hits asking about using extra corn starch in a mash even after I had done my searches to no aval. Did my own research after no assistance from forum and found out that if you don't go overboard it's a good way to add extra abv. without messing up the flavor profile at all. Those were in fact the kinds of haters I was indeed talking about.

[Mikey-moo]

This thread is THE very best place to start if you want to get into this hobby safely and I will continue to direct newcomers to it... but, if you don't like it, then you can have a full refund of your membership fees.

[Sunshineer]

Agreed helped me a bunch even though I have a distilling background and Mr. Cranky is my go to guy for help.

[Daniel-J]

That's great! I'll need some time to figure it out, but I'm sure it will help me solve most of my questions.

[NuetralSpirit]

My problem is I cannot read. J/k of course this is some good stuff to start with. I also really like the list of terms, that alone was very helpful. I can tell this is going to be a great site to learn.

[Brick wall 5+]

Interesting read I feel my decision to join the forum is going to be the learning curve I'm looking for.

[cranky]

Interesting read I feel my decision to join the forum is going to be the learning curve I'm looking for.

It is a big learning curve but eventually you figure it out and it almost becomes second nature.

[Brick wall 5+]

Thanks for the encouragement I've got quite a few runs under my belt. I'm starting to experiment with the thumper jar 3foot collum and a liebeg condenser mounted on a 15keg. I've been using a pot with a fabricated dome top and alcoine condenser

[Roki]

Then you can move on to what is considered mandatory reading before proceeding any farther, which is the "New distillers reading lounge" you need to read everything here before proceeding further even what you don't think you need to know.
viewforum.php?f=46

When the OP refers to "read everything here" do they mean all the subforums under "Forums" or the 20 topic listed under "Topics"?

Been a little confused

[cob]

Then you can move on to what is considered mandatory reading before proceeding any farther, which is the "New distillers reading lounge" you need to read everything here before proceeding further even what you don't think you need to know.
viewforum.php?f=46

When the OP refers to "read everything here" do they mean all the subforums under "Forums" or the 20 topic listed under "Topics"?

Been a little confused

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... x#p7621746

you eat an elephant one bite at a time

[Roki]

Then you can move on to what is considered mandatory reading before proceeding any farther, which is the "New distillers reading lounge" you need to read everything here before proceeding further even what you don't think you need to know.
viewforum.php?f=46

When the OP refers to "read everything here" do they mean all the subforums under "Forums" or the 20 topic listed under "Topics"?

Been a little confused

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... x#p7621746

you eat an elephant one bite at a time

Jesus Christ, no time to waste then.

It's been a pleasure, since you're here since 2009 I assume you're some kind of master, see you around!

[cranky]

Then you can move on to what is considered mandatory reading before proceeding any farther, which is the "New distillers reading lounge" you need to read everything here before proceeding further even what you don't think you need to know.
viewforum.php?f=46

When the OP refers to "read everything here" do they mean all the subforums under "Forums" or the 20 topic listed under "Topics"?

Been a little confused

A lot has changed since I first wrote that and there is some information that may not necessarily need to be read, for instance if you are not interested in fruit you realty don't need to read about it. All I can say is use your judgement and try to get the most out of everything.

[Roki]

Just finished reading after a little over a month, this also included a self designed chemistry course through Khan Academy that took about 10-14 days as I noticed I was reading mandarin whenever chemistry conceps were thrown in (I dont speak mandarin).

One thing I must say is Jesus Christ, there definitely is a lot of knowledge here and to be honest I probably already forgot about 80% of what I read, but at least I already know where I can look for specific bits of information.

Tomorrow I'll start shopping around for materials to build my first pot still!

[Saltbush Bill]

It gets easier once you have a still in front of you and you get hands on.

[Danespirit]

+1 SB

Roki, it doesn't matter you can't absorb it all at once...what matters is you know where to find reliable information and that's right here.
Tip: bookmarks are a great help.

[135587]

Thank you all!
Will try to avoid being " that guy".

[Drukon]

Being new to the forum, I love this post. You won't hear from me for a while, I've got enough reading and research that I think my eyes will bleed and brain explode with the amount of information here!! I may have a few questions in the future, but give me a few weeks to read all this data!! Thanks guys!

[Woodworld]

Thank you ..will read and take notes...I know I have alot to learn ...not trying to get a bucket of good spirits...just a cup I can be proud of

[Stonecutter]

There is so much info here and honestly I have not read everything laid out by Cranky. There are some loopholes though. In the unending pursuit to avoid sounding like an idiot in a new post I’ll search through old posts about what I’m interested in and pick the ones that thread most closely to what I’d like to present to the forum. After reading through some of these posts I will then attach my own specific experiences or questions to that thread. Sometimes what I thought was a unique question has already been asked years ago and I find an answer thus limiting my clutter within the site. Sure, as a new hobbyist the thrill of adding my 2 cents is exhilarating and creates meaning in my pathetic life but let’s be honest, at this point in the history of the hobby there isn’t a whole hell of a lot that ain’t been talked about.

That being said I have recently seen a ton of spoon feeding being generously handed out by the veterans of this site. It’s awesome that these guys are willing to help members out but it does seem like there has been an explosion of new arrivals waiting for a coach and buggy to escort them around. Don’t get me wrong I have asked my fair share of questions hoping for the quick and easy answers. Sometimes it works (great!) and sometimes I’ve been told to go searching, which is to be expected. As a new member I’m starting to understand that the most I can give this site is by not giving at all but by taking. Greedily taking all that info that has been presented and use it for my own selfish means. What’s ironic is that it is specifically stated that spoon feeding is not part of the program here. Yet the site itself is one giant spoon. So open wide and swallow it newbie. BTW This post ain’t directed at anybody in particular so don’t go getting yer panties in a twist Mr. Special…just my personal opinions.