Home Distiller

I just received my new still from Mile Hi and am reading everything I can. My question is, why did you start distilling? Was it to save money - and if so did that pan out? Or, was it to make better alcohol - and did that pan out? I'm curious about your motives. It seems a bit time consuming and a little fickle. What do you think?

always have and now don't know any better, other than that wont comment.
just to say alcohol was illegal, then hard to fiend when I was first around distilling.

(know when to hold them and when to fold them and when to walk away)

My grandpa did it taught me and now I do it. I gess i like makeing it more then I like drinking any more. It's just kinda a tradition I gess.

I've just wanted to do it for a long time. Took me sixty years to start, and still love it.

blanik

+1

MrChuckles wrote: Was it to save money - and if so did that pan out? ?

Your funny.

Save money???? I could have bought enough spirits for a lifetime with what I have spent on tools, gadgets, gizmos, copper, etc. I just like makeing stuff, liked building the still itself and also making the spirit. What a great hobby.
myerfire

myerfire wrote:Save money???? I could have bought enough spirits for a lifetime with what I have spent on tools, gadgets, gizmos, copper, etc. I just like makeing stuff, liked building the still itself and also making the spirit. What a great hobby.
myerfire

agreed. theres a quote i like that goes something like this "there's nothing more rewarding than working hard at work worth doing." in all honesty, making alcohol isnt saving the world and may not be the best way to spend all of your time, but it is a fun hobby. i just like working hard at something and seeing results, its a good feeling. some people just like doing stuff on their own. personally, i loved the chemistry behind it. the ingredients, the yeast, the nutrients, its all very intriguing and my friends especially appreciate the end results.

just make one still,, and stick with it,,Iv had mine about 40 years. changed it some,but got parts from scrap off construction (from a school,)
the still ant going to make a good product ,,,,you are. cost? mite have been 50-100$ ,,pay back? once a weak ,,6 months a year for 40 years=
2xxxx gallons so the still don't owe me a thing.and at this time, making a QT/L of all grain cost about 4-5$ US
(a poor craftsman blames his tools)

I'm just a FNG but I'll tell how I got started. I have been brewing beer for well over a dozen years, have always loved single malt scotches better than beer, and thought distilling was going to be too complicated/dangerous/expensive to do. Then one day at work a guy told me in secret that I should just make my own whiskey since he has a still. Hmmmm!!!!! That got the ball rolling. He said he used stuff he bought off the internet (Turbo) to make booze, and that I could probably flavor it with something. So an hour on the internet led me here. The ball kept rolling! I found out that it's not too much more complicated than brewing, is relatively safe if you know how to be, and is incredibly cheap! So now I have a still and a bunch of washes already fermented, just waiting to be run!!!! My goal is not to save money, but to have fun, and maybe have a good dram every now and then. To make a good Southern Islay style Scotch is going to be my life's goal in the hobby, and I'm in no hurry. Afterall, I have the rest of my life to do it!

Beerswimmer

You might like this thread. (Though probably seen these pics before.)

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =10&t=4947

needs not wants

so im tole

Originally for making gallon size tinctures of cayenne + scotch bonnet peppers for family.
Much more affordable and I can control the quality of everything.

myerfire wrote:Save money???? I could have bought enough spirits for a lifetime with what I have spent on tools, gadgets, gizmos, copper, etc. I just like makeing stuff, liked building the still itself and also making the spirit. What a great hobby.
myerfire

I'm WELL into the profit side of things after being on bar duty at a few mates parties and personal consumption, giving bottles away for pressies and such, though I suppose that's more acceptable here.

I started because I always loved cooking and experimenting with tastes, and had been making liqueurs and such from store bought bases. Started for the art, but justified the expenditure of cash with the savings on booze.

I was just a young man about 13 or so when I hooked up with an odd neighbor who happened to make some pretty nice hooch. He was ruff, gruff and always seemed to have a grey whisker face anytime of the day. Despite that he took me in and taught me how to brew. He also used me for moving a lot of the heavier stuff...He taught me old school and I managed to make some good scratch in High school. No one was ever hurt by my jars. I was researching absynthe and started to remember my old days. I still have the Grayson Reflux Condenser my dad gave me and I thought "Hey, Why not?"

So I searched a few groups ( some of which were just insane) and finally landed here. I like to tinker and make stuff. My last project was an HD projector.
Gonna try a few runs and see if it comes back to me. In truth I have forgotten a lot. I find myself making silly assed mistakes like improper conversions, but Im having fun. Probabaly gonna make a still pot this weekend with a thumper and run a little through it.

Im having the best time putting the science up against what I was taught just "Do it this way". I usually take lunch and read certain portions of the main pages again, think about it, scratch a few ideas and then a little more after work. Had to put the reigns on myself and force myself to slow down.

When I was young we used to make hay all summer and I hated it. A few years back I helped someone hay. It was dirty, back breaking, sweaty and a real pain in the ass.
But it felt "right".

This feels "right" too.

SB

I joked a while back on another forum I visit, biker forum, that I was trying to get back to my roots. I had an Uncle that made homemade wine and would occasionally cook some "fire water". It got me interested. There were several ole timers that made some money on shine back in the revenuer's days and my dad told me numerous stories of them. So I've had the interest for quite a while.
And then, I've always been the wild child of my family. Already had experience with another thread here that's been locked up now, boy could I have added to that one.
Now with the recession and lack of work, I've occupied my time and mind by trying this out. So far I like it a lot.
And what can be better than making something you can use yourself.
I can't understand why the Fed's have to get the last red cent from everyone of us Americans through taxes.
When the women followed along on foot behind the wagons heading West, the men grew what they needed to survive. They hunted for their meat, and when they wanted something to drink, they made it. So it should be now.

Got fresh water canals all around me. Rainy season offers a lot of algea.

Started researching bio fuels then I ran across some still pics but had no real direction.

Ran into this site after I started my build.
Had the time as work was slow. Kept me sain.

Lots of available tubing from demo jobs. First unit was a snap and dern near free.

New unit was kinda spendy.

Worth every red cent.

Love this hobby with all my heart. Keeps me balanced.
And all of you good folks are part of that equation.
Thanks to all.

Keeps me balanced.

Equilibrated?

HookLine wrote:Equilibrated?

Exactomundo!