Introducing Myself :)

New to distillation, or simply new to the HD forums.
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liam1046
Novice
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2010 5:00 pm
Location: Ireland

Introducing Myself :)

Post by liam1046 »

I'm a long time reader/lurker, first time member/poster. I have never really distilled any alcohol before, but I'm doing chemistry at uni so I do have the theory covered pretty well :egeek:
I have made alcohol before, legally, my first time was using an old wine making kit when I was 14. Unfortunately at that stage I was too young to drink it, so my dad was the sampler rather than me. Apparently it tasted a little bitter, I was dying to try but I wasnt allowed being but a teenager. The cruel fate of the underage brewer with strict parents. Apart from that I never really had any experience with proper alcohol making. I had since been know to run a few experiments in my wardrobe, attempting to make beer because I was too young to buy it, and then ending up with gross mixtures that even the lowliest hobo wouldnt consider in his most desperate sober hour. Since turning 18 two years ago, I was able to finally purchase and develop a taste for alcohol legally. Since then I attempted to make a home brew only once more, but the result was cloudy and from the scraps of information that stayed in my memory from a home winemaking book read 5 years ago, I deduced that a cloudy end product was bad and poured the lot down the drain :esad:
I want to get back into production as I'm moving house soon, and finally living completely away from parental supervision will allow illicit shine running to occur all the time :D so I joined here finally to voice any questions I may have in the upcoming months. I hope you can help :) one of the first thing I want to do is build a still, but from the many instructions out there its hard to tell whats best. I THINK I understand how a reflux still works, and how to build one, but the pictures dont tend to show the inner workings and thats what I need to build things. I'll post a drawing i did in paint later, from what iv read im guessing its how a still should be but id like to have confirmation before building and potentially wasting hours. Thanks for reading :D
Still in the planning stage...

See what I did there? Still? Still? Ah you seen what i did there...
Mud Mechanik
Distiller
Posts: 1087
Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:12 pm
Location: Deep South

Re: Introducing Myself :)

Post by Mud Mechanik »

Welcome aboard Liam, good intro, have a cup of coffee and look through the parent site. There is lots of explanations on how the reflux works and numerous pictures on the forums, sounds like you are willing to do your homework for distilling. My advice is to read, read, and ask questions here, pay special attention to the replies from the mentors and master distillers as they have lots of expertise in this field and will not steer you in the wrong direction. Put some careful thought into what kind of spirit you want and that will help you make your mind up as to what kind of still you will need to build, most of all, be safe. MM
Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway----John Wayne
MuleKicker
retired
Posts: 3111
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:14 pm
Location: If I told you, I'd have to Kill You.

Re: Introducing Myself :)

Post by MuleKicker »

Welcome. :D
-Control Freak-
AKA MulekickerHDbrownNose
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LWTCS
Site Mod
Posts: 13031
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: Treasure Coast

Re: Introducing Myself :)

Post by LWTCS »

Yes, nice introduction liam1046.
Congradulations on not sounding so sophomoric. And congradulations on your newly aquired freedoms. Hope you choose to conduct yourself as safely as your folks would pray for.

It seems you've been biten by the bug quite early.

Welcome
Trample the injured and hurdle the dead.
rad14701
retired
Posts: 20865
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:46 pm
Location: New York, USA

Re: Introducing Myself :)

Post by rad14701 »

Greetings, liam1046...

I'll warn you now, you're gonna get addicted...

Good luck...
kiwistiller
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Posts: 3215
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:09 pm
Location: Auckland, NZ

Re: Introducing Myself :)

Post by kiwistiller »

Welcome along, we need more chemists :D

Where you at at? you type like a kiwi or aussie.
Three sheets to the wind!
My stuff
liam1046
Novice
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2010 5:00 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Introducing Myself :)

Post by liam1046 »

Im from Ireland, living in Derry right now but I'm moving to Dublin soon. Might try and make authentic Irish whiskey or poitin when I finally get my own place :esmile:
Still in the planning stage...

See what I did there? Still? Still? Ah you seen what i did there...
kiwistiller
retired
Posts: 3215
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:09 pm
Location: Auckland, NZ

Re: Introducing Myself :)

Post by kiwistiller »

Wow I got that very, very wrong. Irish whisky is a good goal. :D
Three sheets to the wind!
My stuff
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