Hi to all

[Shiner]

What a great place you have here. The last time I made whiskey was in the late 70's. We punched out a few batches that turned out pretty good. Now, all these years later and my mentor no longer with us, we've just tried our first batch and it didn't turn out too bad. Though, after reading around here, I can see that we've got a lot of fine tuning to do. Excitement is in the air. I'm looking forward to learning.

[mensdomain]

Welcome aboard mate. There is some great reading here and I hope you learn heaps.

[Shiner]

Thanks, I'm planning on it. A guy could get lost in the amount of info available here. I'm gonna have to take it sloooooowly.

Been to NZ back in the early 80's. Spent a month up around Auckland and mostly north of there and a month on the south island. Great ice cream!! Amazing ice cream. Brought my fishing stuff and managed to catch lots of nice trout and even some surf fishing. What a beautiful place. Especially down around Invercargil and over to Milford Sound. Wow!!

Awesome country you got there.

[azeo]

Welcome! Glad you enjoyed the fishing and scenery and ice cream! Good luck with the whiskey - it would be interesting to hear how those early batches were made, and likewise how the latest are going and the equipment used. Always something new to learn or try in this hobby, no matter how long one has been at it!

[Samohon]

Hey Shiner, welcome to HD....

You'll have a great time here my friend...

[Shiner]

Welcome! Glad you enjoyed the fishing and scenery and ice cream! Good luck with the whiskey - it would be interesting to hear how those early batches were made, and likewise how the latest are going and the equipment used. Always something new to learn or try in this hobby, no matter how long one has been at it!

My memory of those batches aren't too keen these days. The guy I was helping had been doing it for most of his life and wizzed through it while telling great stories of his earlier days, all while sampling the previous batch, which makes perfectly good sense to me. It was always a sugar, cracked corn, yeast and water mash. Amounts?????? Like I said, they turned out pretty good most of the time. Not much of the fine tuning was there though. Some of those old timers had learned to make it fast I guess. His father had a still going quite often in the early to mid 1900's. During the prohibition, he'd have the still on a horse drawn wagon in the barn so when someone warned of the revenuer coming, he'd just hook up the horses and haul a$$ for the willow patch till the rev's left. The still never stopped.

The still we use now is the same one he was teaching us on. Probably from the 40's to 50's I'm guessing. I hope the picture comes through.

[Shiner]

Hey Shiner, welcome to HD....

You'll have a great time here my friend...

I haven't figured out the multiquote here yet. But yes, this place is like a toy store when I was a kid, and I'm just getting started. My new favorite website.

Thanks for the welcomes!

[rad14701]

Greetings, Shiner...

Have you performed a lead test on the solder used in making that boiler...??? Most of the boilers made back in the prohibition era, and right up until lead became a major health concern, were assembled using lead based solder... You owe it yourself, as well as anyone sharing in the fruits of your labors, to insure that your rig is lead free...

Good luck...

[Samohon]

Nice rig Shiner, but do carry out the lead test as Rad suggests...

Keep it safe man and have fun...

[Shiner]

How does a guy go about doing a lead test? As much booze that's been made with this thing, I'd imagine that it's safe, but would like to do one anyway now that you mentioned it. A good idea.

[rad14701]

How does a guy go about doing a lead test? As much booze that's been made with this thing, I'd imagine that it's safe, but would like to do one anyway now that you mentioned it. A good idea.

Never assume that any still component is safe simply based on how much previous use it has had... Perhaps it has been slowly increasing lead poisoning levels in folks over the years... Folks don't generally know there is a problem until it is a big problem... We have a member here who, luckily, is a rare case of having lead poisoning reversed... Most aren't so lucky... Once lead gets into brain tissue there is almost no chance of reversing its effects...

Go to your local hardware or paint store and ask for a lead paint test kit... Use it on all the solder joints, inside and out... If it tests positive for lead, relegate it for use as a historical artifact and get a new boiler...

Lest we forget; safety, first and foremost...

[Shiner]

Thanks Rad. That's kinda scary. What you said makes a lot of sense and that's why I'm here, looking for some good sense about this hobby. So many things one never thinks of, thinking that the old timers had it all figured out. I'm planning on a test and will report my findings. It would be sad after all these years to have to retire the old pot, but like you said, if it is bad, it will make a great historical/conversation piece and would give us some piece of mind at the same time. Many thanks!

[blanikdog]

Shiner, just to reinforce what rad said about lead, if you think that is scary think about how one dies. Before you die you go quite insane, insane as in crazy. Lead poisoning is very serious.


We have a lot of new distillers joining lately and all need to be aware of this danger. If you think we are paranoid read this book. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 9#p6850359