Home Distiller

New to the forums and to distilling. My roommate and I ran our first mash thru his still last night and I still got a buzz this morning lol.

By no means do we think ourselves pro-distillers but our hangover was some motivation to find out how to do this right.

Besides sitting down and reading til the cows come home, what are some other reliable resources?

Little about myself: Former US Marine, 25yrs old. Fulltime hog hunter and a partime worker. Born an Raised Florida.

Welcome to the forum, give us a little more information about what you were drinking to create the hangover. What recipe did you use, did you make proper cuts, etc. Just reading up in the tried and true recipes for ideas and researching proper cuts should go a long way in solving hang-overs! Also if you ran it through the night before and drank it the next day sounds like you need to gain some patients on aging and airing your spirits believe me it is worth the wait.

5lbs sugar, 5 gallons of water, 3lbs of sweetfeed and 2 packets of yeast. I think we may have jumped the gun on the mash cause we only got 2 quarts.

Sounds like Ive got a lot of reading in my near future.....

Greetings, FlaMarine412...

Next question... What type of still are you running...??? Can you post a picture of it...??? We're old copper perv's...

Good luck...

from the guys site, my roommate picked it up

Welcome from one Cracker to another.

Two quarts ain't that bad of a yield.

Read Rad's "all bran" thread over in tried and true recipes....

Start there and work your way out when ya get that good and steady.

Kentucky Shinner got a sweet feed recipe over there too.

Looks like a nice little pot still, FlaMarine412... I've seen that one before here in the forums... What are you using to seal the still head onto the boiler...???

Its got a gasket and 4 screws and hold it down. We noticed a couple tiny leaks here and there so we used rtv high temp silicone aka fire caulking to close em.

Whats going on LWTCS? Yea those 2 quarts are some of the most decieving liquor Ive ever tried lol, never thought something so easy drinking would pack a big punch. I cant wait to try something new but we still got 40lbs of sweetfeed to go first.

Anyone ever hear of blackbeard's rum? my roommate said he might wanna try that next

Blackbeard???

Think I seen it over at the big box likker store.

Best to use flour paste to seal your cap.......No way of knowing weather or not the other stuff will leach nasty shit into your hooch.

FlaMarine412 wrote:Its got a gasket and 4 screws and hold it down. We noticed a couple tiny leaks here and there so we used rtv high temp silicone aka fire caulking to close em.

Please read The Rules We Live By... Surely you don't want to be drinking spirits tainted with the chemicals that leach out of that silicone sealer... And I would also question the seal that came with the still... We're talking about personal health and safety here and neither should be taken lightly... Unless you can find verifiable MSDS documentation that a specific synthetic is safe with high temperature high proof alcohol vapor and liquid it should be considered unsafe - even if it ships with your still...

Also, stick with the Tried and True recipes on this site rather than those cheap recipes which were probably bundled on a CD or DVD with your rig...

You and your roommate have plenty of research to do before proceeding much further in this hobby... We want to make sure you and others stay healthy and safe... Remember, ingesting the wrong chemicals can cause permanent irreversible problems and can even kill... Don't play down such concerns as the life you save might be your own... Every still maker out there isn't concerned about you health and wellbeing... Most folks here are, however, even if we have never met you...

Youre almost makin me wanna dump it all down the drain : /

Im sure the silicone has some methyl-ethyl bad shit in it, never ever was a thought on my mind.

Where do you recommend buying a still from?

And blackbeards I think has a cup of honey and 10lbs of brownsugar dont know what else is in it, not sure where the recipe came from. I'll try to find out, he did say it takes longer to ferment because of all the sugar.

Fix and use the still you have... Aside from synthetics you also need to make sure your still wasn't assembled using lead solder by using a lead based paint test kit from a hardware or paint store... You can use flour paste or a combination of twine or cotton cloth with flour paste to seal the still... Just think about safety from the get go and every step of the way forward...

Many of us here build our own stills because then we have nobody but ourselves to blame for quality and materials... But we also understand that there are folks who don't have the skills or resources to build... I'm currently in an apartment so building can be a bit tricky because I either have to be very careful and quiet when building or use a friends shop...

Had you done some reading you wouldn't have a hangover nor would you have poisoned yourself, but you have made it plain that you dont wish to read so ...

Stay Safe

blanikdog wrote:Had you done some reading you wouldn't have a hangover nor would you have poisoned yourself, but you have made it plain that you dont wish to read so ...

Stay Safe

Never knew about the site, so I had no knowledge to fall back on. And a hangover was from over indulging myself, sorry dad.....

I went back and looked, nothing is in the vapor path. the silicone sits OUTSIDE on top. It was just used to cap off nuts.

FlaMarine412 wrote:
Never knew about the site, so I had no knowledge to fall back on. And a hangover was from over indulging myself, sorry dad.....

I went back and looked, nothing is in the vapor path. the silicone sits OUTSIDE on top. It was just used to cap off nuts.

If you will so a little reading like the fine gentlemen are suggesting. You will find out it was not the overindulging that caused the hangover. But it was how you made your hooch. Go with the flow. These guys are trying to get you on the right path to making a good spirit. And you are just fighting it for some reason? Read what they have to say. It will save you from at least having hangovers and most poisoning yourself or others.

Be safe

Welcome to HD FlaMarine412..

+2 on the information the guys are telling you. You'll thank us later...

Good luck on your way forward...