Home Distiller

Hello everyone. I've been reading the heck out of the parent site and this forum for quite some time. I've pretty much read as much as I could and have now made the move to participating. I don't know what the attraction is, but I have always had a strong interest in distilling and I'm finally taking the steps to living out my dream. I think perhaps I was a moonshiner in a past lifetime. It's really in my blood and I don't know why, but no sense fighting nature

I'm lucky to have several fruit trees and look forward to putting the harvest to good use. I'm working on my pot still and I'm currently waiting on my first sugar wash to finish up. I can't wait to share the results with everyone here.

Welcome to the boards...

I think part of the attraction may well be that you can make a much better product at a fraction of the cost but the road from grain to bottle can be a bumpy one. Take note of the things that you dont understand, then, give us all a holler. We do expect you to have a firm grasp of the theory behind distillation, especially the safety aspects....

What are you planning to make, whiskey/vodka?

See you around... Have fun...

Welcome Shoo

What kind of fruit trees do you have?

Samohon wrote:Welcome to the boards...

I think part of the attraction may well be that you can make a much better product at a fraction of the cost but the road from grain to bottle can be a bumpy one. Take note of the things that you dont understand, then, give us all a holler. We do expect you to have a firm grasp of the theory behind distillation, especially the safety aspects....

What are you planning to make, whiskey/vodka?

See you around... Have fun...

I have a strong grasp on distillation. Like anything, knowing and doing are two separate things. Safety for me is #1. Especially materials used in still construction. I spent a good week and a half trying to find the right solder to work with. Kept reading MSDS sheets until I came across what I liked. The current setup is a stainless boiler pot still and the rest in copper. (2" down to 3/4" worm) In the future, I'd like to build an all copper still, but I want to get some seat time in on what I currently have.

Since I have access to home grown fruit, I would like to work towards making a nice brandy. For now, sugar washes and practice For me, it's not about making it cheaper. I just like building/making things of high quality and I would like to make the highest quality drink possible.

LWTCS wrote:What kind of fruit trees do you have?

I have old, high-yielding pear, apple and plum trees. I have young cherry, apricot and peach trees. I also have access to property containing 20 mature plum trees if I really want tons of plums. I scored about 100 pounds of pears after my wife finished canning for the season. I'm going to play with those this year (sitting in the freezer right now). Next year will be show time and I intend to have enough practice in by then to not mess it all up.