Home Distiller

So we are all pretty parinoid in this community, i'm aware of that. However, after doing a LOT of reading I still find myself lost. I'm one of those guys that learns better from doing than reading. So that being said:

How does one go about finding a mentor? i'm in the deep south. i don't even have street smarts to locate shine, but i'd love to find someone that can show me the ropes for a few months till i get it under my belt and move on.

Good luck.more then likely it will not happen.

Perhaps try and find a local Boutique/small scale batch distilling LEGAL distillery and introduce yourself as interested in the subject - writing a book on the history would be good. Ask if you can hang around for a while and ask questions so you can better understand the process and make a comparison between what the old shiners did and what is done on a similar small scale today.

Wont answer all your questions, and may give you the odd misconception due to differences in scale between (even small) commercial production and the HOME SCALE production that you would be interested in, but should still give you more insight into the process than none at all.

I think the simplest route to shining success would be to pick out one of the simple pot rigs here , like maybe butthwheat's or Samahon's, build it, do some simple tried and true recipes and be on your way. If that seems too much, maybe buy a simple pot rig from Kentucky Stiller at his e store and go from there. Its not rocket science, if you go slow and pay attention to safety, you could have some fine homemade product in no time.

cheers
stilly

It's all right here. Hundreds of members willing to help you if you put in some time. Good luck.

calicojack wrote:So we are all pretty parinoid in this community, i'm aware of that. However, after doing a LOT of reading I still find myself lost. I'm one of those guys that learns better from doing than reading. So that being said:

How does one go about finding a mentor? i'm in the deep south. i don't even have street smarts to locate shine, but i'd love to find someone that can show me the ropes for a few months till i get it under my belt and move on.

i guess what i can't really wrap my head around is all the different runs that are needed to make a batch and all the cuts involved in it.

truth be told I had just about given up on trying to figure it out and then that damn discovery channel show repeaked my interest.

oddly enough I had a discussion with a guy yesterday that knows a couple of guys and is going to put out a feeler for me. hopefully that will pan out. if not, i'll eventually get it figured out.

Its not all that hard to "make something" I thank the hard part is acquiring a taste for "in the raw"
or that is what its supposed to taste like befor aging.this is much like cooking with out actually doing
it you will never know.

Its not all that hard to "make something" I thank the hard part is acquiring a taste for "in the raw"
or that is what its supposed to taste like befor aging.this is much like cooking with out actually doing
it you will never know.

Im with Dunder on this one. I found myself in your exact same position a little over a year ago. After years of listening to how my great grandparents used to do it , and combining that with hours of reading here , and on various other sights , I find myself quite comfortable with running my rig.

As you go , you will realize that you have made alot of mis-steps , and you will correct them. But , just like a child that is first beginning to walk , the more you do it the more comfortable it becomes. Unfortunately , as you go your knowledge will lead to more questions , and more complicated decisions , but such is life. You will find that your still is inadequate to what you want , and you will have to make revisions and some of your recipes wont perform according to plan ,and you will adjust. But most importantly , you will be accomplishing your goal , and preserving an important part of our heritage.

Always keep reading , and always keep asking questions , and never be afraid of failure. Failure is only the discovery of one way that didn't work , but often leads to new discoveries.

Take your time , and enjoy yourself.

Lumber

Dnderhead wrote:Its not all that hard to "make something" I thank the hard part is acquiring a taste for "in the raw"
or that is what its supposed to taste like befor aging.this is much like cooking with out actually doing
it you will never know.

Im with Dunder on this one. I found myself in your exact same position a little over a year ago. After years of listening to how my great grandparents used to do it , and combining that with hours of reading here , and on various other sights , I find myself quite comfortable with running my rig.

As you go , you will realize that you have made alot of mis-steps , and you will correct them. But , just like a child that is first beginning to walk , the more you do it the more comfortable it becomes. Unfortunately , as you go your knowledge will lead to more questions , and more complicated decisions , but such is life. You will find that your still is inadequate to what you want , and you will have to make revisions and some of your recipes wont perform according to plan ,and you will adjust. But most importantly , you will be accomplishing your goal , and preserving and important part of our heritage.

Always keep reading , and always keep asking questions , and never be afraid of failure. Failure is only the discovery of one way that didn't work , but often leads to new discoveries.

Take your time , and enjoy yourself.



Lumber