Getting to pass down the tradition

[Husker]

My stepson (now 23, married, with a bun in the oven), is starting to take up the hobby. I get to dig in, and again, help someone learn. He has been reading and learning well.

He was over here, working on my fence today. Crappy weather on Sun, so I will be at his place. We were at the HW store today, and got some materials.

I think we will start him out with one of my kegs. Got a 2" coupler, 2 2" T's, a 1" screw together union, 2 3/4,1/2,1/2 T's, and a 1" to 1/2" reducer. I have 2", 1/2 and 3/4" tube myself, that I can get to him.

I think we will build an easy flange from the coupler. Then I will help him with about a 12/18" 2" riser column, up to the 2 T's. We will then build a 2" to 1" gradual taper lyne arm (cutting a V out of the 2")., and then solder that to the female side of that 1" union. Then build him a lebig, and put the male side of that 1" on it (and the 1" to 1/2" reducer). Should get him a good still, and be modular, that we can build him a 2" column to jam into that easy flange if he later wants to get into neutrals. He has a good pump for the lebig, that he had when he was doing hydroponic ghost peppers. Should be a good pump, it was not some cheepo thing.

I will set him up with a banjo I have, and a spare 20lb bottle. He kinda wants to go electric, and I think that would be a better bet, but until we get him setup with 220 in the garage, and a controller, that will probably not be the direction we go.

It feels good to be back into face to face mentoring again. I have not done this for years. He has done a wash or 2, and built a pretty crappy still. He used a worm in a 5g bucket (that was Ok), but then used a cheapo ceramic coated canning pot. He punched a hole in it, fed in some 3/8 copper over to the worm and sealed with flour paste. Worked, but on his first run, lots of rust around that hole. Cheapo steel pots are NOT what we want to use in this hobby. But we will get him all setup, and producing much better stuff. He is looking at UJSSM as a good starter. I will get him a 50lb bag of cracked corn, and a couple 6g fermentation buckets, and get things going.

H.

[Braz]

Good on you Husker. I love teaching skills, being a mentor.

Wish I had one when I was starting in this hobby. Could have saved me a lot of false starts.

[Prairiepiss]

Good for you. I would like to pass it on. And probably will. Once my boys get to proper age.

[Husker]

I hope he sticks with it, long enough to get pretty good. I can help cut down 'some' of the time to get there, but it will still be up to him to really 'learn', and master the skills.

But get a good still, do decent recipes, and have someone looking over his shoulder should get him going well.

He and his misses were over yesterday with some ultrasound pix. Gotta see a little weiner, so my first grandchild will be a grandson (in 4 to 5 months or so).

H.

[Richard7]

Congrats to you and your son and his wife! I hope it all turns out good for all of y'all. You may be passing it down to the ultrasound you just saw tonight!

[mash rookie]

He is a lucky young man to have someone of your experience offering to advise. My advice is to allow him to enjoy enough failure so that he may appreciate your knowledge and advice. Give your wisdom slowly and it will be more appreciated. He does not know yet what opportunity he really has.

[Bushman]

My son is also interested and we have made a few washes together, he has been on the tasting end for cuts but has yet to do the whole process. Currently he owns and lives in a condo with limited space. Looking forward to the day as he is finishing up a degree in hospitality. His goal is to open a restaurant/micro distillery. Will be a tough road to success but he seems very determined and has some creative ideas. I am with you Husker it is great to be able to work with your family and be able to do a bit of mentoring.

[Boda Getta]

I don't know guys, I've got mixed feeling on this one. I have a Son and are all about tradition and passing down skills, but (in the US) this tradition and skills we will be passing down to our Sons is illegal. My Son is aware of my hobby, but I have discouraged his involvement. My Son has a job that his career would be over if he was arrested for pretty much anything. We have all weighted the risks and decided to proceed with this craft, but I'm not sure I would want my loved ones exposing themselves to these risks.
That's just me, I could be wrong.

BG

[Kidnapper2]

I got into this the reverse method, when my daughter came home from HS one day and said, "Hey dad, we made shine in chem class today." Now that she's majoring in bio-chem in college it's just me trying to figure this stuff out. Kinda tough for me, I don't have a mathematical/scientific type mind, education was never a big thing in my family.

My son starts college next fall. I kinda hope in a few years he gets the bug to do this, I would love to share it with him. He hangs out with me in the garage while I'm tinkering or cooking from time to time. Hard to tell at this point if he's interested or not.

Working in the construction industry as long as I have, I have trained lots of young bucks the trade and I love that part of the job the most. So one day I hope to be Obi Wan Distiller as well.

[Bohunk]

JimBo, I would love to have you fix me up with a keg, think I'm too old to call you daddy???

The Bohunk

[hippy]

Shoot I wish I had someone around that I could trust enough besides my ol lady. It'd be nice if it didn't have to be so underground it would be a lot easier to learn with a face to face mentor, if it wasn't for this website I'd be lost