My conversation at ACE Hardware

[Ritter]

Location: Ace Hardware, small town, Texas. Pop. 10,000
While looking through the copper fittings and inquiring about pipe prices Employee A (who i've known for many years) asks me what I'm building as a way to be more helpful. I just smiled and told him I cant say. Employee B chuckles and says "hummm, must be something illegal". And then proceds to talk about the run on copper tubing and people attaching them to stainless pots and such. And all the mason jars are sold out.

I try to be contrarian, but it seems I'm running with the crowd on this one.

[Beerswimmer]

Yep. The plumbing supply store near my house has had a lot of people not telling why they need their copper!!

[tallen702]

We have a "pick your own" orchard near me and they have a nice farm market down by the parking lot that has all kinds of country nick-knacks and canning equipment and what not. Only reliable place I know to find the 8oz jam jars I use for my "stocking stuffer run" every Christmas. They're really slow at wintertime, especially mid week so when the only three guys in the store (none of us knew each other) are all standing at the checkout line with cases of mason jars, the cashier gives us a questioning look and says, "my, what do y'all need all those jars for?" Two of us who are younger (20's-30's) sheepishly look at each other, not saying anything when the guy at the front of the line who has to be well into his 70's looks at us, then looks her square in the eye and says "Weeeeellll hell. I'll just come out an say it then. Moonshine." She laughed quite a bit, us younger guys blushed, and she told us that she wouldn't say anything, but she'd sure like to try what we made. I dropped in a week later with a jar of my blackberry stuff and sure enough, both of the other guys had dropped some off too. Gotta love living out in the country where everyone knows what's going on, and nobody really cares.

[Ghost]

Livin in North east Ga I know what you mean. Small town and everyone knows everyone else! I bought a couple of flats of Mason jars a couple of weeks back and saw a group of ladies from the church in line - as I stood there with my jars one of the ladies said " now what are you gonna do with those jars, its not canning season" I said Oh we are just getting ready for the spring. One of the little old ladies laughed and said - he's making moonshine! I just smiled and waited my turn in line when one of the other little old ladies came up closer and said - let me know when its done I need a jar!

[goose eye]

yall playin with fire.
them jugs is for honey. if they want some tell em it 20 dolars a pint. if they still want some
go by a quart an break it down.

so im tole

[slohand42]

I buy my jars at a local Fleet and Farm store. Three weeks ago there were plenty of mason jars. I went in to buy some last week and the 8 oz. jars (what I use) were all gone. And, like everyone else said, it's not canning season. Seems like it's a catchin' on.

[jholmz]

i buy mine at wal mart and rural king couple flats each time this time of year (not canning season) if asked my wife does a lot of canning and instead of waiting till canning season and having the big expense i buy a little at a time of course i jump from store to store so looks like im not buying as many one week one store next week next store and so on got 4 walmarts within 40 miles of me and 2 rural kings im in a small town so any direction

[rgarry]

This is why I use old alcohol bottles. Not to mention the local bar tender gives them to me for free.

[Theo]

My sister cans just about everything. People give her plenty of jars. She's a good sis, she told me not to buy any more jars. She does need a few filled.....

[tallen702]

I buy my jars at a local Fleet and Farm store. Three weeks ago there were plenty of mason jars. I went in to buy some last week and the 8 oz. jars (what I use) were all gone. And, like everyone else said, it's not canning season. Seems like it's a catchin' on.

I'd say so. I think (for better or worse) the show on Discover is driving a lot of people to try. There are two home-brew stores near my neck of the woods (near = 60 miles or less, again, I'm rural) and the bigger of the two is unabashedly selling Hile Hi columns and pots right on the showroom floor. Both are selling Turbo rather quickly, have corn sugar available by the half-gallon or gallon, and now that I've talked to the guys at the closer one, they'll both be carrying Redstar DADY. I'm in a state with a fairly lax ABC agency and after two days of trying to get any results for moonshine busts on Google news without any hits, it seems like the state pretty much looks the other way. They've got their hands full dealing with a major black-tar heroin epidemic in their major city, so hobbyists are probably a negative priority for them.

Just look at the "my first" and "welcome" sections of the forum and there are new guys turning up every day. (says the new guy)

[pounsfos]

Always love the look on people face when I tell them I'm building a still

The pipe and fittigns store man has helped me out alot with it, but going to other places like hardware stores and general places for nutrients, it's always interesting to see there faces when I tell them I need 10L things of tomato sauce for.

Gotta love it boys

[Bushman]

Just look how many new members we have had just in the last few months, supply and demand is going to raise our material costs I'm afraid.

[Ghost]

I too have started using other bottles. Funny thing about giving a quart away as a gift - the damn things never make it back to me!

[tallen702]

Just look how many new members we have had just in the last few months, supply and demand is going to raise our material costs I'm afraid.

Which is why I'm glad I decided to grow my own materials this summer. I've got 2 and 6 row barley seed and 150 "silver queen" seeds to make "fresh" bourbon with (using the corn while it's still in the milk stage for the sugar)

Using Conlon for the 2 row. Going to malt it in burlap and then use the smoke house and cherry wood to make some "Scotch-ish" whiskey. 6 row will go for the corn whiskey.

[pfshine]

I always tell people I am making some kind of functional art fountain thing for some rich guys wife. Nobody ever questions it. As for the jars I say it is part of my kids science project, if they ask further I say it is to see how different things rot in different environments . they stop asking after that.

[goinbroke2]

I use empty 750ml likker bottles, friends know this and I had to tell them to stop I had so many. Mason jars are too cliche.

When buying anything else, I say I make beer, from scratch. I need the SS pot/elements/etc to make the mash. Beer is boring, like wine, everybody makes it and nobody cares. Say moonshine or whiskey or whatever and eyes light up and everybody wants more details. Even if they're not johnny law, too many people yackin' will only bring trouble.