Really pleased to have found this site as there is so much good information on it, and just realising how much there is to learn!
About 3 years ago, I bought a T500 still and relied on advice from the shop, the online videos that relate to the still on exactly what to do and how to do it, and that has been about it so far. Based on feedback from others, the spirits I've been making has been pretty good (above average) and I've been quite happy with the results to date, but always striving for a lot better. That's when I found this site and realised I have a reflux still with Cooling Management.
For my whisky, I use the recipe book I bought along with all the different flavours (Oak cask, peat, whisky profiles A, B, C and D, and many others). This has given me the ability to tweak the flavours so I can match Glenfiddich, Teachers and even Talisker.
I've been using Malt and whisky yeast for the wash, but now I realise that with the reflux still, this has been a waste of time because it comes out neutral.
Also, I've seen that people have been struggling with keeping the temperature constant. I struggled with this as it was up and down like a yo-yo. Telling the kids not to flush the toilet, no showers tonight! And so on.
Then I figured that if the water supply was constant, then it would be easier. So I put a 25L container upstairs and basically siphened the water downstairs into the still. Worked a treat, but then keeping the container upstairs full all the time was a challenge. So now I've fitted a cistern so as soon as the water level drops, the cistern allows more water in to keep it topped up.
On this forum, I read that I can remove the packing in the column and put plates in. Just about to start experimenting with that so that I don't end up with a neutral. Watch this space.
One thing I wouldn't mind some advice on is stripping. I've read loads of posts where they talk about stripping, but I cannot find anything that tells me what this is, how to do it and why I need to do it. So if you can help with that, would love to hear from you.
Big applause for all those distilling guru's out there. Really enjoying reading your posts.