Hello
Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:03 am
I had an intrest in distilling starting in the mid 70s when I was in my late teens.
Reading the Foxfire books probably was the first way my attention was grabbed.
My first fermentation attempt was soon after that with making root beer from extract, sugar, water and yeast.
That lead to some real education at about 2 am a few mornings later when all 5 of my gallon jugs exploded one after the other flooding my dorm room and it was after lights out so I had no light to clean up sticky root beer and glass from all over the room.
A few years later I began brewing beer and making a little wine. As time went along I became an all grain brewer and made good beer. Still having the thought of distilling in the back of my mind reading some about it.
In the early 90s I had the oportunity to work in one of the first hard cider plants in the revival of cider in the U.S. I spent 19 mos working over 100 hrs a week and had to quit that for health reasons.
Still was brewing, and then came across The Compleat Distiller by Mike Nixon and Mike McCaw in maybe 2000. That got me off my ass and I started learning to distill. Found the distillers group on Yahoo And had the fortune to have exchanges with Mike Nixon, Zbob. Bokakob, Harry, and many other knowledgeable people. Built my first still. (two pots, three short pieces of copper pipe and a wok) then a pot still with a liebig condenser. Then a VM column per The Compleat Distiller on a Ian Smiley inspired 30 gal. water heater boiler.
I have been away from it for a few years but am itching to start again.
Reading the Foxfire books probably was the first way my attention was grabbed.
My first fermentation attempt was soon after that with making root beer from extract, sugar, water and yeast.
That lead to some real education at about 2 am a few mornings later when all 5 of my gallon jugs exploded one after the other flooding my dorm room and it was after lights out so I had no light to clean up sticky root beer and glass from all over the room.
A few years later I began brewing beer and making a little wine. As time went along I became an all grain brewer and made good beer. Still having the thought of distilling in the back of my mind reading some about it.
In the early 90s I had the oportunity to work in one of the first hard cider plants in the revival of cider in the U.S. I spent 19 mos working over 100 hrs a week and had to quit that for health reasons.
Still was brewing, and then came across The Compleat Distiller by Mike Nixon and Mike McCaw in maybe 2000. That got me off my ass and I started learning to distill. Found the distillers group on Yahoo And had the fortune to have exchanges with Mike Nixon, Zbob. Bokakob, Harry, and many other knowledgeable people. Built my first still. (two pots, three short pieces of copper pipe and a wok) then a pot still with a liebig condenser. Then a VM column per The Compleat Distiller on a Ian Smiley inspired 30 gal. water heater boiler.
I have been away from it for a few years but am itching to start again.