Day 11

[Sam Smythe]

I had a visit from Wellsy yesterday. What an awesome guy! We talked distilling (mostly), fishing, scuba diving and motorbike riding. He also brought round 2 "samples" of his spirits, which I was expecting to be maybe 200ml. Nah, the y were full bottles of Bourbon and Vodka. We had what to me was a great chat over several hours as well as sharing a drink of his spirits and a few beers.
Wellsy, I can't thank you enough!!
And Carol, your advice was spot on! I had tried maybe 15 times to hit the reset button on the still. I tried again 10mins before Wellsy got here. I actually worked! We are not sure what has come out of it, but at least it worked as it should.
Ruddy Crazy...baby steps mate. This batch may not have worked, I really don't know, but I will definitely try again

[Wellsy]

Baby steps Johnno, if nothing else you have some distilled water for future dilutions.

You get your next wash started mate , use what you have there, maybe even a tomato paste one as it sounded like you already had the ingredients. I will get a WBAB wash on the go this weekend and bring some around when it is fermented.

Then once you have run everything through your still you can work out what works best for you and we can then look at what size fermenter is going to work best. As I said the end goal is to get you producing something you like and you are proud of. Apart from safety issues how you do that is not important if it works for you.

I will be back to drop off the alcometer that Stig included in my order for you.

Talk soon

[Carol]

Good that the reset button worked. I can't remember if I had to turn it off and then on again and then reset. At least you know it is operational.

And you have samples from Wellsy! I don't think tomato paste works too well with the air still. Weet bix might be better.

[mike23000]

TPW is all I ever used

[The Stig]

TPW is all I ever used

Your not running a very basic pot still .
Running TPW through an air still will produce a really weak, tomato soup with alcohol .
I’ve done it and it’s not good

[Wellsy]

Just to let everyone know that Dam has had some issues getting started so I have grabbed his airstill to test a theory as to why it stops working. I suspect that it is struggling because it was not on a flat surface. So our new plan is to run some old spirit through it to give it a good clean. Ferment an AWAB wash. And once fermented we will run the still the way the supplier suggests and then the way the forum suggests and taste the results.
This is a fantastic little still that suits Sams needs and space perfect. We just need to figure what gets the best results for the least work.

[Sam Smythe]

Thank you everyone. I am reading every comment made, and taking each and every one of them into consideration. Having said that, I haven't been on here quite as often, that is probably more out of disappointment that I have made water rather than any other reason. I have sooo much to learn. OK, a lot of you are you are saying a TPW is not good, especially Carol, I respect that you are saying that Carol given you use or have used an air still in the past. Stig, I am sorry, I have just reread your post as well. OK, I am convinced. No TPW, and thank you too for your input Stig (are you sure you're not the Stig's Aussie cousin?? Yeah, I was a Top Gear fan too lol)
I am not going to make another wash in the very near future, not unless Wellsy can work out what is going on with mine, or I get it replaced. Being a pensioner, funds are at a premium. In the meantime, I am enjoying the samples he brought round. Damn, they are a nice drop, and I want to go public and say what an awesome, helpful and friendly bloke he is in person! Anybody who gets to meet this man should consider themself fortunate.

[Wellsy]

Now Sam you need to remember, not that i have drunk a lot of water, but the water you made I thought tasted bloody fabulous :laughing-rolling:

[Sam Smythe]

Smartarse lol :teasing-neener: :))

[Wellsy]

OK Sam so we got your sense of humour back mate, next we got your still producing spirit for it's cleaning run.

We are currently waiting for a WBAB to finish so we can experiment on what gives the best taste for the least effort.

Hang in there as we are baby step our way to a great outcome for you

[Sam Smythe]

Wellsy, you're a legend! If you were a girl, I'd kiss ya :romance-kisscheek: Don't like your whiskers though :teasing-neener:

[RuddyCrazy]

Wellsy, you're a legend! If you were a girl, I'd kiss ya :romance-kisscheek: Don't like your whiskers though :teasing-neener:

Eh Sam just close ya eyes mate and think your kissing elswhere :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

[Wellsy]

No wonder I love kissing you Bryan :laughing-rolling:

[RuddyCrazy]

No wonder I love kissing you Bryan :laughing-rolling:

Keep going like that mate and I'll give ya a liverpudden kiss :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

[The Stig]

No wonder I love kissing you Bryan :laughing-rolling:

Keep going like that mate and I'll give ya a liverpudden kiss :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Nobody wins with a Kiss.
Just fucking make up ok :text-lol:

[Wellsy]

But Bryan looks so cute when he gets mad :laughing-rolling:

[Sam Smythe]

You guys crack me up. Pissing myself laughing. Dunno which comment was funnier, let's call it a draw. Although kissing Wellsy might be like kissing a ducks arse. You blow, and then kiss, but you've got to be quick :)) :happy-partydance:

[RuddyCrazy]

You guys crack me up. Although kissing Wellsy might be like kissing a ducks arse. :)) :happy-partydance:

Sam why are you insulting ducks :laughing-rolling:

[Sam Smythe]

Sorry people, I haven't posted because I have had nothing to report. My first wash was a wipeout, and I also couldn't get my still to work. Wellsy, bless him, got involved. He took my still and played with it. He has used it several times without issue. He believes the issue may have been that it was not on a flat surface, it was slanting a little. I don't wan't to hear any backchat about that. Sure, he may be wrong, but the facts fit! I can set the still up on a flat bench in my workshop, and based on what Wellsy has done it should work fine.
He also dropped in again with bottles of neutral spirit made from my airstill under differing conditions. One wasn't too flash, but the others were awesome. He also didn't skimp on the quantity, bringing round 5 bottles of spirit.
I have had a dream for a long time to have a home cocktail bar, which is a big part of the reason for attempting to get into distilling. With what Wellsy has done for me, together with another mate, Jack, who stumped up some funds, I am on the way.
This is not the correct forum to discuss this, but I am not sure where to raise a topic on my dream, my bucket list, where I am at with it it etc. I am open to suggestions. I would like to talk about cocktails I have made and show pics of the home made versions. ATM, they are done with Wellsy's spirit, but between us, we are working on that!
Again, thank you all for your input in getting me started, and apologies for going quiet, but my feeling is if there's no news, why post? Hope you agree

[Wellsy]

Bloody hell Sam, having nothing to say never stopped me from posting anything :laughing-rolling:

Throw up a couple of pics of what you have done