Food !!

[el_flesh]

Cynth! BABY!!!

...nothing else to say. 'cept don't share your "small amount" with any of us; it'll be gone real quick.

.....yup, I love the ol

Camembert, non-pasteurise

NORMANDY brand, and we generally go for the cheap Bleue, some mass produced thing or other...Damafro or some co. like that. Lately we've been trying to cool it on the cheez; it does add alot of Calories real fast. So, ya, I've been trying and failing...

Wine (my homemade Merlot, nothing to get excited over, but not bad...) Cheese Baguette...I'm all set. It's all I need.

[cynthialee]

I don't plan on cracking open the last of the hooch for many years.


Can't have it properly aged if I don't let it age!

[el_flesh]

Also it would be pretty cool to see how

I made bear

What kind? Black, Brown, Kodiak?....

[ken]

I was once a homebrewer. I made bear, ale, wine, mead, and soda pop. One of my ex's was an alchoholic (somewhat under control but there were episodes...) and I decided that it would be cheeper on my wallet in the long run if I learned how to home brew.
My favorite brew to make is hefeweizen. Wine, I like a simple merlot. Mead is where I would get experimental. I have had some of the worlds worst mead and the worlds best mead come from my vats. Too bad I lost the note book (or my ex stole it) that had the notes on how I made that batch that came out tasteing like it was made by Dionysius himself.

I even tried my hand running a 'stil a few years back just to learn the skill. Gave away most of the 'shine to friends over the years in the form of home made liquers (I make an awesomely delicious kalua, my cream liquor is ok but not worth braging about), ussed some of it as solvent a few times, drank a quart or two myself and there is small amount left that is stashed back in a climate controled area aging in charred oak. Been there for about the last 5 years. I figure I won't touch it for at least Another 10. It is running at about 196 proof. (gotta love a reflux still)

What's this BEAR you mention? I once made a still from a pressure cooker, with a length of plastic hose running from the fitting where the weights normally sit, through a copper pipe coil fitted into a tub of water, with an outlet where the finished moonshine came out. I "cooked" a gallon of elderberry wine, and drank the product laced with tonic water. Only did it the once, just to use up the wine. Still here to tell the tale.

[cynthialee]

A presure cooker will work in a pinch.
The still I had I got from the bay. Read a few books then ran a couple of 25 gallon batches of hooch. Once I got the hang of it I sold the still.
Every once and awhile I miss it but I really do not need such a large still.
I would love to get a small copper pot still after the style of the the old time Scottish Poteen still's. I figure a one or 2 gallon pot would work best for a home stove top unit. A reflux colum is nice, but I see no need for such purity. 115-130 proof would be fine and dandy. The 190+ proof stuff is just rediculous to be honest. You can't socialy drink it. A couple drinks in and you are smashed.

[el_flesh]

Is there ever any danger of going blind?
My buddy's dad made banana shine back in '85. Man was it good. I was worried a bit, since I had heard you can screw up and make it have whatever type of alc makes you blind...
But not worried enough NOT to enjoy it!

[ken]

Is there ever any danger of going blind?
My buddy's dad made banana shine back in '85. Man was it good. I was worried a bit, since I had heard you can screw up and make it have whatever type of alc makes you blind...
But not worried enough NOT to enjoy it!

That is the main reason why I only tried it once. If you had this problem drinking Joe Soaps Homebrew, it least you would have someone to sue

[cynthialee]

Yes you can make crap that will blind. It is from the methyl alcohol, what we drink is ethyl. The way to get rid of the methyl alcohol is pretty simple. You run the still a few degrees cooler than the 173F (78C) at which ethyl boils. Methyl boils around 149F (65C), so you bring the still up to about 150-160F for about an hour and all the stuff you get from this part of the run is poison. Throw it away or use it as a solvent. I save it, label it as Methyl Alchohol and use it as a solvent.

[cynthialee]

Once you have the methyl removed you will have fusel oils remaining in the batch. These are higher order alchohols and they make the booze nasty tasting and make a hangover harder than it needs to be.
When you bring the still up to temperature and it starts running clear shine, the first couple hours will provide the best product. To the end of the run the booze will start to run a tad cloudy, might be hard to see at first but once you get an eye for it you will know it when you see it. This is crap, yes it will get you plowed, but it is hang over booze. Best ussed as an industrial product if you ask me. Now filtering through carbon and then ageing in chared oak can help the fusel laden alchohol, but it just isn't worth the bother. Just keep the really clear and relatively fusel free alcohol as your booze and get rid of the poison (methyl) and fusel oils.

[el_flesh]

Wow. I wonder how much trial and error was required for this process to be eventually worked out...

Do you use the methyl as paint thinner? Also - I wonder why wine/beer/plums/elderberries doesn't have enough methyl to blind you? Since we don't drive it off thru boiling when we ferment it?