Pear Hooch

It is called "Perry" or "Perry Cider"

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/perry.htm

Scrumpy is the good hard cider of the southwest of England. Check the rules for perry, on Wiki.

And I'll bet you thought GA abbreviation was for Good Alcohol ! Well here is another one for you.

How is the wind sensor installation going ?

Bob

If you want to make the revenue men really mad - make your perry, then distill it!

Last I checked, when I used to make my own beer and fruit cider, an individual could make up to 50,000 gallons for their own personal/ family use - which I always thought was way too much for personal but I didn't make the rule. I don't know what it is now, but you will not make the revenue gods unhappy or be doing anything illegal. It is really easy to make your own cider and there's 100s if not 1000s of recipes on the web. I would make some of it into pear wine though, not all perry or cider. Think about that and check out web searches for fruit wine.

The pears will have enough yeast on their peels (if you don't wash them) to ferment themselves. However, naturally occuring yeasts are unpredictable. If you are making several batches and don't mind losing some you might just grind them up and ferment.

Don't use brewers yeast, taste and smell won't be delicious.

Get winemakers yeast, its much better.

I tried 2 years ago (1 batch of 100 lonly), had to add plums to fill up the 100 l,

result (by a professional destiller - anything else illegal in Germany): 17 liter of 40% "Schnaps", beautiful and outstanding quality.

Only very good quality fruit to be used - over-ripe is good, but any mold to be discarded carefully!

RHABE

Champaign yeast has a higher tolerance for alcohol and will yield more kick.

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+build+a+still+for+moonshine&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7

There are two basic end results, the start is the same. One is wine, the other is Schnapps or spirits.

Its best to have a book on the subject to answer all the small but important questions.

Primarily hygiene is very important.

The fruit needs to be chopped up finely, you really need a food grade machine or clean feet!

Then two possibilities, place in a deep barrel like container, not full so that there is room for CO2 to build up and keep the air off, cover it and let the natural yeasts start to work.

Or prepare the same way, but sterilize the most first using special tablets for wine, then 24 hours later add wine yeast mixed with sugar and water to activate.

The yeast must start pumping out CO2 within 24 hours or the fruit may turn.....

It will take between 7 and 20 days to finish, depending upon the temperature, fast is not always good.....

Strain off liquid and bottle, cork. Leave for 6 months or until clear then throwaway drink.

Or give to distiller and await results!!! Do not distill yourself as the results can blind or kill you if not done correctly.

I still recommend a good book first and foremost though!!

Hi Andy,

Definitely NOW throw away!LOL My uncle would start drinking his at about 4 months. Beer can be drunk before the 'ready' date when it is still cloudy, but wine is not really nice 'til its clear?

Making it is great fun though and you never know what each batch will taste like with each having different ripeness and therefore fructose content? My uncle used to keep his 'dry' and sour where possible, but any I made I would wait 'til the ferment had finished, though it was still cloudy, taste it and if needed add sugar. It may start the fermentation off again but at least the end product was drinkable for me?

I ruined the first two lots of just ten litres because certain equipment was not disinfected. Once I had figured this was the reason, I just took extra time in prep' of the bottle and gear. Particularly important to keep any tubes/plastic piping clean.

Take care my friend.

As previously stated, there's no need to add yeast, and if you plan to distill it, you don't want the flavor that the yeast will produce. It would mean letting the bottles lay for a few years to clear the flavor out. If you're going for the wine, then a champaigne yeast is best.

As far as producing either wine or spirits, it's all about the quantity, and who it's going to. I believe the number is 10-20,000 gallons for personal use. The government only gets angry when you are selling it and they don't get their taxes. There are a number of great books and sites for both wine and spirits. There is also a company here in the states that you can buy a still from. Of course it's meant for ethanol production, but it's all made of stainless steel components from the milking industry. If you read up and spend the time, it's not difficult to distill the perry to a spirit (schnops).

You can get most of what you need at your local wine/beer making store. Just head over and tell them you're making a wine from the pears, and they'll hook you up. It's very simple. If you are planning on making a spirit, then never use a fire to heat it. One it's much more dangerous. Two, if you burn the mash, the taste is horrible. The best and easiest for home a home still, is a reflux still, you can find it on the web. This is more designed for ethanol production, as it will produce 85-92% alcohol on the first run, when kept in the proper temperature range duing the cook. The best is to put in the time, on the computer, and get a few good books.

I prefer a cider yeast to champagne yeast. Doesn't have quite the tolerance of champagne yeast but still converts plenty of sugar to alkihol while retaining some sweetness... unless you're going to distill, in which case I am not the one to ask. especially not... how many years late?

Perhaps you are correct. So long as the poster of the "banter" is not attacking someone's integrity, accusing them of committing a felony, ridiculing the backwardness of their home state or making some other personal degrading remark, I suppose there's no harm in making a ludicrous remark. After all, free legal advice is worth every cent you pay for it.

What you've described does not qualify as banter...

Hi wire,

Could not agree more! I am not really sure why the remark you refer to was made in the first place. It certainly does not belong in this 'party atmosphere' of a thread?

I hope the person gets back to me/us in a more friendly and appropriate manner.

Take care

Do not forget, if the start of a post (or the Poster him/herself) does not fit in with what you want to read about or from, simply ignore the rest....

Its a bit like the TV, vote with the On/Off switch.....

I cannot for the life of me tell you how many times I have skipped the rest of a boring post, dozens at least, more likely hundreds.......as CR4 (and the people on it) is not perfect for everyone all the time.

Have a great day (if you managed to read down to this line without switching off first!)

Hi Andy,

Do not forget, if the start of a post (or the Poster him/herself) does not fit in with what you want to read about or from, simply ignore the rest

Remind me not to write to you again please?

Or I can tell you in the first line what I was going to say in fifty, and put one of these then you need not read further!!!

Take care my friend.

Hi oem,

This thread is really greta, just like a good party. I cannot understand why you should make any remark with any 'proviso'. Just chill and enjoy the 'party'!

What you mention as a 'for instance', is not banter is could possibly be read as an insult. No offence .

No offence meant OK? But follow the posts. I do not understand why you made your remark as I am going through my notification by 'time' received so may not have seen what you may refer to? A 'chip' on your shoulder just gives to back ache! OK? This is trying to get you to reply with your own 'asides' and jokey banter, alright?

Take care.

It's called banter and adds a progressive element to conversation...

YESSSSSS!

Ok, for a 5 gallon pail, you'll want about 2-2.5 lbs of white sugar. You should at least 1/4 the pears. To have a clean taste, you need to remove the stem, and all the pits. Again, it's easiest if you 1/4 the pears first. Then put them in a clean pail. I usually wash it out with a 10:1 solution of water to clorox. Then rinse the pail with regular water. This solution is actually at a proportion that it won't harm you if it we accidentially consumed - don't do it though. As you add the pears, occasionally put the sugar on top. Work it at abour 3 inches of pears, and a half a pound of sugar. Keep this up to the top. If you wish about 1/2 way through you can stir the ingredients together. You'll be amazed at how much liquid you will already have. Once all the pears and sugar are in the pail, close the top and make sure you have an air lock to allow the gasses out. Ideally you'll need a carboy with a whole in the top for a rubber gasket and the air lock. Put the pail in a "cool" area, basement or such. Hot, or rather warm temps are not helpful. Let it sit and do it's stuff. It'll typically take about 20 or so days for the fermentation process. It'll keep sealed in the carboy for at least a month. The finished product can be drained, and done with as you wish.

GA from me.

You know your Onions! Old British saying.

(Not for wine making of course!!)

Hi Andy,

"you know your onions", you said. I wonder if a wine with onions added would work? Do you know of any scientific reason other than the oil why they should or could not be used? I mean, I have made lots of wine but not with onions, Just wondered really.

Take care.

I've got a recipe for fish beer somewhere, one for mustard beer as well... I've never made either. I don't think I've ever heard of an onion recipe but I imagine it would be possible...

Might be the best wine to drink with cheese!!

Hi Andy,

Good point! Never thought of that. I am now going to search for onion wine!

Take care.

Is that so people could whine and cry at the same time?

It might be very healthy, if you could even drink it!!

Hi RHABE,

GA..............For Good Advice. Of course you can make wine from very over ripe fruit? Certainly stuff you would not normally eat.

Take care.

Hi QCIan,

Once you find a method you like it could not be simpler. It must stay in a warm environment to allow the yeast to work and to ferment.

You will need lots of bottles and corks and a Corker to push them in.

The easiest to clean everything you use is to use "Camden Tablets". They are like an aspirin size and you crush it and mix in with the water you use for disinfecting all your stuff.

Any wine bottles you use between now and when it is ready to bottle roughly six months to a year ahead, and any freshly used ones friend Family and friends. I say freshly used ones because you can then wash them out or ask them to do it before they bring them to your place. The idea is to clean them on the day the bottles are emptied. ............ On a promise of a couple of bottle returned full of your hooch! It is much easier to clean and disinfect them if they are still wet.

Thats all. Good luck and enjoy yourself. If you have a whole lot of pears it may pay to wash them cut any bad bits off and slice or blend them. You may also need help if there is a huge amount. We made it a family thing.

Be prepared for some rather nasty smells as the yeast does its job! But, boy will it be worth it. You can even design your own Labels on your computer?

1. Welcome to Beer-Wine.comIf you are a home brewer or wine maker, you will find all the beer supplies and wine equipment you need right here. We have hundreds of kits for all flavors ...
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2. Take care and enjoy.

GA for a delightfully reading "Brewing Article". It fits in exactly with my personal (old fashioned) knowledge....

Hello hairlesssimian,

Good advice here! Have one on me! And a GA to you Sir.

A book or some printed sheets off the web is so much easier than farting about with the computer when you are up to you elbows in fruit!......Mmmm, lovely

Like you say get the science bit done and registered in your mind before starting? To make an Alcoholic drink just guess and it will work, as long as everything is clean.

If however you want to make a certain type of drink with a particular yeast and or perhaps flavour then you can chose the science route,.......... Or just keep making batches of 50 litres/~10 Gallons, adding different yeast and maybe amount of sugar, or other fruit which is very sweet, and make a note which bottles are different and write it or print it on your Labels?

Just read your Teachers story, like it!

Some really good 'technical' advice from you on yeasts, cleanliness, and the different types of brews. Well done.

It is really only after making a couple of cock-ups, that you get experience and so can 'predict' what the wine will taste like? Certainly not something to 'worry' about as you can alway 'tweak' the now ready to brew liquid after you clean all the mess away? It is much easier if a 'wine or brewing room' can be used though, as the smell while it it brewing can be a bit intense, so one with a door on and a window to open but also where you can keep the room warm enough to keep the ferment going?

Now I have said this off the top of my head so forgive any duplication please, OK?

I kept single sheets of A4 with my favourite recipes on in plastic sleeves. Much easier than especially when there is three or four trying to read an unprotected page and it gets sticky and almost unreadable ? But brilliant fun!

Too much good info already posted... If you are going to be harvesting pears every year it may be worth getting some books to help guide you through perfecting your brew.

I recommend the Homebrewer's Companion (sorry, I don't remember the author's name) for all the high tech lab-type brewing you may want to do, though in my opinion turning brewing into science takes the fun out (many, especially here, will likely disagree as they find this sort of 'lab work' to be fun... crackpots!).

Take care.

Prosit!

Hi hairless,

Really sorry my friend but can you remind me what 'prosit' means please? Wire sent me the same post on another thread but I can't find it. Am I doing something wrong? If so to ALL, please forgive me.

Take care

It's German for cheers.

Hi,

there is quite a good explanation here, better than I could achieve.

Its not good for the head though, young wine gives me a blinding headache.....and I know I am not alone!!!

Hi Andy,

Many thanks for the reply post.

Now I know what it is I will steer clear as well. I hate young wine also! ;=)

I am into quality and flavour rather than quantity.

Take care.

Hi Babybear, I never thought of freezing as an alternative to distilling. Great idea. Can you elaborate more on exact method?

I also have another question which may sound very silly among the posts by experts, yet I will fire it to kill my curiosity! I understand when you distill fermented brew first distillate you get out is mainly methyl alcohol and dangerous stuff to drink.

But how come when you take the fermented brew (call it beer or wine), what happens to methyl alcohol. Once I did a batch of beer (my first try!), tried a few glasses, ended up having a big head ache. I was so afraid of Methanol I threw away the entire batch!

Hello Sisira,

Thanks for the reply post.....................

Ethanol Alcohol

As far as I know there is no nasty Alcohol in the first or subsequent distillation.

>>> The Alcohol is good and definitely should not be thrown out! <<<

You got a headache because you were on the way to getting drunk. Nothing to do with the 'efficacy' of the drink!!!

It is perfectly natural. I am presently researching this and will let you know but, as I say unless the hot distillation alters the Alcohol, the Alcohol you siphon off will be Ethanol.

You mentioned distilling; Whether using a slow boil 'Still' or any other method, the distilled product is pretty close to pure Alcohol, Ethanol, whatever you want to call it. When you are using a 'Still' to split the Alcohol from the water, you will have pure Alcoholic liquid, with no water, which tastes not nice! It actually tastes a little like Vodka. Perfectly drinkable but not 'my cup of tea' shall we say?

Imagine you are not distilling, but just 'fining' the liquid with the Alcohol mixed in, then you drink the whole drink including Alcohol. Does you no harm does it? I have drunk it before it has cleared properly, and it has the same amount of Alcohol as in the final really sparkling clear wine.

Perhaps this will be clearer; when you distill you do not make any Alcohol l!!!!!! You are only removing by whatever method, the Alcoholic part of the beverage.

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To freeze the liquid only: ((rather than the 'liquid' and 'must' mix), (Must is the term used for the fermented liquid and all the other stuff like fruit, raisins, sugar, alcohol, skins pips etc, which you would in due course let settle on the bottom of the containers and, siphon off the good clear mix of wine and alcohol and the flavour you got from the Dregs)). ..........

The liquid needs to be, (or at least when I did it having a clear liquid made it easier) the liquid was clear but I knew it had Alcohol in it............

The idea is to set aside a covered bucket or large bowl for several days or a few weeks after you have poured the liquid in, then try not to 'swish' it around too much as you put it in a freezer.

I found that several small amounts, of say a gallon (~5 Litres) or less, is easier to work with, and is also easier to remove the Alcohol from, rather than taking the shelves out and freezing a whole ten gallon mix! You get air bubbles as it is freezing which stop the Alcohol from rising to the top so a smaller amount frozen several times until there is no unfrozen liquid, was more effective.

After each removal of the floating Alcohol, use a good sturdy spoon or rolling pin to push down through the liquid frozen mush. If it is pretty easy to push down, then the liquid may still have some Alcohol in pockets throughout the mix. Stir it up and try again. - - - - - - - - - - - This process is not for those without patience! As it does take a while. A 'stoic'. temperament helps here!!! Just think of the gorgeous 'end product' you have planned, and, what would you be doing anyway instead of this, watching Telly, sleeping? You could of course, sit back and relax with a previously made 'special hooch!' to pass the time!

Come back to it when you know it is 'all' frozen.

In fact the Freezing Point of Alcohol (ethanol alcohol) is -114°C (-173.2°F), which is the bit you drink.

Because there is not much Alcohol, in what was going to be a 'wine', there is perhaps between 10% and maybe a max' of 20%. This can be increased by fermenting more sugar or a very sweet fruit like, or any 'over-ripe' fruit...... Melon, tomato's, oranges, lemons, apples, etc. It may not look great but is ideal to make wine with rather than 'ready to eat ' fruit.

All the bad flavours will be fermented out.

The alcohol and liquid mix will freeze at about -4°C or 5°C (~25°F or 23°F).

Let it settle for long enough to allow the heavier particles of 'must' (fruit mix, skins) to sink to the bottom, and this will freeze, thus leaving the 'lighter' particles like Alcohol, above them, as a liquid.

Freeze at gradually decreasing Temperature starting at just about 30°F. (~-2°C) When it is frozen, use a pipette or thin plastic tube you use to syphon from one container to another and lift as much as you can from the top.

Turn the freezer down ~one degree, and freeze until you know it all will be frozen say a day or two later. Remove as much Alcohol as you can again.

Go through this process until you have your freezer up as 'LOW' as it will go........ Or in other words, as cold as it will go.

Remember, you will be getting just a few ounces off the top of the frozen liquid each time, and each time the amount of Alcohol will be less. You will get more and find it easier if you wedge one side of the container, bucket, etc and the alcohol will run to one side, this is as you are siphoning off the Alcohol!

You may get a bottle, just maybe two bottles from a ten gallon mix, but that is going to tie your freezer up for a while so it may pay you to get another freezer second hand perhaps, or keep an old freezer that the temperatures fluctuates on and use it for the wine freezing And use a freezer Thermometer to get the true temperature

This is from my own 'local knowledge', and you may find another way to remove more Alcohol by freezing at a much lower temperature? See above for the FP of Alcohol.

One point. DO NOT use GLASS bowls to freeze your liquid. Always freeze in a metal or plastic container. Mark the containers so you know which ones you have done!!!!

The Alcohol you have saved from each freezing will still have some water in it so freeze that also few times and use a pipette again to get as much Alcohol as you can.

If the actual liquid, which was going to be your drink has a nice taste you can try to 'fine' it more until it is totally clear, or you can put is to one side and use it as a mixer with any other wine or drink you make.

But, bottle it and label it clearly as "LOW ALCOHOL MIX", just to keep it separate from the 'good stuff'! Or just drink it as a refresher with lemonade?

You will not get as much Alcohol with freezing as you could with Distilling. But you can get enough to up the Alcohol content of a Port or Sherry you are making.

You could also buy the cheapest alcoholic drink, (spirit) and freeze that and recover the alcohol.

I hope this helps. I would be obliged if anyone does this or maybe improves the method and lets me and other know please?

Take care.

I used to do the same, but I used food quality plastic bags in a plastic bucket, it made things easier to handle too.

The freezing method has gone a bit out of fashion as Methanol will also be collected, if there is any in the mix......dangerous.....!!!

Somehow you need to devize a test for the presence of methanol or not I guess.....

There are several warnings on the internet about this problem with the freezing method!!!

Hi Andy,

I never realised there was a problem with Ethanol. As I explained it would still have been in the wine even if it was not frozen?

Perhaps the Heat type distillation draws the Ethanol off, I have to say I do not know but, that may condense Ethanol more. Where it is mixed throughout the brew usually?

I am not an expert on Heat distilling. But will view your pdf thing and read more, thanks.

When I was doing it I was just one amongst many, perhaps 15 homes who 'had a try' at freeze distillation. Never had any problems. I actually am not certain of the type of Alcohol in wine. I think, as I have said in my previous post, that there is no more 'extra' alcohol made by heat distillation. I will not research the type of alcohol in wine.

What you must remember is home made wine is pure, no additives at all other than the fruit and sugar added at the start.

If the alcohol recovered is used to 'Fortify' a Port or Sherry wine, only a couple of ounces are used and I can't see this as troublesome? What do the smaller breweries do about this potential Ethanol problem? I have not read anything to say they do anything.

Take care and getting very interesting here!........... Oh, make mine a double!

This is also a grey area for me, but if I understand it correctly, its a function of the type of yeast used as to whether any methanol is produced or not. Probably the mix is also slightly responsible (or not) as the case maybe!

A good reason for using a quality wine yeast I feel if true....

Bad/indifferent wine can have methanol I believe, but in tiny quantities, distilling concentrates that many times. The temperature method avoids methanol as it boils out first I believe.....

Remember, few people will drink 4 or 5 bottles of wine, but might drink a half bottle of spirits!!! Especially if cheap homebrewdistilled.....Just a thought!

Methanol is generally a wood alcohol product, not from fruit, but fruit often grows on trees!! It appears to be a product of Pectin, which can be in some wines.....

I found this web site which sets my mind at rest to a great degree, read it through completely for the full methanol infos:-

http://homedistiller.org/methanol.htm

It would be great to have someone post here who REALLY understands the problems in this area better....

Meanwhile... back at Pear wine... I would first of all get a hydrometer. Use this to determine how much sugar to add to your must. Definitely get a book or two on the subject. Look for C.J.J. Berry (a Brit author) for lots of great recipes.

I can't remember if pear is one of them, but some fruits have pectin in them. Wine made from them will never clarify unless you add pectic enzyme, which breaks down the pectin.

Definitely use champagne yeast. I used it exclusively when I was making wine (back in the '70s).

5 gallon buckets are OK to get things started, but get some 5 gallon water bottles to do your fermentation in, with stoppers and air locks. When transferring wine from one container to another, use plastic tubing and siphon from one to the other. AIR IS YOUR ENEMY!!

You might want to add some golden raisins... say 1 big box per 5 gallons. I would run them through a blender before adding them to the must. This provides enzymes and such that the yeasties just love.

I made some cabernet sauvignon about 1975. 23 years later, I was visiting my ex boss and he brought out the last remaining bottle. We opened it, and it was superb. Bottom line though is that if you do it right, you can make wine which will surpass that made by the big vintners.

GOOD LUCK!!

Bill

Also in the wine department, good advice about the pectic enzyme and champagne yeast. For the cost of airlocks, hygrometer and basic equipment it is well worth it and will save you lost brew and wasted time (and pears). The need for pectic enzyme varies depending on the fruit.

I have one bit of wine making advice to add, that didn't come from a book: a buddy gave me this tip and it worked really well. We were making berry wines, that involves adding some sugar as per the usual recipes.

The tip, to get a high alcohol wine, or a good dry wine, don't add all your sugar at the beginning. Set aside some of the sugar (If I remember right, we held back 1/5 of sugar called for in the recipe) and add it gradually, by making sugar water to top up your carboy when you rack the wine after ten days, and again after 3 months.

The trick makes sense, because too much sugar at the start actually inhibits the yeast from top performance. By feeding em gradually you keep a healthy yeastie population and they chew up every bit of it to leave you a nice dry wine (instead of the low-alcohol sweet usual berry wines.. not my fave.)

AFAIK there's no legal restriction on making wine and beer for home use in Canada, but the fine for operating a still starts at $50,000. That would buy a lot of whiskey..

I found an interesting article on Wiki about alcohol generally at:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol

In the UK, for non drinking purposes you usually can only buy Methylated Spirits or Methyl Alcohol. Denatured Alcohol I personally never saw there (been away almost 30 years!!). What we have in Germany I must investigate further.....

What impressed me in the article was the following sentence:-

One sip of methanol (as little as 10ml) can cause permanent blindness by destruction of the optic nerve.

For anyone interested in making their own spirits, I found a document that appears to explain the process in a very simple manner (even I understood it!) and has the important temperature ranges mentioned as well!!

http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/wsas/departments/natural_science/chemistry/chm_1000/6_wine.pdf

Being a .pdf, you can download it for future reference.

Hi Andy,

That has some detail thst is for sure! Wish I had it when I was makin gmy wine and stuff.

GA to you Sir.

Take care

Andy...

Thanks for the link. That is the same method we used in high school chemistry for distillation. I find the chart provided most interesting.

Just for the heck of it, on distilling, I checked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (in the US). They say that you probably need a permit, even if it is for home use, but they probably are not interested in collecting taxes on such small amounts. So it is possible.

For more info in the US, they recommend www.ttb.gov

Bill

I looked at the web site I mentioned above. It seems that the little guy has to jump through the same hoops that the big distillers have to go through, so to be perfectly legal, one may as well go full scale and make money at it. For running an unlicensed still, the max penalty is $10,000 or 5 years in prison... better than Canada, but you can buy a helluva lot of whiskey for that price.

For beer and wine, a single person can make up to 100 gallons per year, or with two or more adults in the household, they can make 200 gallons per year.

Back in the '70s when I was making wine, it was illegal to brew your own beer. Even though wine making shops at the time had all the ingrediants, they also had signs up proclaiming that beer making was illegal, and "Ingrediants purchased here are NOT to be used for making beer". YEAH RIGHT!!

Bill

Caveat:

If you have a licensed still the Fed's may choose to come inspect it... You can get a still for making distilled water, but since the exact same device can be used to distill ethanol you may get a visit if there's nothing much going on in revenuer land, just to make sure your still is properly maintained and not making anything but purified water...

The rebel in me says to install a tap water faucet at the input side of the still, and keep several gallons of distilled water on the output side of the still. Keep your product and the makings there of anywhere BUT where the still is and most importantly of all... KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT about your chemistry experiment.

If nothing else, the tap water can be used to clean the still after using it for more interesting work.

The very first revolt against the US government was known as "The whiskey rebellion". The government was badly in debt due to the revolutionary war, so they put a tax on whiskey. In the west, they had no money, so they bartered for goods with whiskey. When the tax man came, he wanted money (of which there was none) not whiskey. Anyhow, president George Washington ended up sending in troops to solve the problem.

Bill

Hi Sciensis2,

A very well put post, thank you.

The problem as you know, if someone buys or makes a Still, the 'grapevine' of friend's, Relatives, and just nosey devils will talk and, before you know it you are said to be making an enormous amount of cash by making your 'Special Hooch'! When in fact you may not have even started using the Still yet!

It all comes down to 'Jealousy' of others for something they wish they had but don't!

A 'Still' can be made and referred to as a 'wine making machine or 'thing'. This can be made from bits of tube, watering cans, jam jars etc. And when 'taken down' looks nothing like a Still' ! So who is to know? Just keep the mouth closed and who is to be 'wiser'? LOL!................. Make mine a double....... erm water, of course!

Take care.

in a pinch you can make a still out of a hole in the ground, a cup/pot/bucket, two pieces of plastic sheeting a small collection of small rocks and a sunny day... It hardly looks like a still even when it's running, which it does inefficiently by most standards, but work it does...

Hi hairless,

I thank you for the reply post my friend. ;=)

It would indeed be interesting to try and replicate that!

Thank you so much. Take care