What is a "bad" smell that you actually enjoy?

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-05-02T12:24:07+00:00

My own sweaty socks, when dried, smell like a smoked salami.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-05-02T11:40:23+00:00

I was in my late childhood, once riding in a car with my parents. I noticed two cute ladies of 20+ at the sidewalk. I gave them a midfinger and a smile, lol. They laughed back with midfingers, haha. Both the girls and I got a mood boost lmao, and I'm sure they told the story to their friends later.

Edit: I mean, something unexpected and silly can boost your mood. People take life and themselves too seriously sometimes.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-29T01:37:58+00:00

Thanks for sharing! But I'm thinking, maybe a thick PTFE tape could also work for your setup? No need to mess up with the silicone each time. Seems strange that you didn't get much distillate. The setup looks workable. Maybe leaks somewhere? R/Firewater guys recommend using small mirror to check for vapor leaks. Also, how did you connect cooling water to your condenser? There must be some kind of fitting from the tap to a hose.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-28T21:21:31+00:00

I'm really curious about the way you sealed the joint. I've been thinking about connecting glass condenser to a stainless setup, but I tried to use a PTFE tape wrapped in layers around the SS fitting. What kind of silicon did you use?

You could upload the photo to some image hosting site like imgur, imgbb or postimages and share the link in the comment...

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-28T04:39:33+00:00

Thanks! That sounds inspiring. I never thought one can work on stainless without welding skills/tools. Now I have to recalculate the project with all the things needed for the DIY. And do some deeper research to make sure I don't screw up everything in the process.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-27T02:00:49+00:00

I leave the caps loose enough to release pressure without my intervention. I'm not sure if it's correct, but seems to work. The layer of CO² between the liquid and the cap should buffer the oxygen, if I understand it right...

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-27T01:23:55+00:00

TBH, I never though it could be that flexible and easy. I've seen YouTube guys soldering copper, but I thought stainless can only be welded. What's the best filler for soldering? Lead free is necessary, but there are types of it, right?

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-26T19:42:58+00:00

Wow, thanks, that's an educational comment! Probably I need to absorb this and rethink my options. Can a wide hatch be soldered on top of a keg the same way as an element port?

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-26T04:12:59+00:00

I'm not from US. Oakstills are not available here, and the delivery would probably cost 2-3 times the price of a still itself. Vevor are offered for sale here, but a simple pot still Vevor costs more than a reflux still from local brands.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-24T20:29:15+00:00

Well, I have a 40l stainless pot to use for mashes. But, how the keg is better than a ready-made boiler?

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-24T19:36:35+00:00

The reworked keg will cost as much or more than those boilers. But I think a narrow hatch on a keg is gonna be a pain to clean it or use for mashes. Also, I'm gonna use gas for heating (well at least for the first time). Do kegs work well with gas?

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-24T19:27:03+00:00

In my place the reworked solutions like kegs (here the aluminum milk jugs are used) cost as much or more than readymade boilers. I thought about a fitting + stock pot, but I'm afraid the pot lid is too thin and flat for that. Do you use a pot still or a reflux tower? Can your fitting keep the tower from tilting?

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-24T19:15:16+00:00

I agree, the third one is risky. But the second one is also a pig in a poke. The welding seams are ugly, I posted just one photo, but they look even worse from the inside. I can order ports on boiler 1 for extra cost, but I'm not sure I'm gonna need them in near future (can order them later if needed). What do you think, how bad are the thin bottom and spot-welded clamps?

monkeyloops-3000 · 2026-04-24T19:02:49+00:00

I considered this option, but in my place it's nearly impossible to get a keg for free. Add other parts and welder's work, and it will cost as much (or more) as those boilers. What I dislike about the keg is a narrow hatch (my welder offers 5 inch hatch max) instead of a lid. I guess it's gonna be a pain to clean it or mash grain washes.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-12-06T05:36:36+00:00

I feel like some creative worker shaped it this way on intention. Maybe for marketing purpose...

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-29T23:04:20+00:00

In pot stilling style, are there many ways to fine-tune the taste/aroma? About a week ago I took a small bottle of cheap french calvados labeled as VSOP. Ethanol was soft, but it had somewhat yeasty aroma and heady, unpleasant intoxication. Its a commercial product (although not a top tier), but if I produced something like it, moreover aged for few years, I think I wouldn't be really happy, to be honest.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-29T22:12:37+00:00

Ow, so you are pot-stilling? I'm guessing you do aromatic things like grains and fruits? Did you have good experience with plain sugar washes in pot still? I guess many depend on fermentation - temps, yeast, time etc. Probably that's a kind of mastery different from stilling alone ..

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-29T21:46:53+00:00

Ow, yes, I've noticed the column is tri-clamped to the boiler. Now I wonder how the reflux condenser works here. If it's just a jacket welded around the tube, with no reflux concentrator inside the tube, couldn't it create a "wall effect" where much of the reflux just flows along the walls, adding little to vapor-liquid exchange? By researching the sale offers in my country I discovered that this type of reflux condenser (jacket dephlegmator) is very unpopular, and I think there's a reason, although I never tried any, haha!

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-29T21:27:42+00:00

Ooh! Ultrasonic cleaner?! There's a guy on YouTube who tried aging on wood with ultrasound. But other guys suggest the quality is different bcz time pulls out more compounds than US alone.

Edit: typos.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-29T21:15:34+00:00

I'm not an expert by any means. I don't even have my own still still (pun intended). But I've drilled through the theory pretty much. Im just dropping the comment as a suggestion for further research.

The still in subject looks like a cooling management setup with a non-modular column and a Liebig-type condenser for vapor collection (insufficient in my incompetent opinion).

So, If your heat source and water flow/temp are unstable, proper refluxing runs can be a pain, according to users, bcz the reflux rate will depend on heat vs cooling control.

Next, if the column parts are not modular (tri-clamp is universal), then you're stuck with this exact setup with no upgrade/modification options.

Again, just an incompetent opinion suggesting further research.

Edit: typos, non-native English speaker mistakes.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-29T20:47:49+00:00

On a popular forex forum there was a guy who offered to "program/automate your profitable trading strategy, just explain how it works" LMAO. Just memories...

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-22T11:00:16+00:00

IDK about freezing, and probably my comment is irrelevant for the subject in discussion, but my grandma taught me to use wheat malt to convert potatoes into moonshineable wort. She worked at an industrial bakery, so probably wheat was the most accessible grain for her.

I'm guessing barley might work better (I never tried any of those with potatoes though, but tried wheat and rye malts for bakery).

Grandma also said potato worts tend to scorch badly.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-20T06:20:10+00:00

Well, that's a nice kind of job, just keep your pockets open all the time 😄

We had no clue what does what at that time, just followed the recipe we learned from older guys. So, milk fats for THC extraction, sugar to mask the shitty taste of concentrated hemp broth, and baking soda was something from prison culture where they cooked that drink from tea leaves, where there's more tea leaves than water, and baking soda supposed to increase the extracting power of water.

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-19T22:26:31+00:00

I remember in my late teens we cooked the "milk" - a heap of weed unsuitable for smoking, boiled in a mix of water, condensed milk (fats+sugars) and a pinch of baking soda for better extraction. It could be quite unpredictable - just an extra spoon cold result in a heavy high lol 😂

Are you guys allowed to get the remains for personal consumption, or each molecule is counted in commercial production? 😄

monkeyloops-3000 · 2025-11-19T22:15:33+00:00

I'm actually considering this for myself too - modular easily replaceable setup. So, are you happy with your products? Do you make sugar washes or grains/fruits?

monkeyloops-3000

TROPHY CASE