OldMedUser's - 3 Strain - DWC - Soilless - ScroG - ExtravaGanja!

[Weaselcracker]

Nice work OldMed!
Thanks especially for all the info on drying. With the limited time I have at my grow and my high RH I don't dare push the envelope too far in testing new slow drying methods. I'm glad to hear that you trim the same way I do. A lot of people on this forum leave the smaller leaves on the buds and go back to trim them after a few days. I heard the reasoning used that cutting them will spread chlorophyll on the buds. I trim all at once because I don't know when I'll be back to finish, and because I Hate trimming dry or half dry buds. I worry about the 'spreading chlorophyl' thing but I'm also not sure that theory holds water. At any rate, I'm happy enough with my buds. Always looking to improve but we all have to work with whatever situation we have.
I hope you're well and the fall blues pass you by. I don't know this 'new' Canadian government will bring, but at least Snake-eyes Steve isn't in charge anymore so hopefully that cheers you up a little.
'

 

[OldMedUser]

Spreading chlorophyll is another one of those nOObish grower's myths brought to you by the same people that learned about sex in the schoolyard.

Was the best TV I've watched in years seeing the red wave wash over Canada. Except of course in the prairie provinces that are yet the bastion of deadnecks and billhillies. The bible belt as it were.

Sure good to see the back end of Herr Hooper.

L8r

 

[Weaselcracker]

Now that I have the Magical butter machine I won, I've run, yet again, smack into one small but recurring problem in my life, which has been plaguing me for years. Namely - the lack of a still to make some high test alcohol with. I remember you saying something about being able to buy Everclear where you are. Unfortunately BC is much too civilized for that and by law, apparently the strongest stuff available is 151 rum and 100 proof vodka.
This got me staying up late working on the (lack of) still problem. I found my way to home distiller.org and found a home still of some sort. The name I forget (easy still? Something obvious like that) it looks like it's basically a converted coffee maker or something. Probably a converted water distiller more likely. Have you noticed the device I'm talking about?

Any thoughts on what direction I should head in OMU? I'm pretty handy so prefer to build my own usually but just don't have much time for the learning curve involved in figuring out what parts to scavenge and order.
Maybe just a reliable thermometer would be the key tool involved?
The alcohol made would be used for cannabis extracts, obviously. Lest anyone think I am getting off topic. I would never dream of getting off topic.

 

[OldMedUser]

Now that I have the Magical butter machine I won, I've run, yet again, smack into one small but recurring problem in my life, which has been plaguing me for years. Namely - the lack of a still to make some high test alcohol with. I remember you saying something about being able to buy Everclear where you are. Unfortunately BC is much too civilized for that and by law, apparently the strongest stuff available is 151 rum and 100 proof vodka.
This got me staying up late working on the (lack of) still problem. I found my way to home distiller.org and found a home still of some sort. The name I forget (easy still? Something obvious like that) it looks like it's basically a converted coffee maker or something. Probably a converted water distiller more likely. Have you noticed the device I'm talking about?

Any thoughts on what direction I should head in OMU? I'm pretty handy so prefer to build my own usually but just don't have much time for the learning curve involved in figuring out what parts to scavenge and order.
Maybe just a reliable thermometer would be the key tool involved?
The alcohol made would be used for cannabis extracts, obviously. Lest anyone think I am getting off topic. I would never dream of getting off topic.

Any old topic is fine in here. I just cobbled my still together out of stuff I had laying around. I had to buy some copper tubing and fittings but the distillation vessel is a old, large glass jar that I sit in a cheap stainless steel 4gal soup pot on a hotplate. I'm pretty sure the glass is like Pyrex but I raise the temp slowly to avoid cracking the glass and it's been OK so far. I made the condenser out of copper tubing that I installed in a coffee can so 2L pop bottles of frozen, salted water can sit in the middle to keep the coil cooled. No running water in the shop so I just swap out the ice bottle every now and then. Got 3 or 4 in the deep freeze ready to go. Rusted out the first coffee can using water in there so use only pure antifreeze in the new.

A basic pot still is all you need to turn 100 proof vodka into 190 proof in a couple of passes. Or you could do the 151 proof rum in one pass tho it might need charcoal filtering to get all the taste out if that's an issue. The taste would be greatly reduced but some would still be there. Sugar, water, some high yield yeast and a cheap wine making kit can make a 40 proof batch and supply a little CO2 to the grow room too.

I also use my still to purify other solvents like naphtha or recover solvents after making oil for reuse.

I haven't been to homedistiller.org for a while. Drop me a link to that unit you're talking about.

It's late so I'm out for now.

 

[B A R]

Thanks Jojo

I do trim wet right off the plant, I only chop enough that I can do in an hour or so at a time then the leaves stay nice and firm for easier snipping out of all the sugar leaf. I hold the colas by the stem in my left hand and work my way up from the bottom cutting the cola apart and taking out all leaf as I go. Very fussy and time consuming but I don't have to do it all that often and I only grow for my own use so it's worth the effort for a superior product.

That's all we should want to harvest anyway is bud not stems.

Congrats on the 5oz's OMU.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Here's the link. It's actually from some other site which I got led to through the homedistiller site. It's based in Ontario, which was the attraction. Wait, I'll rephrase that actually. It's based in Canada, which was the attraction.
The Home Distilling Professionals - Smiley's Home Distilling - Smiley's Home Distilling

 

[GhettoGro]

It was a nice haul from some beautiful plants. Much respect dude. Thanks so much for your contributions to this community. I have learned much from you over the years. Maybe not here, but, ah you know

 

[Weaselcracker]

"It's always fun until someone gets an eye put out" ~Mama

It's all fun and games till you lose your high

 

[GhettoGro]

Now Weasel, don't even try to tell me that your Mama never told you this?

 

[Weaselcracker]

Oh yes she did. Many times. And nobody lost an eye. But many a person lost their high. Many a person got very low. It's that childhood high that is the hardest one to hang on to in life. Good advice though, mom, and I hope when I'm very old I'm as high as any four year old is. My mom is.

 

[golfer420]

Wish I had a few of those boxes in my garage

 

[jojo677]

Very good info on the trimming and drying, thanks OMU! It only makes sense to break up buds to get the most consistent, slow dry.

 

[OldMedUser]

Here's the link. It's actually from some other site which I got led to through the homedistiller site. It's based in Ontario, which was the attraction. Wait, I'll rephrase that actually. It's based in Canada, which was the attraction.
The Home Distilling Professionals - Smiley's Home Distilling - Smiley's Home Distilling

Nice little still and holds 4L of mash. That's the same size as my larger bottle but a lot less hassle. They don't have price on that page tho. I put my mash into 4L milk jugs, freeze it and then invert the jugs over a 5Gal pail that has a small hole in the lid that fits the top of the milk jug perfect so they just stand in the hole. It looks a light tan when it starts but the top starts turning white as the alcohol drains out. Once the whole jug is white inside I put on another one until they are done. Concentrates the alcohol so there is a lot less to distill. The pail came with a cheap wine making kit someone gave me. It's for use as a primary fermenting vessel and the hole is for the air lock. I have a 6Gal, Italian glass bottle I use to ferment a simple sugar mash in with Turbo yeast when I do a batch. Get over a gallon of everclear from it. Usually less by the time it's done. There's always some loss to evaporation and sampling. Mostly to sampling. ::

 

[Blazingbuds]

How do you drink everclear? I remember drinking 1.5 oz of 151 rum and my throat hurt for like 5 minutes. Ive read alcohol that concentrated can pull the water out of the cells in your throat. Could be bullshit though.

 

[OldMedUser]

I like it in pure apple juice or my coffee for a bit of the hair of the dog the morning after. Stuff is so pure it doesn't hardly give a hangover. Hitting a shot of that is not unlike swallowing a Brillo pad.

Years ago I went up to Stewart, BC for a final interview at a gold mine up there doing environmental monitoring. The other guy/gal got the job but I would have loved to live there and the money would have been great. The guy at my last interview in Vancouver that picked me and that one other person to go up told me not to forget to get Hyderized in Hyder. Alaska right next door to Stewart. You go into the Glacier Inn in Hyder and you get a full shot glass of EverClear for $2 then you bang it back then turn the glass upside down on the bar and the bartender lights it on fire to show it was the real stuff. The whole bar is covered in these burn rings from way back to the gold rush days.. If you don't spew they give you back your two bucks or you can sign the bill and they put it up on the wall. That was when we still had $2 bills. You get a card saying you were Hyderized at the Glacier Inn and I still have mine from '92.

They let me keep the car for an extra day. I had taken some fishing gear up with me but it got sent on by accident. All my good clothes for the interview too. Showed up in my beater jeans and old sneakers. lol When I got back to the airport late in the afternoon my stuff was all there and the guy drew me a little map to a great fishing spot not far away. I raced into town and got some booze then headed for the river. Had my big fly rod and 8' baitcaster. Had landed a lot of big salmon and steelhead back home with both and did the same there. Caught the biggest coho of my life there. Was almost dark and by it's size I figured it was a chinook/king but when I got it back to the parking lot in front of the headlights I could see it was a coho. A guy there had a good scale and it came up just short of 19 lbs. That's a monster coho. Woke up at the crack of dawn in the car and looked out the window to see a big bear. Waited for him to leave before getting out for a piss and near stepped in a pile of his scat. Ran into him on the river later while hauling in a pink salmon. I took it off the hook and tossed it his way then wandered off while he was chowing down. Got a great picture of a grizzly that walked across the road in front of me on the way back from the mine site. I followed it around some trees and it was fishing in a big creek/small river. Whistled at it like a dog and it turned to look at me and I got a shot that would look great in National Geographic. It started walking toward me so I hightailed it back to the car but it didn't come after me. I can't find the original picture but I have a box of all the negatives for 1000s of shots and the neg for that picture is in there somewhere.

I found out later that the boys mother would not have moved up there so we would have had to split up. Made it even feel worse not getting that job. ::

Old man tripping down memory lane or what.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I'll save my stories of what happened with all the Everclear I smuggled out of Hyder that time, to spare everyone and the mods. Let's just say, if you're going to challenge each other to downing a bunch of flaming shots of anything, just stick with nice safe stuff like sambucca or something. Ok kids?

 

[golfer420]

Great share, OMU.

 

[lexort420]

Phew just got done reading through this journal sorry im late OMU you got some awesome looking plants and bud. Very informative over here lol and definitely entertaining.

 

[OldMedUser]

I'll save my stories of what happened with all the Everclear I smuggled out of Hyder that time, to spare everyone and the mods. Let's just say, if you're going to challenge each other to downing a bunch of flaming shots of anything, just stick with nice safe stuff like sambucca or something. Ok kids?

Do I smell . . . pussy! I was younger then and they didn't light it until after you drank it so it was fairly safe.

Great share, OMU.

Thanks Golfer!

Phew just got done reading through this journal sorry im late OMU you got some awesome looking plants and bud. Very informative over here lol and definitely entertaining.

I thought you were a regular Lex. aboard M8!

 

[Weaselcracker]

What actually caused the disaster was that one of the other guys was too scared to just down the thing right away, and waited till it got hot first... So hot that he then spit the flaming Everclear everywhere. Most of the resulting blisters were mine, from fighting the fire in the living room. Anyway- we all survived and continue to grace the human gene pool with our presence.