Diary of a Distiller: Chapter Two - Oh, the Pain of it All (DiceFood.com)

In the beginning of this journal, Diary of a Distiller, I told you a little about my early life, and how I entered the world of food, wine, and fine spirits. As I mentioned, I became disillusioned with my life and plunged into the world of food and beverages. I started a journey and as I walk down this road I hope that the bricks become yellow, then golden; and don’t just crumble away.

I’m still working hard on my still as I told you last week, buffing it to a mirror shine. I put some fancy and expensive protective finish on the Georgia Ridge Rocket still head and the top of the kettle to see how it looks. It’s not perfect. You don’t have the same intensity of a mirror shine or that silky, sexy smooth, almost oily texture, as you run your hand along it, as there is without the protective coat; but it still looks darn good.

I put the whiskey head on the kettle to hold it steady and started buffing that as well. About an hour later, when I was halfway through I decided to clean it off with some denatured alcohol to see how much of a shine I have. It was looking very nice when I noticed that some of the alcohol had dripped down onto the part of the kettle that I had already sealed and the finish was starting to turn white. I grabbed a cloth to wipe the alcohol off and realized that the alcohol had dissolved the sealant completely. Aaaargh!