After I assembled the ingredients, I filled the jug with water. Next I shucked several ears of corn and removed the kernels. The kernels were placed in the jug with water and some sugar. A dish towel was used to cover the jug and it was placed in the the ceiling of the store house near the ceiling access opening. This would hide it from view but make it easily accessible.
After about three weeks the brew was giving off a distinctive fermentation smell. Now I would have to be creative and decide how to cook off the alcohol and get the end product. All the pictures I had seen showed a container with a hose or line connecting to the top of it and running to an empty container. It appeared that a burner was lit under the fermented corn to cook the final product and cause it to travel to the second container.
The only cooking appliance at our house was in our kitchen. To undertake whiskey making in the house would mean my mother would have to be gone. I watched for an opportunity to have the kitchen to myself.
Finally, I was at home one Saturday when mom decided to go to the grocery store. As soon as the family Chevy disappeared around the corner, I began assembling my still in the kitchen. Before long it was ready. I lit the burner and waited for the law of physics to work. Things happened much quicker than I thought they would. I heard a muffled explosion at the stove. When I checked it, I realized a law of physics I hadn't thought of had come into operation. A glass jug of the ordinary variety would not hold its shape with a gas burner lit under it. Simply put, the jug had exploded and its contents were splattered on the stove and on the kitchen floor.
I'm sure my mom smelled something when she got back, but I must have come up with some plausible story, because I don't remember a switching. I wasn't successful in making the whiskey, but my knowledge was increased and I didn't kill myself. That was a success to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment