In the late spring of 2022, I ventured to start a large batch of UJSSM. Life got in the way, and after the yeast was pitched, I never ran the still… for well over a year.

I just fired up the still again for the first time a couple weeks ago. The wash and grains were covered, but not airtight. I noticed chewing around the lid a while back, but didn’t think much of it. It’s in my garage where plenty of rodents could smell it.

Well, I opened that bad boy up a couple days ago, and found that the chewer had made a deadly mistake - trying to swim in booze.

The thing is… it’s not decomposed in the least. Still looks perfectly, almost, alive, save for being motionless, submerged in liquid, sitting atop a bed of cracked corn.

Would you consider running this? It doesn’t smell bad. In fact, it smells awesome. The wash is perfectly clear, no sign of contamination. Any bacterial infection that might have had its way with the wash has run it’s course…

I’m tempted. There should be nothing harmful that could come through the still, right? Just some potentially nasty flavors or aromas?