Sour Pipe --- Sometimes?!?!?!?!?

newfie · Aug 24, 2015

I have a Peterson I love to smoke, .......used to.
I've tried lately to smoke several blends in it, all with the same issue.
Upon lighting, both char and true, taste is wonderful. A few puffs, all wonderful. Then as the bowl warms on, the smoke turns bleeecccchhhh.
Let the pipe cool down, light it, great. A few puffs, great. Pipe warms up, blecccchhhhh. 2-3 times a bowl before I get frustrated and dump it.
I know a sour pipe can be cured by salt and alcohol. Fine, but those times is when the pipe is sour all the time.
Anyone ever come across this before?

perlasca · Aug 24, 2015

Do you feel like after a few puffs in on a bowl, you might start

puffing a little harder at a faster cadence? I find if I start

Burning to hot, the flavor radically changes. It turns, as you say

sour, but also a bitter astringency.

You didn't mention if after you had the sour pipe if you cleaned it.

My pipes will get wet and gurgle when I'm smoking too hot.

All that liquid lays and dries in the stem and waits until it

gets hot again ends up with more gurgle and bad taste.
Well, there my thoughts on it lol

danielplainview · Aug 24, 2015

Try dipping a pipe cleaner in whiskey or alcohol and cleaning the airways in the shank and stem. Do so with caution. It will remove the stain if it gets on the exterior. Overly smoked pipes can get sour. They need rest.
I've found that ghosting or any foul tastes mostly originate from these areas more than the bowl chamber.
Welcome aboard.

mranglophile · Aug 24, 2015

Sounds like a sour pipe to me, your not tasting the rank oils till it heats them up and releases the nasties.

pipebuddy · Aug 24, 2015

How many pipes do you have, right now? If you have only one and you smoke everyday, you should consider buying a couple more and rotate between them. Briar pipes need some "rest" time to dry out and cool down between smokes. Otherwise, being made out of wood, they end up being over worked, so to speak.

phil67 · Aug 24, 2015

Definitely needs a good cleaning (stem, tenon and mortise), and as Mr. Anglophile pointed out, it's not releasing any foulness until the pipe heats up, and of course a good rest between smoking it.

jpmcwjr · Aug 24, 2015

I'd be interesting to learn how you've been cleaning it. I'm sure what's been suggested above will fix it, and it'd be good to hear your particular results.
Are you able to rest said Pete for a few days?
Good luck!

newfie · Aug 24, 2015

Definitely needs a good cleaning (stem, tenon and mortise), and as Mr. Anglophile pointed out, it's not releasing any foulness until the pipe heats up, and of course a good rest between smoking it.

Good day gents. It was nice to wake up to so many helpful responses.
In short, the above quote kind of sums up the general consensus. Someone pointed out that the oils aren't released 'till the pipe warms up, and that makes perfect sense.
To those who asked about rotation, a couple of dozen common smokers, some not so much. Normally I'll rest for 5 or 6 days or more, but with this particular Pete, only a couple of days as I was only getting a few minutes smoking time, so my thinking was it was hardly even getting wet.
As for the question about cleaning; immediately after every smoke I run a cleaner through stem and airway, fold and twist the cleaner and swab the bowl lightly. Every few smokes, a bristle cleaner dipped in alcohol through it and then run a few dry cleaners through it. Basically, standard procedure for someone who cares about their gear ..................... I think!!!!
Thanks to all who responded.
Jamie.

mranglophile · Aug 24, 2015

As for the question about cleaning; immediately after every smoke I run a cleaner through stem and airway, fold and twist the cleaner and swab the bowl lightly. Every few smokes, a bristle cleaner dipped in alcohol through it and then run a few dry cleaners through it. Basically, standard procedure for someone who cares about their gear ..................... I think!!!!

Looks good to me, sounds like the next step would be the salt and alcohol treatment.

frozenchurchwarden · Aug 24, 2015

I know when I started one of my pipes went sour, and ever since I've been using alcohol every time.
http://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe-supplies/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=137711
Get a dozen of these, which will probably last you many years, and use that instead of a pipe cleaner for the initial application of alcohol. Then you only need a single pipe cleaner to clean up afterwards.

phil67 · Aug 24, 2015

As for the question about cleaning; immediately after every smoke I run a cleaner through stem and airway, fold and twist the cleaner and swab the bowl lightly. Every few smokes, a bristle cleaner dipped in alcohol through it and then run a few dry cleaners through it. Basically, standard procedure for someone who cares about their gear

Sounds good, but don't forget about cleaning the tenon and mortise as I've found out that is where most of the gunk accumulates. You'd be surprised at just how quickly and dirty that area can get, and how much that can effect the quality of the smoke over time.

blackbeard · Oct 3, 2015

If all else fails after the salt treatments, it has been recommended to me by someone who professionally does restorations to try leaving your favorite tobacco in the bowl with just a few drops of distilled water to draw out/replace nasty oils with other. If all else fails, you can try a retort, or send it in. Some have recommended this http://www.walkerbriarworks.com/html/ozone.html.
There is another threat related to this here

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/whydid-my-pipes-sour

jpmcwjr · Oct 3, 2015

Newfie-
How's it going now? Any experience you can share re this?

stanwellman · Oct 3, 2015

[immediately after every smoke I run a cleaner through stem and airway, fold and twist the cleaner and swab the bowl lightly] - are you doing the two operations with the same cleaner? or are you using one cleaner for the stem/airway and another one for the bowl?

if the cleaning of both the stem and bowl inside are accomplished with the same cleaner, chances are your are transferring the moisture/juice from the inside of the stem, now present on the cleaner, into the bowl, hence contributing to the sour taste... make sure you use separate cleaners (if you don't already) and it may help...

blackbeard · Oct 4, 2015

Also, I've found in my grabow pipes the threading can get dirty fast. Where a pipe cleaner won't get it all like a good q-tip, then follow with cleaners.Thats just me.

newfie · Oct 4, 2015

Newfie-
How's it going now? Any experience you can share re this?

Going better thanks. Did a brief salt treatment and while the "smokability" of the pipe had improved it wasn't great so I redid the salt treatment after removing some of the cake. Now the pipe is like new, and have learned quite a bit about the improvements required in my cleaning habits.
Stanwellman - Not often, but at times yes, I am (was) guilty of using the same cleaner for shank, stem and then folding and swabbing out the bowl.
Shame on me.

jpmcwjr · Oct 4, 2015

Not at all. But for swabbing the bowl, I much prefer a paper towel, and that's used especially if I rinse the chamber out with water. Water or no, the paper provides more friction against the sides, removing more than just a pipe cleaner could.

gloucesterman · Oct 4, 2015

If you smoke heavily flavored tobacco they tend to smoke "wetter" (not all but most) than other types leaving a residue in the bottom of the bowl. Good cleaning is critical after every smoke to make sure they don't accumulate.

samon · Oct 18, 2015

Don't be affraid to remove some cake if normal cleaning won't rid a bad taste. Despite the fabled cake benefits, a bad taste will cling to the stuff like dog **** on white carpet!
I gave my main work horse cob a good scraping yesterday as it was a little bit sour (might have been my jar of left over random baccy scraps I was smoking..), it's quite mucky inside the beast and is used for everything from cheap nasty stuff to the best baccy I can buy. So a semi regular scrape is fundamentle to the flavour anyway, as well as a cleaner down the stem every other bowl imo.
I also find the oils in the cake can lead to overly spicy smoke. Something that is just as bad as sour as it makes my sip of beer burn my mouth! Agaon, a thorough clean and scrape helps with this. Can't say I've eve salted one of my pipes.. might I know of the practice but never bothered. Might give it a try for the sake of it.

blackbeard · Oct 18, 2015

Samon - For a cob, not sure a salt treatment will work out......when mine started getting a little funky I just cleaned out the stem/mortise then followed to let it sit in the sun for a week and it's good. When you mentioned giving it a try, wasn't sure if you meant with a cob. Cobs are so much different in how they handle the oils than a briar, and even more so strange a meer so different ways to clean each of them.

Sour Pipe --- Sometimes?!?!?!?!?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Starting to Get Obsessed

Starting to Get Obsessed

Lifer

Can't Leave

pipebuddy

Guest

Lifer

Moderator

Starting to Get Obsessed

Can't Leave

Lifer

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Moderator

Might Stick Around

Part of the Furniture Now

Starting to Get Obsessed

Moderator

Lifer

Starting to Get Obsessed

Part of the Furniture Now