Pipe gone bad?

[burtondt]

So, I'me a fairly new pipe smoker. I've smoked for about a year and a half now. Fairly casual, two or three times a week. I have 3 pipes in my rotation. I've learned quite a bit about how to get a nice smoke and generally enjoy it.
However, the first pipe I bought (a cheaper briar from a local pipe store) stopped providing a good smoke. The pipe is undamaged and fairly well cared for. The draw is fine but the taste is poor. I don't believe it is the tobacco because it is stored well in mason jars and is only a year old. Also, the same tobacco tastes fine when smoked in the other two pipes I have (pear woods).
The only thing that I can think of is that I have smoked a fairly wide variety of blends in it. As it was my first pipe, it was my go to pipe for trying new tobaccos. I have probably tried 7 or 8 different aromatics in it (I've only smoked aromatics so far).
I've let the pipe rest for a few months and I've just come back to try it again. I had hoped it would have dried out and the flavor would improve, but it is still the same poor taste.
So, I suppose my question is, can a pipe go bad if it has been exposed to too many varieties?

 

[beefeater33]

Your pipe is fine. You just need a thorough cleaning. Search the forums here, or google a salt and alcohol treatment. It will restore your pipe back to its former state.

http://www.thepipe.info/info/congos.html

 

[beefeater33]

And welcome to the forums, by the way! There is a wealth of good information here, and the members are great! ::

 

[burtondt]

Prior to letting it have its long rest I did a thorough cleaning with alcohol.

 

[beefeater33]

Did you fill the bowl with salt, to draw out the rancid oils? Sometimes a bit of alcohol will help, but for a really deep clean you need to follow the above method, works for me. From your post above, its got to be the pipe, and if it was fine before methinks it just needs a deep clean.

 

[burtondt]

I'll have a look and give the salt a try. Thanks.

 

[sablebrush52]

The S/A generally works really well. You may have to repeat the treatment. If that fails you can either buy a pipe retort, which you use to flush the pipe with boiling alcohol and which always works, or you can send the pipe out to a professional to have it restored. Having a pro do it isn't expensive.
One other thought, thoroughly clean out the mortise in the shank. A lot of pipe smokers overlook that part of the cleaning process, and much of the potential sourness can come from there. A pipe is clean when no tobacco staining comes out on the alcohol soaked pipe cleaners.

 

[danielplainview]

It should just start to be broken in at one year. I find that brand new pipes taste funky. Normally the more you smoke it, the better it should get. Salt/Alcohol the bowl. Alcohol the stem. Maybe try some pipe sweetener. I highly recommend watching a how to vid on this process before trying it. You can ruin the finish if you're not careful.

 

[msandoval858]

Ream it. Salt and alcohol. Then maybe a retort and the pipe will be good as new.

 

[brudnod]

I recently did an experiment to figure out what could be the issue with poor tasting smoke. I separated two sets of pipes (a variety of shapes and sizes). The first group I cleaned ONLY the stem/shank and did not do any maintenance to the bowl. The second I did nothing to the stem/shank and did alcohol-salt treatment to the bowl every third smoke. The first group did just fine and smoked tasty for the 12 bowls for the test. The bowl cleaning had better taste initially but then had a rather sour taste from the middle of the bowl down. Since, I have only been scrupulously been cleaning the stem/shank and doing nothing to the bowl (have not had that much cake buildup yet). Hope that helps.

PS - if the pipe cleaner does not come out clean then you need to keep going...

 

[bwithers55]

What was your method of thoroughly cleaning it with alcohol? -bw

 

[neverbend]

You mention that you smoke only aromatics and that this was your first pipe. Have you reamed the bowl?

Aromatics can build soft cakes that retain flavor and go sour. Removing most of the cake may help.

One other thought, thoroughly clean out the mortise in the shank. A lot of pipe smokers overlook that part of the cleaning process, and much of the potential sourness can come from there.

Excellent point, especially if this was your first and only pipe for a while.
Did your first pipe smoke well in comparison to the way that your new pipes smoke?

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

A good reaming, alcohol cleaning and salt treatment should do the pipe just fine and bring it back to normal.

 

[antbauers]

It can't necessarily go bad, unless it's physically damaged by smoking really hot. Otherwise, it just needs a good cleaning, like getting a tune up.

 

[brudnod]

Thoroughly cleaning means alcohol soaked bristle pipe cleaners until the stem and shank come out clean.

 

[brudnod]

...And the pipe should be allowed to rest (ie dried out) between smokes. That may be the problem as well.

 

[burtondt]

Thanks for all the suggestions gents.
While I do believe I avoided many of the common mistakes of the beginner pipe smoker, I of course did make some mistakes with this pipe. In the interest of receiving correct advice, I will detail my cleaning process.
With the exception of maybe the first week, I always gave my pipe at least 3 days rest before smoking it again. When my rotation expanded to three pipes, that rest went up to a reliable 7 days.
My cleaning method: after each smoke I would empty the bowl. Then the pipe would be left to cool. After a few hours of cooling I would use a dry pipe cleaner to clean the stem, shank, and bowl. Once a month, I would use a alcohol soaked pipe cleaner to clean the bowel, shank, and stem. I would alternate between dry/wet pipe cleaner until it came out clean. I would separate the stem from shank during this process and plug either the bowl or shank with paper towel when cleaning the other (so as to prevent alcohol from leaking onto the finish). Lastly, I'd coat the outside of the pipe and stem lightly with olive oil to protect the finish and give it a nice shine. The pipe was then allowed to rest for a week.
This has been my basic cleaning method almost from the start. The only thing that has changed is that I switched to 91% rubbing alcohol from 50% after the first few months (when putting the stem back into the shank began to be harder due to swelling).

 

[burtondt]

Now, to report progress with the pipe in question:
I performed a S&A cleaning as detailed in the link by beefeater33. I poured kosher salt into both bowl and shank. Then added 91% rubbing alcohol to both shank and bowl. I then let it rest like that for two days. Indeed, the salt was hard and discolored by the end of this. However, not throughout. The salt near the opening of bowl and shank was discolored but the further down, the cleaner the salt. The salt at the bottom of the bowl was quite clean. I found this surprising.
After being satisfied with the cleaning out of the salt (and having not used anything wet to do so) I decided to smoke it. The flavor began with the familiar poor taste, but I will admit thinking it slightly improved (this perhaps being psychosomatic). However, about 2/3 of the way in, the flavor became quite good. The tobacco tasted as I had come to expect it to on my other two pipes.
So, I believe I will repeat this process once or twice more, but will try switching to a grain alcohol instead.

 

[burtondt]

I did not ream the pipe. I have not reamed any of the pipes. However, I personally feel that the amount of cake in their bowls does not warrant it. I'm not sure how often one would do this.

 

[burtondt]

Did your first pipe smoke well in comparison to the way that your new pipes smoke?

While this is a legitimate question, I don't think I can answer it accurately. The truth is that for the first few months I simply didn't understand how to smoke it properly, Either my pack was poor (invoking numerous relights) or my cadence to quick resulting in too hot a temperature. All I can say is that the quality of its smoke is noticeably worse from what I've come to expect from it and my two other pipes.