Sour Pipe

[evenflow]

What does the term "sour pipe" mean? A terrible taste in the pipe i would guess? How does this happen?

 

[kashmir]

A sour pipe can develop for a lot of reasons. The main one being residual moisture in the heel of the pipe, and this leading to a rank pipe. Most pipers will smoke a bowl or three, clean the pipe and let it sit on the rack for a few days to a week. What I do after smoking a pipe is to dip the cleaner in Ever Clear, and after using both ends on the stem, I'll fold and use it to swab the chamber. Sometimes I'll dip a paper towel in Ever Clear and twist into the bowl. The alcohol, being polar like water, greatly aids in the evaporation of all residual moisture. And you'll find your pipes needing far less time drying on the rack. As the evaporation of the alcohol is near immediate I have no compunction smoking back to back bowls in the same pipe. The trick is the judicious use of alcohol. Isopropanol is a ready substitute for Ever Clear. The base of the bowl will be bone dry. If you wipe your pinky down there and it comes out discolored, black or oily, your heel is not bone dry. In pipe hygiene, alcohol is your friend, and the enemy of residual heel wetness which can lead to a sour pipe.