got my brog churchwarden! beginners help

[Robster]

Hi all,

My little brog churchwarden arrived, was very excited! Perfect mild, rainy afternoon. Tucked into my cozy verandah I began. My first pack. Failed, re packed. Looked good. Zippo on an angle, pipe on angle. Lit. Tasted... Amazing.

Got a bit of tongue bite by end of bowl but surprised myself with how well it went, how enjoyable it was.

An hour later, 2nd bowl (had to try again)

This time, seamless start to mid bowl, then... Gurgles and a mouth full of liquid.

A beginners issue? What do you recommend?

Also, how do you know when it's really empty? Flavor gone, bitter, more pull required? More lighting needed?

I read a bowl lasts about a half hour or more. My first 2 have lasted about 10 minutes each.

All advice appreciated

I'm really happy all in all. Looking forward to trying some FM.

 

[brother cavefish]

I would cool it with the zippo , unless you want a rimburned pipe, churchwardens get alot of liquid, it from exhaling into the pipe, it happens, unless you Never exhale, but exhaling also keeps the pipe lit, its choices like these that make choices like these, whatever that means

 

[Robster]

ahhh, agreed on the Zippo, I noticed a couple of slight burn marks already after just two bowls. What a shame, so very convenient. OK, matches it is.

I think I better read about cleaning and maintenance now also.

Thank you for the answer.

 

[Boro62]

there is a zippo pipe insert u can use that i know alot of guys on here like that helps with the rim charring. And ive heard if you email zippo about it a lot of times they will just have u swap u for it.

 

[brother cavefish]

personally i used matches, there is no chemical intrusion, but zippo does have a pipe pighter the sides has a big hole in it , vs vent holes-bare in mind when you lite a CW , lite it level they tend to be at an angle thus burning the cloer edge to you

 

[the_edski]

If it gurgles mid-smoke, stop and run a pipe cleaner down the stem to clear it out and then start smoking again.

 

[nesta]

I prefer zippo pipe lighters. Matches are okay, but with some pipes I'll even use a bic.

Moisture happens. For a few reasons. It CAN be your fault, but to a certain extent it is inevitable. I don't know if this is universally true (I'm not a chemist), but in virtually all cases water is a natural byproduct of combustion. This may seem counter intuitive, but it is due to chemical reactions taking place during combustion and the water formed is a vapor (steam)

As steam is a major component of smoke, it is subject to becoming liquid as it condenses. Churchwardens have longer stems (duh) and a greater chance of condensation inside the pipe. As this happens, other byproducts of the smoke mix with the water, either from the smoke itself or from being picked up from the residual substances in the pipe stem. In other words, no matter how dry your tobacco is, and no matter how carefully you smoke, the inside of your pipe WILL gather moisture. Run a cleaner through a freshly smoked pipe. It WILL come out at least a little bit damp.

When it comes to briar and pear pipes, a general rule is to let them dry between smokes. Even if a cleaner comes out dry, there may be residual moisture in the wood itself or in cake. Some of the moisture, much of it, in fact, will be in the chamber rather than the stem, and smoking again too soon after the last bowl will result in this moisture being turned back into steam. Smoking a second bowl in the same pipe only two hours after the last bowl is likely to result in a swampy smoke, and with a churchwarden this is even more true. It is for this reason most contemporary pipe smokers choose to get a number of pipes if they're daily smokers, and "rotate" through them, generally smoking a specific pipe no more than once a day. But historically this has not always been the case, and there is no set rule. There are steps you can take to decrease the moisture. Run several pipe cleaners after a smoke, AND swab out the chamber with a dry paper towel or napkin. This will help, but will also somewhat inhibit cake formation. Cake will help make the first smoke drier, so it's a toss up as to which you prefer. Cake absorbs the moisture, so a caked pipe smokes dryly...but if you smoke it again, that absorbed moisture may still be hanging around.

Perhaps a better idea is to resign yourself to running a pipe cleaner through the stem once it starts to gurgle. This will sop up the bitter liquid and provide a drier smoke. In the old days many men smoked only one or two pipes, and a "rotation" as such was rare. Multiple pipes were a luxury for the well to do and not deemed necessary. They still liked it well enough to keep smoking, so I suspect they learned to deal with smoking that way. Smoke slowly and as dryly as possible and that should help. But, if at all possible, get another pipe or two and try to avoid smoking the same pipe more than once a day. A good way to do this is with corn cob pipes, which work very well. In fact, cobs are especially absorbent and take abuse in stride. I've often smoked the same cob all day with no ill effect. The nature of their construction also resists gurgling anyway.

Get a cob or two and try smoking the churchwarden no more than once a day, and the problem should be solved. Your mileage, as always, may vary

 

[Hangten]

Congrats on the new setup! You will really enjoy this, I know I do. On that note, slow it down... Remember pipe smoking is a leisure activity and if you neighbors think at here is a coal train next door you may be smoking it too fast and too hot to really enjoy the flavors. Many of the other threads give the same awesome advice; sip the tobacco. I inadvertently smoked too fast since I am a cigar man and love me some smoke. So I look at it as if it was a cask aged scotch that I will only get one chance to drink and I try make it last as long as I can. Relighting is ok! But not enjoying it is unexceptable!

 

[Robster]

Thanks so much everyone, such well thought out replies. Really appreciated. Mastery of the pipe. Love it.