The Big Gin Thread

Unsensibel

power input issue

crozdog

5 hours and about 120ml collection????

Seems waaaaay to long. Guess its due to the lack of power

Like cotherman, my gin runs are quick, after all, I'm not making any cuts - just pumping it through the botanicals

Unsensibel

Switched to my 1.5kW plate, running nice now

The only thing that I'm curious about is if the flavor diets from re-heating

zymurgybob

Maybe 3 hours max for me, but always pretty short.

Unsensibel

Mixed my first bottle of going out of my library. Light on juniper with heavy lavender.

Fuck! Now I'm hooked and need to make more...

Kill_Devil_Spirit_Co

@Unsensibel said: Light on juniper with heavy lavender.

sounds great! try rose hips next, you won't be disappointed

Kapea

Rose's thighs are pretty sweet too!

Unsensibel

@Kapea said: Rose's thighs are pretty sweet too!

I thought that's what you get after making good booze (see strawberry panty-dropper @ HD)

GD50

@Kapea About to do another Gin run thru the GB4 pot mode and reading all the notes.
How are you going with the all in one infusion - still doing it that way?
Just one clarification.

Your Calculation example:

50 grams of juniper in gin basket
 2 liters of finished spirit (SPIRIT OR PRODUCT ???)

50g/2L = 25g/L

I guess your saying here 2 litres of finished spirit ( @ your say 50%)

In my case 45L @ 18% = say 8 litres super pure azeo.
Hoping for 16L @ 50% so using your figures @ 25g/L I would use 18* 25= 450 gms Juniper. Don't want to have to water it down as you do it.

Actually that would be stretching the GB4 capacity from memory as i believe it only holds 400g plus. Only using the 25g/L as per your example though. What amount do you find the GB4 holds?

Any update and info most welcome.
My problem was the last time i did it i swapped the basket out half way thru so lost that starting point for consistency. Want to do one run one basket now to develop the product and be able to repeat it as much as possible.
I guess the whole question revolves around the finished spirit or product statement.

GD50

That 18 * 25 was a error and should have been 16 * 25 = 400 ie 25 gm/l times 16 litres @ 50%.

The trouble is that everyone has a different approach and are not clear what they are working on ie azeo verses diluted wash at start or product at a certain percentage verses calculated azeo at finish and of course it make a huge difference.

CothermanDistilling

Here is what I get when I plug 16L of 50% finished product with 25g/l into my spreadsheet..

yes, you will be at the ~400g limit of the GB

richard

Its so interesting looking at how to work everything out. So many people have different ways. Further it is not entirely apparent as to how everyone do their own workings.

So working on an initial 45L which was diluted to 18%,

I get from my calculated spreadsheet and based on the above ...a distilled collection of approx 11.13 litres at 65.7%. So the Juniper, Coriander figures are not as high as presumed.

I honestly believe that a skyped workshop / podcast on this subject would be of extreme benefit to all and help clear up any misconceptions.

CothermanDistilling

I cannot see any reason to calculate in any other way than grams per liter of finished product...

question - I see in your pic that you say 751.3 grams total botanicals, but your sheet has 278.3 and 133.6, which add up to 411.9 grams... if there is another ingredient that is larger in quantity than juniper, then is is debatable that what you are making is Gin, correct?

richard

Yes .... I am using quite a lot of blueberry, rosemary and another in the particular recipe. This is obviously not shown in the cropped view. Just also seen a mistake after my recent correction of my m/v ratio.

Kapea

Grams in the gin basket per liter of finished product.

Yes, I'm still doing all in one. I've got my run dialed in exactly how I like my gin.

Kapea

I've been hoping for new inspiration, but I am not interested in going to Baltimore to find it.

Hopefully it will be in Denver in 2018

TheMechWarrior

I still do a single shot method. I don't use the g/L final product as my L of final product will vary depending on the cuts I do. The cut ranges vary on the botanicals used. Since I'm using a lot of fresh ingredients I see variation between batches depending on the origin of the ingredients. I use g/L EtOH, it's the only known within my mix, everything else is a variable.

richard

Just found this Excel spreadsheet on the internet. May be of interest:

Gin Recipe Formulator (XSLX)

Kapea

My base spirit has been distilled three times - a strip and two trips through the VM column. Cuts are made on the VM runs. No cuts on the infusion run. That way weight:volume ratios are precise.

CothermanDistilling

@Kapea said: My base spirit has been distilled three times - a strip and two trips through the VM column. Cuts are made on the VM runs. No cuts on the infusion run. That way weight:volume ratios are precise.

yep, it better all be 100% tasty stuff needing no further cuts whatsoever... before you try to make gin with it...

another thing I think @Kapea does that I want to do is diluting enough to take the run and not have to dilute after... 100% distilled product, no water added to bottle...

Kapea

Drinking strength off of the still. Post-run dilution mutes the botanical flavors/aromas. I think it is the effervescence of the dilution reaction that drives off botanical volatiles in the gin.

crozdog

@Kapea try diluting with nice clean base spirit instead of water ;)

Kapea

No need. It's just what I want right off the still. Truly all-in-one.

DonMateo

@Kapea. Thanks mate.

zymurgybob

I distill a gin concentrate that is about 8x (depending on your taste) gin power, and then dilute with neutral spirits. Drinking that concentrate straight would gin-pickle yer innards.

GD50

Run my gin run this morning. Thanks to all who provided input.

Started with super clean TPW neutral put thru my 12 plates twice then carbon filtered three times as per my filter in the filter thread. Started with 45 l @ around 19 % and ran thru in pot mode into GB4.

Juniper 200gms, Boobialla 90 gm ( a Australian native Juniper quite similar ) Coriander 90 gm, Angelica 15 gm, Cassia 15 gm, Grains of Paradise ( was going to do 15 but ran out ) 13 gm, Cubeb 15gm, Licorice 7.5, gm Orris 1.5, gm Lemon Myrtle 11gms, cardamon 4 pods, and the zest of 1 lemon.

Total in GB4 460 gm that pretty well filled it up.

Ran still at 5900W after heat up .

Started around 74 % ABV Collected 400ml first in-case very strong juniper but tasted good so in the end put in the mix. Ended at 18% on parrot then took another liter down to 15% but it was getting pretty weak in flavor and as i was at my desired ABV did not mix it in . Very happy with the taste of the blend. 7 * two liter bottles later ended up with 14.5 l which when all mixed came out at 46 or 7 % . Have not corrected yet. Very happy especially aiming for 46% off still. No cuts at all.

Also happy with taste at this stage but time will tell after aging a bit. If anything i would like more juniper but because i want an all in one brew i would consider either macerating a quantity of juniper and coriander directly in still or putting a short 5" section in column and putting extra goodies in there.

Dont know if @punkin has a short 5" as it is a little difficult getting bits in 5" but would need a section and filter screen.

Concerns -- is GB4 over packed when full with basically dry ingredients and too tight restricting vapor flow ( will get a better idea when i inspect basket ) as it will swell when wet. Is there enough juniper ? - as after all it is Gin and if i decide i want more how to do it in a one shot process and an already full basket.

A GB4 after a GB4 might be a solution with two less full baskets ,therefore more open and penetrable, could be an answer all be it a little expensive. Part maceration part vapor infusion ?? ( clean up difficulties ) - reduce start quantity ??

Too much Lemon Myrtle - will wait and decide after aging.

All in all very happy and might give a starting point for newbies and a repeatable start point for myself as last time i swapped out the basket half way thru but want to avoid doing that again.

punkin

5" Diameter Pipe Extensions @ StillDragon Australia

100mm or 500mm. I don't keep the filter discs in 5" so you'd have to fabricate something, maybe some mesh laid over a plate?

punkin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiU6USML2bw

Clickeral

Made some gin yesterday that I mixed together today and got one 42% 700ml bottle for the missus to taste and the rest is at 73.5% (12-13L worth ha) in cookie jars will water it down in the next day or so.

Pretty basic botanical setup via vapor infusion

20L of 40%(ish) 310g Juniper 155g Corriander seed 40g Angelica root 5g Sweet Orange peel

Really fresh and citrusy with a hint of sweetness from the orange

Will tweak it with some other botanical's next time I think to add some complexity

I also only took it down to 20% as I was short on time

The botanicals didn't all fit in my GB4 so I put a mesh screen into the bottom of one of my Tees.

GD50

@Clickeral. thats roughly the base amount of alcohol I started with but I watered down to 45 l @ 18%. You would have gone pretty close to fitting that into a basket but not quite. I also made up a screened section from bits I had around and used a 5" ( my still size ) to 4" taper and 4" screen then a 4" to 2" taper and it fit nearly perfect with only about 20 mm adjustment of pc height tomake it work.

I want to bump my juniper up a small amount from my recipe a few posts ago plus lower the lemon myrtle . Probably close to your 310 Gm . Putting the botanicals in the vertical will mean more clean up but now have no basket size problems. Was super happy as the goodies in the basket were nicely extracted after the run with little flavour left in them even in middle of basket. The stuff in the basket did not swell up during the run so if it fits at the start it's good to go. As you I only took down to 20 % as not much flavour coming through.

Try the Start around 20% trick as you won't have to water down and it comes out right off still though could be a bit of a problem depending on your boiler size.

Gotta have a G&T every night to see how it's progressing - any excuse. I will post a 500 ml bottle if you want to swap in the name of product development.

73.5 seems high if you took down to 20%. Were you in pot still mode?