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Distilling Gin

Just purchased a Gin basket kit from Garry and can't wait to give it a run.
Do I run it with my pot still configuration or run it attach it to my Ace of Hearts baby CD?

Comments

  • edited February 2016

    Two camps. Both work.

    I'm betting most would say to first rectify your base spirit. Then pot still.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • bingo. make a quality neutral then feed it to your gin head.

    Dare I say read the manual? ;)

  • @crozdog said: Dare I say read the manual? ;)

    Where's the Like button?

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • @MiniMike said: Just purchased a Gin basket kit from Garry and can't wait to give it a run.
    Do I run it with my pot still configuration or run it attach it to my Ace of Hearts baby CD?

    RTFM... and then to emphasize, you need to have zero defects in what you put in the boiler that the gin basket is connected to... check for defects at bottling proof and also at drinking proof.

    better yet, do it goth ways, then write up a thread that we can all point the next person to!

  • Sherwood is not pre rectifying.

    His base is fermented from honey and he does not want to loose what typically carries over from his single run batches.

    So he squeezes his heads, draws them off then diverts vapor to the gin head with a 3 way valve.

    He uses 2 product condensers.

    More work as he has to play still jockey. But his gin is pretty good.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • edited February 2016

    The OP has a valid question, I just RTFM and it isn't addressed other than the Dragon Tip that basically says don't bother with a single pass product.

    Lets say you are starting with good quality neutral - would you use the plates or not? What if your neutral is not quite so?

    Or

    Let's say you do a series of strips, then a spirit run through plates - you take your reasonably clean hearts cut - maybe you wouldn't pass that through plates, or maybe you would, depending on the flavor you want to come through?

    Guess it depends if you are going for traditional, or not. For a beginner - echoing what the replies above say - starting with the best neutral possible and running in pot mode seems like the least chance of failure.

  • edited February 2016

    Gotta say, kudos to any beginner that attempts to cut their teeth making gin, this would seem like an almost insurmountable challenge with a million ways to fail.

  • From Page 27 of the manual:

    For a gin run, configure the still to operate as a basic pot still with limited/no reflux.

    I would also say to read The Big Gin Thread

  • ... tryin' to be nice to the new guy ...

  • trying to save him a batch of bad gin... sure you can re-distill it, but a huge waste of time and energy!

    Regarding honey, so much to lose when distilling it, I would try small batches in a glass lab still and research adding honey to a small amount of spirit, and distilling the alcohol and honey aroma off together, and then adding the remaining honey sugar water backset to the next ferment, maybe even caramelizing it a bit for experimentation...

  • Looking forwards to your additions to the gin thread @MiniMike . Hopefully the kit will reach you today.

    As the others have said, try a few different combos in small batches till you start nailing down a procedure and ingredient list that you'd like to develop further.

    Lots of mistakes to be made but they'll mostly all be drinkable, blendable or just plain good for gifts. Good thing is that the successes are as common as the mistakes, so keep a notebook near you when filling the basket, doing the run and take your well earnt rewards and keep really good notes (even if the are slightly slurred).

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited February 2016

    Not meaning to be a FOAG kinda guy, but when I started making gin though my GB4, crozdog's The StillDragon® Gin Basket Operation Manual (PDF) was extremely helpful. Kept me from chasing wild geese down dead end streets. I loaded the PDF into the iBooks app on my iPad and read the shit outta it.

    Using that manual as my guide I now make gin better than anything I can buy.

    Joe Bob says, "Check it out!"

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • I have just changed my Gin basket (made by another) by lengthening it so as to contain more botanicals. I also made up a bag (instead of a catch basket) so will use this in the next Gin run. Was meant to have been yesterday but time was not kind to me.

    Interesting in reading the gin thread where it referred to slight bruising of juniper etc. in a mortice bowl. On my last run (which was a disaster) I had almost no juniper flavour coming through but had tonnes of coriander. So I will definitely be using a rolling pin for this next run.

  • if using a bag, make sure vapor cannot easily bypass it!

  • I have a close to neutral grain spirirt and an 5 gal alambic and am contemplating giving a macerated gin a whirl. Did anyone here try this yet?

  • @Unsensibel said: I have a close to neutral grain spirirt and an 5 gal alambic and am contemplating giving a macerated gin a whirl. Did anyone here try this yet?

    Just reading through the manual... I know... RTFM

  • edited February 2016

    @Unsensibel said: I have a close to neutral grain spirirt and an 5 gal alambic and am contemplating giving a macerated gin a whirl. Did anyone here try this yet?

    I have a twist on that. I make two stock solutions, one juniper, one coriander, and use them as my boiler charge for my normal all-in-one gin infusion run. It definitely adds to the complexity of the gin. Not exactly maceration, but it is botanicals in the boiler, sort of...

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • I spoke to another local distiller last night regarding his gin. It tasted great by the way. He does vapour infusion BUT afterwards he takes the botanicals and places in them in the distilled and infused product for approx. 24 hours. Any thoughts on this for added flavouring.

  • It would seem to be an overdose of botanicals, but you tried it and liked it, so it must work, no?

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • Ask him if he's willing to give you a sip pre infusion

  • I got his story wrong regarding botanicals.

    His still equipment is all pot still configured.

    He strips apple in the first run. His second run is a spirit run. Prior to his final 3rd spirit run, he places botanicals into the cold distilled product (from run # 2) and leaves them there for 72 hours. Afterwards, he filters them out and proceeds with the final spirit run. There is not further botanical infusion.

    He also slightly crushes botanicals. This allows him to achieve better flavouring.

    As mentioned, his Gin was great with great flavours.

  • That process is very common and produces good results.

  • edited March 2016

    @richard said: I spoke to another local distiller last night regarding his gin. It tasted great by the way. He does vapour infusion BUT afterwards he takes the botanicals and places in them in the distilled and infused product for approx. 24 hours. Any thoughts on this for added flavouring.

    There's gin producer in the hills outside of the Melbourne metro area (I won't identify them any more than that) who steep the botanicals in the alcohol overnight before doing the gin run in the morning. I've tried 2 different versions of their gin, one at $75 per bottle and the other at $85 per bottle. I find the flavours are just too strong with over woody notes from over steeped juniper and I can only have 2 drinks before I don't want any more. I find the vapour infusion method provides a lighter gin that is so easy to drink that you can quaff it all day long.

  • As @ElectricEd says, vapour infusion produces a lighter product compared to maceration.

    @CothermanDistilling is right - lots of gin is made by maceration and redistillation. One thing to remember is that the still will be "contaminated" with the botanicals - they can be hard to remove - so if you can live with the potential of gin flavours carrying over to other products - go for it - or dedicate the still to gin.

    one of the benefits of the offset carter head like the GB4 is that the main still components do not get contaminated as it's only neutral vapour that contacts it.

    There is lots of ways to skin the gin cat, I wrote the gin guide to provide training wheels to those who wanted to use the GB4. Whoever goes down the gin road needs to do a lot of their own research and experimentation to work out what works for them.

  • Wow! I'm really enjoying all of your comments it's really helpful... thanks to all.

  • FYI - if you use the words vapor infused on a label (or Vapour if yer fancy), you need to submit a formula

    image

    vapor vapour infused.jpg
    800 x 600 - 114K
  • Interesting ... providing a formula. These formulas/ recipes are trade secret ???

  • I guess so... a formula is part ingredients and part procedure, but your 'formula' can have 'variables in ingredient inclusion and quantities' that would make it impossible to copy...

    In the case of the 'vapor infused'... they came back and said that I needed a formula that showed how I was backing up my statement of 'vapor infused' on the label...

    In the 'formula', there is a section titled 'Method of Manufacture'..
    it does not need to be super detailed... this was accepted:

    Ferment wort of malted barley or wheat into a wash

    Distill wash into low wines

    Distill low wines into clean, high proof spirit between 160 and 190 proof

    Introduce Juniper and other botanical ingredients in high proof spirit using one or more method on each botanical:

    • optionally macerate and soak botanicals
    • optionally remove botanicals after soaking
    • optionally place botanicals in 'gin basket'
    • optionally blend distillations of single or multiple botanicals together

    Reduce and gauge flavored spirit to bottling proof of 80-110 proof

    Bottle flavored spirit as 'Gin' or 'Distilled Gin'

    Additionally, they can just flat our refuse certain things that seem harmless on the label, I replaced 'vapor infused' with 'Grapefruit Inspired' and they had a cow:

    You may not make false or misleading statements on labels. For Wine 27 CFR § 4.39(a)(1)
    For D/S 27 CFR 5.42

    For MB CFR 27 CFR 7.29(a)(1) ("Grapefruit" cannot stand alone on label. Although grapefruit may be a botanical that Gin is distilled from, the presentation of the label would likely mislead the consumer to believe that the product is a flavored Gin. Grapefruit cannot stand alone and must be removed or futher qualified with a statement such as "distilled from grapefruit" or "grapefruit is one of the botanicals used to make this Gin" or "Botanicals: Grapefruit," etc.) As an attachment, please further explain/clarify the statement and/or graphics shown on the label. (Remove "grapefruit" that appear above the word Gin, again, grapefruit cannot stand alone. Other references that you've stated are fine and may appear.)

  • edited March 2016

    There's a LOT of BS avoided if you just make it for yourself!

    "Tastes good?"
    "Yep."
    "Works for me!"

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

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