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What's in your Basket?

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  • edited April 2016

    I have a disc as well but because of the use of a TEE PIECE for the base (inlet, sight glass, top and bottom flange with ferrule, it makes quite a long assembly when you place a filter disc on top ferrule. Additionally you can not remove botanicals once inserted without stripping the assemble. This is why I used the bag in my setup .... also because I do not have a basket.

    See an older photo of my assembly before some recent modifications

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  • Whilst I am thinking of it, is there still a disc plate / orifice being positioned in the 2" inlet to the gin basket. It was the intention to increase inlet flow velocity.

  • The baskets on my GB4 fit as tight as as pistons in an engine cylinder. There is no room for vapor to bypass the basket, and no room to wrap anything around the basket (no need to).

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

  • Nothing like a tight fit @kapea !!! ;)

  • I don´t really know how to make this question, neither if this is the thread where asking this question, but it is: how do you make changes basket in GB? I mean to infused gin. Do you place the same proportion of botanists in all baskets? or you look at the different times of each botanical extraction? how to really know when to make the change? each botanical extraction along the run is not proportional, truth? I am lost to understand this part of the steam infusion.

  • edited April 2016

    I run small batches so I am able to fit the entire run's worth of botanicals into one basket charge. I also have gotten my botanical mix designed to where I do an all-in-one vapor infusion run.

    The flavor coming off of my still changes dramatically across the run; high volatiles up front, grassy/earthy notes at the end. They all go into the same mix at the end.

    I charge my boiler with 18% - 20% base spirit. It comes off of the still at what I consider drinking strength 50%-55%. No post-run dilution. It takes a month or so of resting for the flavors to develop into the sweet spot. Never saved any long enough to see how long-term aging plays out.

    One thing I've learned from talking with numerous professional gin makers and gin experts is EVERYBODY makes their gin differently. And I mean way differently. The only common thread is juniper. There is no one correct way that makes the best gin. You have to experiment and find the way that makes gin the way you like it.

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

  • Good post Kapea.

    And finding that spot that's best for you can be mind numbing. Particularly if your an OCD type personality.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • My wife still says it's cheaper to buy it from the booze store.

    Heckled husband <:-P

  • edited April 2016

    I agree with @Smaug here @Kapea. Good post. There is no perfect gin as they are all personal. Small batches and keep at it until you refine a great recipe that you can reproduce. The trouble is at most of our scale you cannot swap out a gin basket half way thru and get the same result doing a bigger batch as the infusion varies across the range of the run. The thing I Am warming too is to get it the right abv off the still which again reduces the final yield but increases flavour but tends to lend itself to 50 55 % final which is not too bad. As Kapea said the only common thing is juniper ( or similar tasting thing as I am using a berry the same as KIS Wild Gin that grows here which is a native South Australian bush the only resemblance is the final taste). I still use a bit of juniper but trending towards the Boobialla equivalent.

    It's hard work to collect the berries from around town but I have mapped all the good bearing bushes. I even tried to sell berries to KIS but their philosophy is to gather own from their property on Kangaroo Island which is admirable.

    There is more than enough information across this site to blend up a starting point recipe for a newbie. Also you can easily swap out a gin basket @XEIP as long as you are happy with the result. It won't be quite the same as two single infusions but if your happy who cares.

  • edited April 2016

    If I needed to change out the botanicals basket during a run, it would be easy enough to configure the still with the deflegmator upstream from the gin basket and put the still into 100% relux while changing out the botanicals. i call this putting your foot on the clutch.

    Another alternative would be to pipe in two gin heads with a three way valve in between to redirect the vapor flow from one head to the other when the botanicals become exhausted.

    Crozdog's The StillDragon® Gin Basket Operation Manual (PDF) has some very good starting point recipes in it.

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

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

  • While this looks great i don't think it is the answer as it is a piece of piss to change the basket by going to full reflux. This does not solve the variation across the run problem so might as well just change basket. IMHO from a newbie that does not know much yet.

  • An extra basket and condenser plus a 2" 3way????
    The obvious answer is to just get a bigger basket.

  • curiosity if some user uses a basket for large batches.

    @Kapea said: If I needed to change out the botanicals basket during a run, it would be easy enough to configure the still with the deflegmator upstream from the gin basket and put the still into 100% relux while changing out the botanicals. i call this putting your foot on the clutch. Another alternative would be to pipe in two gin heads with a three way valve in between to redirect the vapor flow from one head to the other when the botanicals become exhausted. Crozdog's The StillDragon® Gin Basket Operation Manual (PDF) has some very good starting point recipes in it.

    Apart from the way you should do the changes of basket , my question is about the content of botanists and number of changes. A hypothetical example, for a batch of 150 liters 40% neutral, a basket of 400 grams, for an imaginary recipe 30 g / liter, are about 11 baskets. I would like to meet users' experiences about whether all baskets have the same content, if for example the first 8 baskets only juniper and other baskets remaining botanists, if based on the taste for change basket or they make depending on volume of product .... in short a starting point. After reading the great work of @crozdog I do not see clear as it should work basket if it has to work with more than 400 grams of botanists volume.... :-/
    Sorry if my doubts are foolishness 8-}

  • I size my basket to suit the size of the still. For a one-shot distillation.

  • edited May 2016

    @TheMechWarrior said: I size my basket to suit the size of the still. For a one-shot distillation.

    And what is the approximate volume of its still and his basket?

  • I have a 700L still charge mate.

    On my 100L still I have a ~30L basket.

  • edited May 2016

    @TheMechWarrior said: I have a 700L still charge mate. :-O

    On my 100L still I have a ~30L basket.

    Then, you think it is easier/better to adapt the basket size to the still than adapt the method to a smaller basket?

  • well, I think this thread went full circle again...

    I say 5-10% is a good carter head size, so a 20-40L for a 380L.. 50-100L for a 1000L.... there are quite a few existing modifiable containers out there that size range if you did not want to use something custom...

    then again, if you are at the level of putting 100L/40KG (what is that, a thousand dollars worth?) of Juniper in a basket , you really might want to talk to some pros or practice more at a smaller level to get your own answers...

  • There are some photos of @HurdleCreek s 50l conical fermenter converted to a GB on his 1000l StillDragon boiler here somewhere.

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

  • @XEIP , Yes.

    I designed my method at the lab still with all the botanicals in the basket. I was very happy with the outcome so I've tried to retain the ability for 100% of the botanicals to reside within the vapour space ever since, regardless of the still size.

    @CothermanDistilling, the 5-10% is spot on.

  • @punkin said: There are some photos of HurdleCreek s 50l conical fermenter converted to a GB on his 1000l StillDragon boiler here somewhere.

    I used a 50lt SS Chronical not cheap but they come with 1.5"triclover fititngs + an elbow and 2 ball valves. I put a performated disk (pizza tray) in the cone and then all the botanicals go in a cheescloth 'teabag"on top. Works well but when we use hop flowers they waterlog easily so I put them in a separate layer below the rest of the botanicals. Its a 400lt boiler & we connect the basket in the vapour line off the top of the column, with a condense line back to the pot, so we're passing @ 95-75% abv, but there's plenty of space to add enough botnicals for a 1000lt pot. The only improvement I plan to make is to add a jacket to the conical to reduce heat loss & condense from the walls once its up to temp. WIll post a piture of it in operation when I next make gin - we've had a long dry spell here so at the moment we're focussed on mashing as often as we can to get spent barley to feed the cattle and stockpiling the excess spirit for later use

    As an alternative, I visited New Columbia Disitllers (Green Hat Gin) in DC last year. They have a whisky hat type structure on their still and they told me they had it modified so they can hang their botanicals inside it in laundry bags.

  • yet another use for my 'unikeggle' idea... the 60L sankey keg with 8" TC on the top, 2" TC's on side and bottom, 1.5" TC on side for racking, etc... throw in a folding false bottom like you woudl for a mash tun, pipe in through the bottom, easy peasy...

  • @CothermanDistilling said: yet another use for my 'unikeggle' idea... the 60L sankey keg with 8" TC on the top, 2" TC's on side and bottom, 1.5" TC on side for racking, etc... throw in a folding false bottom like you woudl for a mash tun, pipe in through the bottom, easy peasy...

    @smaug @punkin @SDeurope food for thought for product development? Maybe as a modified/multi use 50L boiler/infusion/whatever?

  • I've stopped stocking all kegs. By the time i buy and transport them and then pay a welder here to custom modify them i can pretty near supply a milk can with all the trimmings, or a conical.

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

  • yeah, to be financially feasible, you would have to have the welding done when initially manufactured, likely could get a 8" ferrule for the same price as a sankey spear... another $50-$100 for the other ferrules and clamps... but you have to order a container to get that deal... so I know where you are coming from....

  • edited May 2016

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

  • Where are the peanuts ??

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