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Gin Botanicals Amount

I want to try to make a Gin with a bag in the boiler.
Boiler is filled with 4L of 60% and I top up with 28L of water. (so the bag is submerged enough)
So I've 32L of 7,5% in the boiler.
I have found a recipe with 20gr Junipers per L of 60%
Do I just have to do 20gr x 32 ? (=640gr of junipers)

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Comments

  • Between 20 and 35g per liter is a normal amount of botanicals (including the juniper). 7,5% ABV seems like very little alcohol in the boiler, 30 to 40% is what most people seem to use. Get a smaller still, or make more gin ;-)

  • @squeakyclean said: Between 20 and 35g per liter is a normal amount of botanicals (including the juniper). 7,5% ABV seems like very little alcohol in the boiler, 30 to 40% is what most people seem to use. Get a smaller still, or make more gin ;-)

    It's a small amount 7,5%, but I think if I use less volume in the boiler my bag will not be submerged enough or the bag will touch the element. And is my calculation of total boiler volume (alc. + water) x 20gr a good formula? And why is 30 to 40% better than 7,5% ?

  • How much separation do you plan for? If you go from 7,5 to 40% ABV (end therefor don't dilute the end product) you'll probably have to much botanicals. If you distill from 30-40 and end up with 68-72% ABV and dilute from there these amounts of botanicals (20-35g/l) are about right. But you can just try it from 7,5%, if it's too cloudy dilute with neutral and calculate a smaller amount of botanicals for the next try.

  • I always base my botanical amounts on the volume of finished product, not volume in the boiler.

  • @crozdog said: I always base my botanical amounts on the volume of finished product, not volume in the boiler.

    And what formula do you use?

  • Gin is a very personal thing, I suggest developing your own spreadsheet like most of us have.

    in relation to rates and ratio's have a read of the gin guide I wrote

  • @crozdog said: Gin is a very personal thing, I suggest developing your own spreadsheet like most of us have.

    in relation to rates and ratio's have a read of the gin guide I wrote

    I'll try to do this in a few tests, thx.

  • @crozdog said: Gin is a very personal thing, I suggest developing your own spreadsheet like most of us have.

    in relation to rates and ratio's have a read of the gin guide I wrote

    Where can i find your Gin guide @crozdog? Cheers

  • StillDragon manuals thread pinned to the top of the forum page.

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

  • Hi, my name is Pablo. I`m from Argentina. Sorry, but my English is not quit good. I have a question. When they say 20-35 g / l of botanicals, they are talking about a 60% or 30% solution?. Because I usually macerate at 60%, but I really don´t know if I have to calculate the botanicals for that solution (60%) or I have to think about the dilution that I am going to do to distill it at 30%? I don't know if I was clear with my question

  • @gordopablo No, This is based on the equivalent amount when one considers the equivalent amount converted to 100% alcohol. So when you distill it at say 30%, the botanical amount is then calculated for the equivalent amount when converted at 100%.

  • @gordopablo. Che estoy en Mendoza y a punto de constuir mi galpon y abre mi distilleria. Enviarme un pm y podemos hablar. Tengo experiencia usando los botanicos que se puede comprar en Arg.

  • I work on output volume ie what I want get out at the end of the run. FYI, I don't macerate - only vapour infuse

  • All of our base recipes are to 1 Lal.
    We scale everything from there. Most recipes are in the range of 75 to 150 g/Lal juniper.

  • Lal ?? Have not heard this expression before. Please comment further.

  • When you can't find it then do .. per Litre absolute alcohol.

    75-150g/Lal is "heckishly" high

  • edited September 2020

    2lt @ 50% = 1Lal.
    4lt @ 25% = 1Lal.

    Same base recipe, similar yield.

    I personally think it pretty high too but I regularly win plenty of national and international awards so its pretty much on the money for general craft tastes.

  • @jacksonbrown I personally think it pretty high too but I regularly win plenty of national and international awards so its pretty much on the money for general craft tastes.

    Can not fault that

  • Well I havent won any awards yet but 75g/lal is a lot. The juniper you can get here in Argentina is from Macedonia and that stuff I use between 12 to 15 grams per litre of final gin. It turns out pretty good most of the time. @gordopablo never got back to me. Maybe he stopped reading Spanish as well. I once made an 80g/l with these juniper and macerated a couple of litres to check and it was a juniper bomb. I couldnt drink it. ( well I did but I was broke at the time).

  • 75 is still what I would describe as a relatively heavy gin.
    We don't macerate though and Lal recovery as product is around 70%. Runs times are relatively fast too with lowish reflux which all reduces the extraction efficiency.

  • edited September 2020

    Thank you all for the advices. @DonMateo I text you in private to talk about the botanicals in Argentina.

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