Gin basket placement

[Cane Toad]

Never had a gin :snooty: :snooty: :snooty:

[blond.chap]

I tried placing my gin bag in the downward path immediately before the product condenser last weekend. It was a bit of a disaster, the resulting spirit was brown and cloudy and had an oil slick.

After shutting down, letting it cool and shifting the gin bag into the upward vapour path, I restarted and got awesome gin coming through.

It might just be a quirk of my system, but upward vapour path just after the RC is for me.

[Brendan]

I'm with you Blondy...I can see the negative of those heavy oils dripping down when hot vapour hits the basket as opposed to just havin the lighter compounds picked up by the vapour...

Plus I like a light, suttle gin if any... ;-)

[unsub]

I did my first gin run with the botanicals on the downwards path above the PC last week. I ended up with a cloudy green mess that I don't think is able to be rescued at all due to all the oil in it. As soon as I mixed it with water it went white kind of like absinthe does. I put the whole lot in a demi in the fridge and a layer of yellow sludge settled at the bottom with a clear green liquid on top. Not really a resounding success, I think I will go with above the RC next time.

[bt1]

Yeh a few ppl have had the same

I need to do another cos I've not had an issue so far.

bt1

[Grandvewe]

Just a couple of further tips.
If your on a pot if you can arrange a way to get the botanicals on the downward vapour path, say a small caddy before the condenser your far better off. Sticking the botanicals in bag in the throat will work but a lot of the heavier oils won't make it over the bend and into your collection jar simply falling back into the boiler.

Same applies to a bubbler. just prior in a caddy to the PC works best....the heavier oils etc can literally fall into the jar ...In the neck you end up with same issue as the pots a sterilised gin missing the real bite.

In both cases it avoids lots of heavy cleaning to rid still of the oils etc.

There's as many recipes for Gin as there are ppl making it. If you like a little challenge give this a go and then play with other recipes....

Enjoy it,
I always have

bt1



bt1

bt1 and anyone else who can help.....
Attached is a pic of the Mas SS pot still I have. I want to now add a Gin Basket to it and I was thinking the best way would be to simply add a 4" gin basket in between the two reducers but the advice above has me questioning this now as im assuming the oils would drop back into the wash. Would it be better that I get a 2" Gin basket and put it just before the Condenser or between the two bends?

The bubbler pic I have also attached is eventually what I want to end up with. Would this setup also not work as well as if the gin basket was on the other side before the second condenser?

Thanks in advance :wave:

[blond.chap]

Hey mate, my opinion, after having a basket in both the upward and downward stream, is that it's better in the upward stream. It gives a light pleasant gin, but still with a good amount of flavour. My observation on having it in the downward path is that you get discoloured oil in the product.

So in the case of the pot still (assuming you're charging with fairly neutral low wines), it would be suitable to have it between the 2 reducers.

[Grandvewe]

THanks BlondChap :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bt1]

Howdy,

Depends on the botanicals used and therefore recipe, there some gin clones I want it all in the bottle and therefore run with the caddy on the downward side.

See BC's point re oils for some recipes...especially for high botanical count blends

Traditional/London Dry types of gins would better suit upward path.

The Moderns as a group/ flavoured/low botanical counts would better suit downward path.

Citrus, clove, Cardamom, all nut types, all scented grasses, pepper, olives all produce some oils but can be skimmed off or use upward path.

It's about the flavour for mine I don't believes there's one single fits all soln.

If your keen as I am to get some more details try this site ...it's a great ref and has category searches for say Modern/Traditional/Pot still/infused styles so you can compare and get a feel for what's what. Use the compare function to get a complete ingredient listing.

http://gin.findthebest.com/

Enjoy!
bt1

[hillzabilly]

found this pic of Bombay saphire gin still setup

[bt1]

Howdy,

the schematic posted is not really the issue given the older design. Appreciate your efforts but the key issue here is placement on a current column.

Have a read of previous post I reckon I've given as much weight to the idea that some gins are better done on upward path and some on the downward path.

The best thing about this...we are talking about one of the best most drinkable spirits known.. There's no one solution to the infinite varieties we can make.

bt1

[crow]

Not to sure I'd go a long with you bt1 . Thing is that shows a rectifying column and then the basket and then the product condenser so to imitate that gin would be best set up that way, yes it doesn't show a RC but that would be an error otherwise that column wouldn't rectify shit ;-)

[bt1]

Same same really,

Point being a Bombay is a London dry gin by type and upward is the norm for those gins.

Downward has it's place as mentioned.

bt1

[hillzabilly]

I was just checking out Mac's carter head option for his stills ,I know what I want for x-mass thats some funky shit.and I thought the carter head still was out dated,the bombay is the best gin I have tasted thats why I posted the pic of thier set up.hillzabilly

[Thelegion]

quick Gin note

When I make Gin I will distill 3x 45+ ltr fermenters down to one FULL fermenter watered down to 30% abv, I then make up my botanicals and sack them up in cheese cloth and steep over night. The next day I distill hanging the botanicals in the vapour path just before the opening to my reflux column in the neck of the keg. All my Gin washes are made with white sugar (beet sugar), I only keep the top 90% and keep the rest for my next run. What I end up with is a stupid amount of Gin, over 25 26ers, I tend to loose count.

Legion