Great Gin Recipe Discussion

[Apsey]

Perfect thanks mate!

Can't wait, ive already bought the tonic water in anticipation!

Cheers

[TheMechwarrior]

Also, I'm finding it's best to take your cuts then leave them for a couple of days before blending. Otherwise it's really easy to get palate fatigue and have tails your gin

:text-+1:
This is true for any spirit :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Paulb]

Hi All

Maybe a silly question, but thought I’d put it out there.

I have 2 x 50l TPW’s that I have stripped and run through my 4” Neutraliser (twice actually because the take off on the first run was too fast and my cooling water was too hot after a stripping run in the morning).

I have taken the hearts out of this run which ended up being 2.5l at 96% and then watered down to 10% (24l which was enough to cover both elements in my 50l boiler) to run back through to make gin.

I have setup 5 plates and took fores/heads of 200ml without the gin basket in. I only took 200ml as it immediately smelt like hearts (92%). I put the still back into reflux and then put the gin basket in place.

I collected approx. 1.7l at 92% before the ABV started to drop (250ml cuts). I’ve since collected 1l (run still going) and now down to 45%.

My question is, given that what I put into the still was very pure having used only hearts (with a heavy heads and tails cut), what do I with the tails? The botanicals are overpowering any other smell / flavour so difficult to cut as I normally do.

Do I use the tails and if so, down to what %? Or just go by taste and will the flavour of the tails come out after a few days rest?

Thanks guys.

[Urrazeb]

If they don't smell to bad I'd be adding to taste.

I found when trying for something like this it helps to chuck it back into full reflux when the abv starts dropping and this will stack the good stuff again :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[peterhobit]

When I made my gin, (and was using 4 plates and a packed section) had the gin cady above the RC I noticed the liquid on the top two plates went a litle milky in colour for a while, I was assuming oils from the gin caddy were falling back into the reflux alcohol percolating down the packed section and onto the bubbler plates.

Is this a good assumption? and is this a good or bad thing to happen?

I found the gin flavour was a little too subtle but as this was my first go at it I was happy just to do it.

I think I will have another go but this time will use a diluted neutral rather than going straight off a TPW

cheers

[Urrazeb]

When I made my gin, (and was using 4 plates and a packed section) had the gin cady above the RC I noticed the liquid on the top two plates went a litle milky in colour for a while, I was assuming oils from the gin caddy were falling back into the reflux alcohol percolating down the packed section and onto the bubbler plates.

Is this a good assumption? and is this a good or bad thing to happen?

I found the gin flavour was a little too subtle but as this was my first go at it I was happy just to do it.

I think I will have another go but this time will use a diluted neutral rather than going straight off a TPW

cheers

Yeah I think it's favourable to leave the oils in the boiler. Some guys put the caddy pre pc so the oil drips into collection vessels but not to sure if this is the way to go as it will cause louching (sp)

[Paulb]

If they don't smell to bad I'd be adding to taste.

I found when trying for something like this it helps to chuck it back into full reflux when the abv starts dropping and this will stack the good stuff again :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks Urrazeb. Once i got down to the end of the tails I could really smell them come through so will ditch those jars.

I haven't blended my cuts yet, however I took a sample from the middle of the hearts and watered down and found the Juniper smell is very strong with an aniseed after taste. I can't make out it if it is the star anise or juniper. I crushed both but might try the recipe again without crushing these botanicals next time.

Has anyone had a similar result or advice? I'll blend the cuts tonight and then let them settle for while to see how the flavour changes.

[bt1]

For this Gin recipe A London/Dry type a milky colouring flowing back onto plates is no biggy and common. I've yet to stop a run and actually taste to find out which ingredients actually cause this...one day... Definitely for London/Dry's need the caddy in the up stream to avoid any discoloration. The clear bright pure spirit look is a big part of the whole package.

For most moderns, citrus ones especially the colouring is good, it adds way more flavours given so few ingredients to have caddy downstream ie pre PC. I re colour with an infusion like lime anyway to match main ingredient focus....it gives you a point of difference so a bright green, bright orange etc gin suits presentation/a stemmed glass with crushed ice and salt rimmed....Exception being cucumber cos it shites a cloudy mess into your spirit.... learnt that the hard way.

I'd suggest leaving cuts for few days cos each faction carries it own ingredient load and takes a while to show its true colours...
cinnamon and dill real early like in the heads cuts
citrus and florals minimal juniper early
cardomon anise , angelica, orris start of the juniper
Finally heavy juniper with ginger, peppers, cloves towards the end.

There's the fun bit blending it ...You can get several different Gins for re balancing the cuts from the same run = bonus :handgestures-thumbupleft:

bt1

[Urrazeb]

Here is a way I use to keep powdered botanicals falling into the boiler

20140704_172536_resize_20140705_000259.jpg

20140704_172551_resize_20140705_000258.jpg

Not sure on the mesh count on this but it does the job :handgestures-thumbupleft: I could probably neaten it up a bit I suppose 8-}

[wolbi74]

Made this gin on monday, had only 10 liters of TPW left, so i gave it a try. used a little less then half of the recipe, using less clove and more pepper. Didnt have orris root but used one roebud instead for the perfume/floral notes.
OMG i had a few tonight/last night, thought I'd leave to settle for the day. I'm was left with 800ml of 60% useable stuff, and 700ml of nailpolish remover :)
It was a bit cold when I did my lst ferment, and wll wait till it gets warmer in syd..
Anyway, thats a bloooming good GIN :teasing-tease:
I have ordered some orris root and next time ill try that instead of a rosebud.


Ive only got both a small reflux & potstill- electric- 25l boiler wanted to upgrade but thendeck already looks like a lab...lol..

[peterhobit]

You have lost me a bit BT1 when you wrote "Definitely for London/Dry's need the caddy in the up stream to avoid any discoloration" what do you mean here? Caddy is before the reflux condenser? or before the product condenser?.
I was thinking the caddy would be after (on top) of the RC so you can go back into full reflux to change the botanical s in the caddy.

I am getting ready to make some more gin as my first lot was a bit mild. I have 3 x 5 liter bottles of neutral 90%, was going to add one bottle to about 40 litres of water and run that. then the tails start coming in I will put into full reflux and change the botanicals and add another 5 liters of neutral to the boiler. anyone see any issues with this method?. Also when Doc posted before about thinking outside the square and was adding lime and tea etc I am assuming he is not using juniper etc just mixing it up with different stuff to give very different results??

[TheMechwarrior]

Anyone considered simply heating up your boiler contents to 50oC and charging the boiler with all your botanicals and leaving it to steep overnight before doing the run the next day?
I know of at least one commercial operator doing this.

[RefluxEd]

You have lost me a bit BT1 when you wrote "Definitely for London/Dry's need the caddy in the up stream to avoid any discoloration" what do you mean here? Caddy is before the reflux condenser? or before the product condenser?.
I was thinking the caddy would be after (on top) of the RC so you can go back into full reflux to change the botanical s in the caddy.

Hi Peter, the botanicals should be in the upstream part of the still as there is a lot of heavy yellow oily stuff that drains back from them. You definitely don't want that in your final product. I have found that I get the best result using a 90% or more neutral that I dilute to 40% for the gin run. I don't want to muck around with heads and tails when doing a gin run as you might be throwing out some really good aromatics. It's the ol' baby with the bath water thing.
I don't use a reflux still for the gin run, just a modified pot still with a 100 mm section to place the dilly bag of botanicals which is the last bit of upstream before the condensor take off point. The gin head is mounted on a 600 mm length of 2 inch copper pipe with no packing. Sorry about the lousy picture, I just took it with my old phone.
This way the nasties all fall back to the boiler. It's really interesting to sample at different times of the run. At first the citrus comes through really strongly while the more woody stuff like the juniper berries predominate later.
For a Hendricks style rose infused gin it is safer to separately steep some rosebuds in the 90% neutral and add a teaspoon or two to each bottle afterward. I'll experiment with rose in the botanicals when I am not too desperate for the next batch. :drool:

[Brendan]

Anyone considered simply heating up your boiler contents to 50oC and charging the boiler with all your botanicals and leaving it to steep overnight before doing the run the next day?
I know of at least one commercial operator doing this.

Quite a lot of commercial distillers use this process partly, but none have internal heating elements, so I can see some issues arising there. I've seen quite a few pros who steep certain ingredients and vapour infuse others in a basket above the boiler...I guess depending on the characteristics of those botanicals...i'd love to know which ones! :p Alls I know is they steep the juniper berries...

[RefluxEd]

On a related topic, I'd done a gin run using licorice root, probably too much. It was so horrible that I re-ran the gin through my reflux still very slowly to remove the flavours. The result was the yummiest vodka ever produced. A couple of Russian panel beaters near where I work said it was the best they had ever had. It had the faintest hint of juniper with the background of complexity that made it heaven to drink. So even if you bugger up a gin run, it can be saved. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bt1]

I was thinking the caddy would be after (on top) of the RC so you can go back into full reflux to change the botanical s in the caddy.

Peter you nailed it. It would only be Moderns you'd consider in the downstream pre PC really.

Mech the early traditional Gins where just as you described....boiled... I've heard its heavier tasting focused on the stronger ingredients as they apparently dominate a bit when done this way...would well suit a traditional recipe I guess.... ie no florals, reduced citrus. May also pay to revise clove and anise count as well.

Be interested to see what you think once it's done.

bt1

[Brendan]

bt1,

Do you think there's be any merit in steeping the juniper berries overnight, and putting the rest of the botanicals in the caddy? Assuming a stronger juniper carryover, but have never dealt with it...

I'm going to start with everything in the caddy, but may experiment later on. :-D

[TheMechwarrior]

bt1,

You are right, steeping in this manner does produce are more robust flavour profile, while a carter head will produce a more delicate gin, combining the 2 techniques provides for a unique gin.

I'll be experimenting soon.

Cheers,

Mech.

[bt1]

Brendan,

Don't honestly know the answer to your question... I've a few ideas but would really want to test it a few times.

I suspect it would tend towards the real heavy side, oils would release including the nasty one terpinen-4-ol...just wonder how much one should take of this before the old kidney irritation becomes an issue.
There's generally a good reason behind the old school work practices once you look hard...could be a case of avoiding this nasty by adding to boiler just prior to distilling...but I'm guessing here without trying it.

I'll add it to my list for next lot of testers.

bt1

[Sinerjee]

Are all the herbs and spices that go in to this dried? Obviously citrus peels will be fresh but for things like the ginger and dill?

Cheers