StillSmart

OK I know I ask a lot of questions however I'm a newbie and I was wondering the best way to make gin with neutral spirits from a t500. I know about essence but can I do it with another method?

No need to apologise for asking questions.

I'm a Bourbon man but you could PM Capt C, he's a Gin man and very helpful too

AM

There are a few recipes and methods in this section and the Flavouring one. Here is how I have been doing it lately: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1339

Chuck

Thanks chill for your quick response. This is what I love about this board, as a newbie gin I think is way over my head at this point. I think I will make a few runs and practice a bit before I jump in over my head. Lol. I'll try some essence for now. At least I'll have something to sip on while I read all the great info on this boeard.

I found all of the essences for Gin to be dreadful. Here is one that I have called Gentle Gin. This is for 1L of 50% diluted to 30% for running. Makes about 1 regular bottle.

4g Juniper
3g Corriander seed
1 large pinch Orris Root powder
3g Apricot Kernels (or 1/4 tsp real Apricot extract)
2g Anise seed
1g Angelica Root
1 small slice of lemon peel

The main ways of making gin are.....

Vapour infusion, where the botanicals are placed in the vapour path.

Distilled Gin, where the botanicals are soaked in the spirit then redistilled.

Essence - you make a very strong gin in a small quantity then add this to your neutral.

Cold compress - you just soak the botanicals in the spirit then filter out the bits.

What ever method you use, you will need to be able to make decent stock neutral to begin with. Most of the methods above are done using a pot still, I use a pot head on a T500 boiler, but I wouldn't advise doing it with the T500 head, those ceramic saddles can hold on to some of the flavours and taint the next few runs.

The cold compress sounds like the easiest method to try first. The botanical would be?

Juniper Berries and Corriander Seeds are the classic base for all Gins. What you add beyond that is up to your taste. As is the amount and ratio of Juniper Berries and Corriander Seeds.

Chuck

+1 on what Chill said

Those 2 ingredients are thee 2 biggest constituents of a recipe. I usually make sure any recipe that those 2 fall between 80-90% of the weight of the total botanicals bill.

a ratio of 2-1 Juniper-Coriander is a good place to start. Be very wary of strongly flavoured spices like cloves, cinnamon, grains of paradise a little goes a long long way.

edwatters wrote:The cold compress sounds like the easiest method to try first.

While its technically the easiest to do, as your not re-distilling, everything makes it into the product. So there could be some oils from citrus or the juniper that can make the product louche, this portion would come off first when being re-distilled and would be kept separate.
Some other ingredients can have woody or floral after taste, this would come over at the end of the distillation process and you can decide to cut this. When doing a cold compress all you can do is change time you soak it for.

You could do different macerations then blend them together, so if one really doesn't work, you can leave it out and you haven't ruined a whole batch.

I'll give it go thx

I use Dr. John Stone's gin essence method, have done for about 10 years, it works. The only extra ingredient I add to the basic gin recipe, is a slice or two of lemon or lime zest. Sometimes, as with a lot of foods, less is best, I think gin is one of these. The nice, clean, simple flavour of juniper plus a couple extra botanicals, really works for me.

If you haven't got his book "Making Gin & Vodka", then here it is: http://api.ning.com/files/947WjO9QElFPt ... nVodka.pdf

It is a great book, covering the whole distilling process, flavouring is from page 69 to 71.

Good luck, John.

I had a bottle swap with a member here (runningman) and got some "stones" gin. a very nice drop.