Odin's Easy Gin

[still_stirrin]

Devon,

I hope that's a glass graduated cylinder you're running into. It looks like it is plastic, which would be against the rules here. Its hard to tell if its plastic or simply smokey glass...but I hope for the latter.
ss

[Devon]

Err yeah it's smokey glass, it's an old photo I've have since learnt the ways of the distiller and now have a glass trial jar

[raketemensch]

That looks like aluminum to me, do you know if it's aluminum or stainless?

[Patching246]

Just thought I'd let you know that odin's easy gin was a smash hit at xmas. Of course, it was rebranded as my very own recipe. Patching' super hard gin, but Odin was the unsung hero of Christmas this year.

[Odin]

Just thought I'd let you know that odin's easy gin was a smash hit at xmas. Of course, it was rebranded as my very own recipe. Patching' super hard gin, but Odin was the unsung hero of Christmas this year.

Congrats. Glad they liked it!

Odin.

[lazaah]

I added a bit of star anise and the flavour came over way to strong (1.2g to 14L @ 45% for 24hrs, then moved to vapour trail). If I add the gin into my next stripping run, reflux, then do the gin run again, will much of the original flavour carry over? i.e. will I end up with a nice neutral again.

[Plaincrazy]

Ran my Gin today, yup that's good stuff alright
I had a friend join me for a taste test, Gin and tonic is her preferred drink, she gave it a . As she put it, lots of aroma and flavour

[Devon]

I'm running this gin now, but it doesn't smell much like juniper. Does this smell intensify later?

[still_stirrin]

I'm running this gin now, but it doesn't smell much like juniper. Does this smell intensify later?

Devon,

You're running a CM reflux still, right? I always run the gin through a potstill. I think the reflux is cleaning it up for you.

Also, the juniper comes over very early in the run...like the first 100ml. Odin says to discard the first 10ml and collect the rest. I did my first gin run and I collected the first 50ml. The resulting gin was low on juniper character, at least lower than I'd wanted. I added a touch of the front back in and that helped. The second batch I made, I made sure to only discard 10ml. It made a very big difference in the juniper character in the spirit....much better. I also simplified the botanicals because they can very quickly over power a nice gin.

And the 5 week wait is good to do if you can as it will help the botanical essence subside a little, allowing a better balance in the finished spirit.
ss

[Devon]

I took all the packing out of the still, I thought that might of been enough if I ran the still slow enough, there is a considerable amount of aroma but not a lot of juniper just orange. I'm going for another attempt tonight so I will keep the first cut and make that cut shorter and see what happens there. I do have a pot still coming in a few weeks time so I will make some more gin and use that again.

I thought the 5 week rest may of done some good so I will do that too

[still_stirrin]

[ljermontov]

I love the recepie Odin,it is great,thanks.

We also flavor our Rakija with juniper berries in Croatia,and it is nice.

I have heard the old stories ,that in ww2 all alcohol was confiscated for "medicinal purposes"
and people had to do their best with nature provided them,so they distilled local berries.

Mulberry,wild strawberry,strawbery tree berries and supposedly juniper berries were distilled.
How and can(if the story is true) the local juniper berries alone can be distilled?
Our local kind is Juniperus oxycedrus L.

[Odin]

This recipe asks for Juniperus Comunis. If you want to investigate other varieties, please start a new thread. I know Virginiana is eadible (or at least distillable), but the other varieties ... I'd be very careful. I don't want to be an ass, but because this is an easy recipe, I don't want starting hobby'ists read this and think: "Hey let's use other varieties!". At the same time, there are more varieties out there and it is a topic that deserves a discussion on its own. Hope you understand my reaction. And thanks for sharing the historical info. I visited your region twice and it is a beautiful part of the world!

Regards, Odin.

[ljermontov]

I totally understand You, and You 're right.It is a matter of safety,for taking wild plant you have to know the nature.
There are plenty of cases on Balkans ,people getting poisoned by mistakenly putting poisonus Juniperus sabina L. in rakija instead Juniperus oxycedrus.
I'll start a new the thread,but I will use Your recepie at home.
Thanks on Your kindness and best regards from Croatia.

[tomm292]

I tried this recipe , and man is it nice. I dont have the best setup for this, but i was able to make it work. I have a reflux column that has the cooling water pass through the column near the bottom and top. This setup has been great for making neutrals, consistantly 95-96 abv, but a pain for doing much else. I pulled the packing out of the column, and the cooling water was as warm as possible without having the output steam off. The gin still came off at 85%. I was worried i might have stripped all the flavors , but they had carried over nicely.
I had made a vacuum pump from an old refrigerator compressor a while back, so when i put all the ingredients together to steep for a couple days, i also put it under vacuum pressure. After the 2 days, i pulled out the skins and made a bag out of cheese cloth and suspended it in the boiler .
I diluted the 85% down to 55% with some 40%neutral, still very nice tasting but maybe still a little heavy on juniper. I was sitting around , having a sip of g&t and wondering about the whole thing. I pulled out a bottle of tanqueray to compare the 2. Mine was still definately stronger, but still has a nice flavor. I thought maybe i would take some 40% neutral and dilute again and see what happens. I mixed equal parts 55% gin with 40% neutral just to see where the flavor would go. It ended up being almost indistinguishable from the tanqueray.
Now my question is : its only been a few days since i pulled this off the still
A: should i let this sit at 85% for a few weeks to mellow before bringing the % down ?
B: should i bring it down to the 55% for a few weeks before i adjust again
C: should i bring it down to the 47.5% and then let it age ?

Being that this gin mellows or rounds out over time, my fear is bringing it to the desired taste now, only to have it fade over time.

Yes i know my still isnt the best set up, but when i have time i will make another, or at least a 2nd for running as a potstill.

Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks to odin for the recipe , and to everyone else for the input on this forum.

[Odin]

Dilute to drinking strength (45% is fine) and leave it for 5 weeks.

Odin.

[tomm292]

Thanks Odin , but i doubt this batch even comes close to 4 weeks, i just cant keep my hands off it.
If i keep the 85% gin, just to save space, and dilute it down in a few months, does the 5 week resting period still apply ?
If i wanted a hint of lemon or lime in the gin, would you suggest macerating a lemon or lime for a few days prior to adding the main ingredients. I ask only to save myself on a failed attempt . If this is possible what quantity would you recommend.

Thanks again.

[NZChris]

Thanks Odin , but i doubt this batch even comes close to 4 weeks, i just cant keep my hands off it.
If i keep the 85% gin, just to save space, and dilute it down in a few months, does the 5 week resting period still apply ?
If i wanted a hint of lemon or lime in the gin, would you suggest macerating a lemon or lime for a few days prior to adding the main ingredients. I ask only to save myself on a failed attempt . If this is possible what quantity would you recommend.

Thanks again.

To retrospectively add citrus, suspend a whole fruit above the gin, tasting every day until you get what you want. A stand made out of SS welding wire is good for this. If you follow Odin's method more closely, you won't have to do this.

[tomm292]

I am following Odins recipe, actually i am scared to change anything about it as its great as is. I was only asking that if i wanted a hint of lemon or lime what the best approach might be. Could you elaborate a bit more on what you are suggesting, i dont quite follow.

thanks again

[still_stirrin]

tomm292,

The vapor in a jar of gin also contains alcohol. That vapor will gently extract the citrus essence simply by suspending the skins above the liquid in a mason jar (closed lid, of course). Macerating will throw it all out of balance oh so quickly.

What Chris said was to follow Odin's recipe to the letter, including using the cleanest neutral, macerating the botanicals, putting the citrus in the vapor path, and distilling in a potstill. Follow his process as written and you will be rewarded with an exceptional spirit, balanced and refreshing, so inviting you'll want to do it again.

This recipe is very easy to do correctly. There is no reason not to do it.
ss

[kornflake]

Odin

I have to say you have a winner here. I have done two runs of your recipe so far and they have both turned out excellent. I lets it macerate 24 hour in the boil pot before hand with the Juniper crushed just enough to break the skin. After running I deluded it down to 40% and let it sit for 24 hours before tasting it. It turned out nice it has good juniper and citrus flavor, with a pleasant juniper after taste to it.

The first run barely made it a week. Going to have to hide some of the current run from the wife so it can taste it after aging 5 or 6 weeks.

Thanks for sharing you recipe.

[Odin]

You are welcome. Glad you like it.

Regards, Odin.

[Snackson]

Started a gallon of it macerating tonight. Used some 43% neutral made from some refluxed UJ. Going to let it sit for a day or two and run it with everything (minus citrus) in the boiler.

Edit: 2/21, wow is this stuff amazing! Just ran it and ended up with ~2400ml of 45% delicious gin to enjoy! Can't wait to see what it's like in 5 weeks.

[LondonCalling]

Hi Odin,

Great recipe BTW

Apologies if the answer to my question is buried in amongst the many replies on this thread (I have looked but might have missed it)...

Is there any calculation for how much tangerine peel to use? The original recipe just calls for the whole skin of a tangerine but I just wondered what this might be in grams.

The reason I ask is that maybe the 'standard' size of tangerine found here in the UK might be different to other countries.

I followed your recipe to the letter, albeit I only had a small amount of spare neutral available as I was impatient so the 45% the botanicals macerated in was only 800ml. I reduced the amount of juniper and corriander by 20% and only put in 80% of my tangerine skin - this weighed 24 grams.

Although I have set down my the gin for the recommended 5 weeks I did have a small sample with some tonic (just to check it resembled something that would be good once set down!) however I felt the tangerine slightly over-powered the juniper in the initial taste (the after-taste was a little less tangerine heavy though).

I'm planning to do a 4 litre run on the weekend so wondered how much tangerine (in grams) to use.

On that point if I tried any other citrus fruit (lemon, lime etc) would you use the same amount of peel as you would for tangerine?

Thanks!

[Odin]

The easy recipe is a way to get started. If you feel the tangerine is too powerful ... cut by half. If you want to go lime ... definately cut by half.

Regards, Odin.

[LondonCalling]

The easy recipe is a way to get started. If you feel the tangerine is too powerful ... cut by half. If you want to go lime ... definately cut by half.

Regards, Odin.

Perfectly succinct, as always! Thank you!

[casper the Irish]

I got all my ingredients but where I work don't sell tangerines. Will satsumas do?

Having the same problem (I live in Britain too)

No tangerines are not the same as other citrus ~manderine, satsuma etc. Just scratch them and see. My greengrocer tells me they are seasonal here. Only available in the summer. Handy that, its height of the gin season too.

[casper the Irish]

Is that 22mm riser? How can there ever be room or purpose in packing it?

I would suggest keeping this as a potstill. Go for a 3" or 72mm dia column, and much longer, if you want reflux

[LondonCalling]

Hi Odin, another quick question... as always I have high hopes for having to time to do some distilling and start a maceration only for Mrs LC to give me a host of errands to run meaning I don't get the chance to fire up the still. If I do a maceration and strain out the botanicals after 48hrs do you reckon it will still be usable if I don't get to distill it until a few days later?

[Miggity]

Okay...I don't think there is any turning back .
I ran 2L of heads diluted to 43%, juniper, coriander, caraway, green cardamom and angelica. Clementine skin was removed after maceration
of about 22 hours. Ran it in my little air still using Odin's guidelines and came away with 1500ml of fantastic product. I added 5 slices of cucumber , removed them after two hours and bottled it.
Delicious.
Cheers to the One Eyed Wanderer