Odin's Easy Gin

[mendodistilling]

Anyone use dried peel? What range per liter do you use?

[NZChris]

Anyone use dried peel? What range per liter do you use?

I dry my own to use out of season and use the equivalent of what I would have used fresh.

[Rum Monkey]

Well yesterday I got around to starting out on a small batch of OEJ.

My base is a batch of Bird Watchers Neutral sugar spirit. I strip it first in a pot still, then I run it through by BOKA reflux still to 95% ABV or so. I took reasonable cuts of heads and tails so the hearts seem very clean, just the slightest hint of sweetness once cut back down to 45% +- ABV. The store was out of distilled water so I used spring water with the lowest dissolved solids I could find of the lot. The neutral is fine for mixing with juice for a quick evening cocktail.

I used about 6.25 Litres of 45% ABV as my base for the Gin.
Taking Odin's recipe I had this below as the baseline per litre:
1 litre of 43% plus ABV neutral spirit
12 grams of Juniper berries
3 grams of coriander seeds
Skin of one tangerine

My multiples were as follows:
6.25 litres of 45% ABV neutral
75 grams Juniper berries
19 grams of coriander seeds
6 skins of clementine, (It's winter here and harder to find a wide variety of fruits, Clementines are a cross between a Mandarin and a sweet Orange and are closely related to Tangerines as I understand it so that's what I used)

I also included two stars of Anise for a wee kick. Note, they really go a long way, I may have overdone that part.

I put all the dry goods in the cocktail blender and did a few quick pulses to bash them to bits. Some elements remained whole, some turned to dust, I figured I'd give it a try to see how it went. My order for a mortar and pestle from the wife is still outstanding and I ruined my coffee and spice grinder by grinding up a bunch of the kids crayons for a craft project gone wrong.

The spirit was loaded in my 20 Litre Carboy and then the fruit skins and finally the dried goods. It was all given a good shake to get started.

A few hours later, it smelled awesome, just like Gin. A hearty flavourful Gin, not exactly a delicate one, but we'll see where we get to with it.

So tonight I plan on running it through my pot still. I normally use a largely uncontrollable table top electric heating element but tonight I will have her set up on the gas kitchen stove so I can have more precise control over the heat. I want to run it a bit slower then previously.

The plan is to decant the mix, botanicals and all into the boiler, then pick out the Clementine skins. I'll run it like that through the pot still. My boiler is about 14 litres in total, with a 48" Liebig condenser. In total it will be about 30 hours of maceration time in the neutral before I run it through the still again.

Wife had one wiff and is already asking for a more complex nose on the whole show. I explained that I have to do it pretty much according to Odin's specifications before I get all fancy or everyone here will get a shade upset with me for going off the rails from a T+T recipe. (She used to work in the libations industry flogging major brands across the country so her palette is not exactly new to this game. Thus her request for something more sophisticated).

For my next batch I'll be putting together 100 litres of RAD's All-Bran wash for my base. I'll be paying a trip to our big market downtown to speak to the spice traders about finding some more exotic stuff like Seeds of Paradise, Orris Root, etc.

Depending on how this goes, my next batch I might be trying vapour infusion instead on my reflux still by putting a basket in the top of the packing with the botanicals in it, so my low wines will be distilled with the vapour passing through the flavours. I am building it so it has a small capture funnel at the top of the basket that will grab the refluxed liquid and channel it through a small copper tube, down the middle of the basket past the botanicals and into the packing. The aim is to eventually get to a more delicate Gin like Bombay Sapphire with that approach.

Eventually my Holy Grail is to be able to re-create a version of Pimm's so I can enjoy our flaming hot summers with a vat of that available to me.

Thanks Odin, smells great so far. I will let you know how it goes.

Edit: here be the botanicals basket design for the Boka reflux still:

[Odin]

Nice write-up, Rum Monkey! Soon you'll be a gin monkey ...

[Rum Monkey]

Pictures say it better...

[Rum Monkey]

So fired up the pot still last night and did a spirit run.

All the macerated concoction went in the boiler and then I picked out the orange peels and pitched em.

Came up to heat pretty quickly and then I turned it down and let it go slow. 1 mm stream out of the condenser.

I collected and dumped the first 20-30 ml, then straight into the jars for the rest of the distillate.
Jar 1, 900 ml+-, 84% ABV +-
Jar 2, 900 ml -, 82% ABV+-
Jar 3, 900 ml +-, 78% ABV +-
Jar 4, 600 ml +-, 40% ABV+-

Thinking I'll use the first three jars and send the rest to feints for the BOKA. Thoughts?

Smelled and tasted quite nice coming off the parrot last night. Lots of orange coming through last night. Even Jar 4 smelled and tasted pretty good last night, not tails per se but...?

Had a sip this AM of jar 2, seemed less refined then last night. I'll give it a day or two to air out, blend it, and let it rest as long as I can without consuming it to see if it behaves a little better with some time in a bottle.

[NZChris]

I don't believe there is anything to be gained by splitting the run, so run into one container for a calculated volume, then collect the last in 100ml increments. The only decision I make is whether, or not, to include any of them. They often taste ok, but might make the gin cloudy close to 40% ABV. There is no way I would chuck them in my general feints collection, so keep them separate intending to add them to the next gin, but usually drink them instead.

[Odin]

Cut out the first 100 mls to get rid of excess juniper oils!

Odin.

[Rum Monkey]

Cut out the first 100 mls to get rid of excess juniper oils!

Odin.

Will do, FYI, in your instructions you say to cut 10mls for up to 10 Litres of distillate.

May want to edit those instructions if that's not what ya meant.

Cheers

[Rum Monkey]

So I went with everything I had distilled and blended it all. I had pulled at least 50 l off the top and pitched it as fores already. Everything else smelled pretty good but with a range of flavours across the different containers.

Once blended I cut it to just North of 40% ABV. Again using the spring water I had laying about as the store still was out of distilled water.

A few of the bottles went cloudy on me but I am not too fussed about it, would have liked it clear but it still tasted very good.

Tasting notes:
The Juniper was the dominant taste by far. Wife and I were not sure at first, so I pulled out all the botanicals used in their raw form and crushed up a bit of each so we had some reference smells to compare to.

We had the Gin mixed as Gin and Tonic's with a dash of fresh squeezed Lime juice on ice.

Up till now wife has generally been disinterested in the whole distillation thing but this actually got her attention. Her general comments were that this was a very dry Gin and the one flavour was particularly dominant. Again, we determined this was in fact the Juniper berries coming through strong, but not overpowering. Hints of the Anise were coming though. At first we thought it was the Anise as the dominant taste, but once we tested against the raw botanicals again we saw it was the Juniper.

So all in all a success. 7 bottles worth plus at 750 ml per bottle.

For the next round I'll be building the Gin on an All-Bran base spirit and likely going to run it through the Boka as a vapour path basket for the botanicals so we get something more subtle. My all Bran started this last Saturday so who know's, could be running spirits by the weekend.

Thanks Odin, this is a solid starting point for a recipe.

[dstaines]

I bottled up my run of this last night and am very pleased. I have a 3 gallon pot still, so it's a lot of work for me to get any neutral spirit. I do have a glut of white wine though. So I ran 2 gallons of wine with the feints from a previous white wine brandy. I added a small amount of baking soda and ran everything again without cuts, to reduce the flavor of the brandy. From that I yielded almost a gallon of 80% brandy. Macerated all of the botanicals that Odin called out, with the addition of about 3 grams of fresh rosemary from my front yard. That was as far as I got for about 2 months, had to focus on some other stuff for a while.

Today it is a really crisp, citrus and juniper forward gin with a delicious muted note of rosemary. I think it is not quite as bone dry as others on here have experiencd because of using grape spirit as the base instead of neutral, but SWMBO and I are very pleased. Thats twice as much approval as I usually get!

[Konrad Arflane]

Odin...

Regarding your original recipe, given only 400mls is collected (after the discarded fores), would you recommend using the leftover dunder as backins for a future BW run, that BW run intended to be used for more of Odin's Gin of the Gods?

[Odin]

No dunder in this recipe.

Tails can be collected and ran at 95% for another vodka.

Regards, Odin.

[Konrad Arflane]

No dunder in this recipe.

Tails can be collected and ran at 95% for another vodka.

Regards, Odin.

Perhaps dunder is an incorrect term for what's left in the pot at that 400 ml collection level, but given it started out at 43% ABV, is it really necessary to continue running into the tails, as opposed to recycling it into a future BW run?

Was thinking that what little flavor was left over from the maceration might carry over to the next BW run, intended to be for more of this Gin, and might offer a more complex flavor in the next macerated Gin run...

[Odin]

Did you actually try this recipe? If you redistill something like 30%, it should come out at much higher than 43%!

Odin.

[Konrad Arflane]

Did you actually try this recipe? If you redistill something like 30%, it should come out at much higher than 43%!

Odin.

I have not yet. It's next on my list after the SF I've recently made, as I love a good Gin Martian...have the juniper berries on order and will be starting a BW ferment this weekend.

Added a bit to my thoughts in my last post...

As to the 43%, I was speaking of the liter that goes in the pot to get that 400 mls...I would expect what's left in the boiler at that point would be less than 43% ABV, given the majority of the alcohol is drawn off in the re-distillation?

Also, that there might be a touch of that macerated flavor left in the boiler...not carried over into tails, which might carry over if added to a future BW run, used again in maceration as per your recipe...not really a generational accumulation ala SF or UJ, but a hint that might add some complexity to future Gin runs?

Or perhaps save the leftovers from several gin runs, to be added to a single BW run at some point?

But perhaps I'm completely at sea here...

[Odin]

I'd say: try it and let us know if it works!

Regards, Odin.

[Konrad Arflane]

I will, and will report here.

Also, based on all accounts of this recipe throughout the 5 pages..."Easy Gin" is entirely inappropriate, and it should be retitled to "Gin of the Gods!"

Looking very forward to trying this.

[Odin]

Go get them, Konrad!

Regards, Odin.

[heyhaychapman]

Hi Odin many thanks for starting this thread. I followed your recipe and now have 2 litres of deliciously scented gin waiting for the magical week 5 to arrive. Just having the occasional sip to make sure that everything is ok.

Doubled the neutral, doubled the ingredients, macerated for 24 hours in 43% abv, pulled the peel out before boiling all the others in the still. Followed your instructions for cuts.

I ran the rest for feints and almost immediately the tails scent was there so your recommendation to stop at 400mm (800mm for this run) is bang on.

[Odin]

Congrats on your success!

Odin.

[still_stirrin]

Odin, I made my first "easy gin" this week. Great recipe and I really appreciate the protocol outline. It makes things very (easy) controlled for consistent results.

My run was scaled to 2 liters of 43% ABV all-bran neutral and I added Angelica root and Oris root at the X/100 ratio (according to Zymurgy Bob's post). I also added dried bitter orange peel and dried lemon peel at the X/100 ratio. Total botanicals and citrus was 30 grams per liter. It smelled wonderful throughout the 20 hours of maceration.

Oh, and I macerated the citrus separate from the botanicals (in 700 ml for the citrus and 1300 ml for the botanicals) to simplify the removal prior to redistillation. Then combined the liquids together into the boiler for the run.

I pulled off 50 ml at the start and discarded (maybe too much??) and then collected 100 ml (jar 1), 650 ml (jar 2), 150 ml (jar 3), and finally 200 ml (jar 4). I shut down when the distillate fell to 45% ABV.

I kept the jars separate so I could blend them to taste then next day. Jar 1 had a distinct orange aroma and the citrus taste was evident over the juniper. Jar 2 is the "textbook" gin, with juniper aroma and a clean dry finish. Jar 3 is very big in the "roots" flavor, bitter and somewhat spicy. Young (day 2 off still) it is "peppery".

So, I blended all of jar 1, 2, and 3 giving me 900 ml of 79 %ABV, which I tempered back to 90 proof (about 1.5 liter). Beautiful to look at (crystal clear) and it has a subtle juniper/piney aroma. Tasting it, the spiciness still predominates (day 3) yet and the juniper could be more forward according to my paradigms.

All this background for this question....as this matures in the bottle, will the peppery spiciness subside allowing the juniper notes to come forward? Or, do you think the berries should be increased in my next run? The berries are fresh and moist from that shop that Bushman recommended. Very good juniper, for sure.

I think the gin is great and perhaps I made it too complicated (for my first). I will definitely do another.

And "thank you" for building such a detailed recipe and protocol for us all to use. It does take the "worry" out of the process.
ss

[Odin]

I'd say you have nothing to worry about. ZBob's x/100 for the additional ingredients is spot on. On a small batch like you made, if you want to up the juniper, maybe just discard 20 mls instead of 50 mls. The reason I say so is because you seem to want a bit more juniper flavour, if I understand you correctly. And since it didn't mist up at 45%, my guess is that the berries weren't that strong. But just give it another four weeks and let me know how it tastes again. My guess is most of the peppery-ness will have subedued and the juniper will shine through more clear.

Good write up, by the way!

Regards, Odin.

[still_stirrin]

....And since it didn't mist up at 45%, my guess is that the berries weren't that strong. But just give it another four weeks and let me know how it tastes again. My guess is most of the peppery-ness will have subedued and the juniper will shine through more clear...
Regards, Odin.

Thank you Odin, for the quick reply.

And thank you again for the fabulous recipe and detailed process outline. You've made it easy for us to follow your footsteps.

Cheers.
ss

[pyrate]

Hey Odin and you great Gin experts,

your recipies are great! I am still tinking about the little aging/developing of the distilled stuff. You mentioned that it should rest for 5 weeks and that you dilute it before that to the drinking ABV. So does it make a difference if you dilute right after the distillation instead of dilute after the resting period of 5 weeks? Why?

The next tricky thing is the headspace of a resting vessel: Do rest in full bottles or in a bigger vessel with air in the headspace? I have read about oxidation as the most important part of resting spirits after distillation and if you rest in full bottles without air in the top, how should the spirit oxidate?

Here is the thing I am talking about: http://issuu.com/artisanspiritmag/docs/ ... 008_web/30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow (Page 31) What are you thinking about this?

pyrate

[buflowing]

Thanks for the link pyrate. Good read.

[Odin]

I just screw the cap off every now and then to let fresh air in. Or on my gins ... I usually put them in bigger demijohns with some air on top and take the cork out every now and then. Great read on that resting by the way. Often over looked. I even advice a vodka to have at least 5 weeks of rest prior to bottling. I get very interesting reactions on that advice, though.

Odin.

[carbohydratesn]

Hey, would anyone be able to show me what 12g of dried berries looks like? I'm hoping to give this recipe a shot with fresh, young, green berries, which I assume are a lot heavier than dried mature berries. Or even better, has anyone tried this with fresh berries, with recommendations on the amount per liter of neutral?

The best info I've found on this so far is here - http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 3#p6788592 - so I might just use that recipe as a starting point. I couldn't find much else through searching...

[kiwi Bruce]

I even advice a vodka to have at least 5 weeks of rest prior to bottling.

I mentioned this in another post, ( the long sleep - a five week rest) and could not remember where I read this. I've been letting my single malts rest after their bourbon stave aging, I think it makes a tremendous difference to the quality and maturity of the spirit. Kiwi Bruce

[pyrate]

Hey Folks,

There is another dimension I want to discuss: Cuts when making Gin. Usually we make a very small heads cut at the beginning to detach the essential oils (primarily juniper oils and citrus oils) and a individual/flavour tails cut at the end of the distillation. I make the heads cut by volume and the tails cut by temperature (experienced by flavour). -> Status Quo

Now I faced an issue with these heads cut. When making a vapour infusion gin or a mixture of macerated plus vapour infusion gin, the heads cut seems not to work properly. I am using a pot still with a basket at the top of the pot close to the steam pipe (which ends in the condenser). I think this combination makes it difficult to make a right heads cut by volume to kill the sharp oils (I use a lot of juniper and fresh citrus zests) at the beginning of the run. But the tails cut seems not to worsened because it is "just" a flavour cut.

My new idea to fix this is to distill vapour infused or combined gins (macerated and vapour infused) twice: First run without any heads cut but with a normal tails cut. Second run (just the distillate of the first run diluted to a workable ABV in the pot still, ca. 30-40%) with a heads cut by volume to get rid of the sharp oils and a tails cut when ABV drops down (e.g. at 90-92 degrees celsius in the steam pipe, at the first run I usually cut the tails at 85-90 degrees celsius).

What do you think? Anyone with any experiences in distilling a gin twice? Recommendations?

Thank you!