My first absinthe

[gumbl]

Yesterday, I completed my first absinthe.

The recipe was:
75 gr. anise
75. gr. fennel
25. gr. wormwood
1l 75%

Coloring:
2-3 gr. hyssop
2-3 gr. lemon balm

I let the herbs macerate for about 48h. I only have an airstill so I was afraid of burning the herbs in the still. My understanding is that you should distill with the herbs, so I took about 600-700ml of water and added to the herbs and heated that to about 60°c and let it cool. I then added the water (no herbs) and the alcohol to the still. I threw the first 100ml and only collected about 600ml.

I used turbo yeast and I'm guessing that is the reason why the spirit I was using didn't taste good, lol.

The result isn't good, I don't like the smell and the taste is not good (it is drinkable, but damn it....)

I think the only good thing about this absinthe is the color and the louche is... OK.

At the moment, I'm distilling some wine a family member made a year ago, really hope that the next batch will turn out better. Will also be trying a new recipe, adding some angelica and chamomile flowers to the macerate. (Some would probably tell me to stick to the basic wormwood, anise and fennel until I've gotten that right?)

Conclusion: Failure. Now the only thing to do is to improve

[Bushman]

I think absinthe takes work to get right, your color and louche look good I think your on the right track, your yeast choice will make a big difference.

[gumbl]

I think absinthe takes work to get right, your color and louche look good I think your on the right track, your yeast choice will make a big difference.

Point taken! I only used it because I had it ready.. Won't be making that mistake again

[DrGonzo]

The result isn't good, I don't like the smell and the taste is not good (it is drinkable, but damn it....)

Sounds like my tasting notes for a 'real' absinthe.

Nice work on the color though. Are you using the wormwood adjunct you normally see at a home brew shop?

[gumbl]

Hey Gonzo

I actually have to edit my conclusion - the glass i had was just a few hours after distilling the product, and honestly, I couldn't drink it. The next day I found that the smell had gotten better so I had another glass which tasted quite nicely! I then went back to read what had been said on the big absinthe posts and saw that most recommend ageing the product for some time.

But no, I'm not using anything from the home brew shop.
I ordered wormwood from http://www.baldwins.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow, I haven't been in any contact with what would be considered as a "good" wormwood, so I have no way of knowing if its any good
At the moment I'm growing some wormwood to use in the future, until then I'm just going to be ordering from different places.

The wormwood from baldwins:


I didn't use any pontica in the coloring process, I'm also growing that. Guess I won't have any until next summer, hopefully.

I used devotus' tips on the coloration http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 11&t=28658

[Durace11]

Will also be trying a new recipe, adding some angelica and chamomile flowers to the macerate. (Some would probably tell me to stick to the basic wormwood, anise and fennel until I've gotten that right?)

The color and louche look good to me in that pic but the most important thing IMO is the taste and possibly the nose. If you can't drink it it doesn't really matter what it looks like(color or louche).

First thing I am going to suggest is to run off some product as close to neutral as you can get it(exception noted below), let it air out for 48 hours to a week before you cover it up or add any herbs. Get a few different recipes together of different amounts of the herbs you would like to test and just macerate for 48 hours after the product airs out. This will let you test each maceration before you go through a double distill & will allow you to try multiple recipes from a single batch.

Being a former Mr. Distiller user I know it's hard to get a neutral and even harder to get a big batch of neutral so you have a few things working against you but the wine base should work fine for adding a little additional flavor to your absinthe so you probably don't need a complete neutral if your base complements the end product. I have made gin from a wine base run through a pot still and it was very nice with the added wine character.

[gumbl]

Thank you very much for that comment, Durace!!

So next time, I should for example make a few 1l batches of absinthe, using different recipes? (I noted down the recipes from the big absinthe post so I'll probably use the ones given there, also looking forward to try devotus' recipe)

Regarding the wine base, I decided to cancel that, or atleast postpone. Hoping to get BW sugarwash started in this or the next week.

Can't wait to try this out (Oh, how I wish I had a reflux to get a good neutral lol)

[King Of Hearts]

Interesting. For the sake of testing your herb mixture, why don't you just get some grain alcohol, cut it down to 55% and infuse with herbs, then cut it down to 40% abv then re-distill that. You'll get a clearer picture if your mix is good without blaming the alcohol.

[gumbl]

Interesting. For the sake of testing your herb mixture, why don't you just get some grain alcohol, cut it down to 55% and infuse with herbs, then cut it down to 40% abv then re-distill that. You'll get a clearer picture if your mix is good without blaming the alcohol.

Hey King of Hearts! Not a bad idea! But grain alcohol isn't available on the market here (we have a very limited selection of alcohol, can't even buy a decent absinthe and it costs a fortune to import alcohol - usually 2x or 3x the original price).

So if I'm not using something I make myself its really expensive, and I'm not willing to ruin something drinkable lol

But I think its going to be fine with the BW recipe

[Lawrence]

+1 on that!
Polish Absinthe is $42 a bottle.
Just try and buy anything better...

Some time ago I saw some 80 ABV in a specialist shop, it came in at $223 at todays exchange rate.

[King Of Hearts]

+1 on that!
Polish Absinthe is $42 a bottle.
Just try and buy anything better...

Some time ago I saw some 80 ABV in a specialist shop, it came in at $223 at todays exchange rate.

There are all different prices of Absinthe. I get Polmos Spirytus Rektyfikowany 192 Proof here for $16 a bottle.

$233 is crazy.

http://www.binnys.com/all/absinthe#/?pa ... e=2&sort=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I buy Absinthe essence from Gert Strand, it's excellent, from Sweden. You can make it 96% if you want, but i make it about 50%.

http://www.absintheliquor.com/how-to-ma ... -absinthe/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

http://absinthekit.com/en/absinthe-kits ... ad4f8df230" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[gumbl]

The brew shop has that essence, so maybe I'll try it and see how it goes.

But my main interest is to make my own absinthe out of my herbs, without the use of essences. Always fun if you manage to make something good

[King Of Hearts]

The brew shop has that essence, so maybe I'll try it and see how it goes.

But my main interest is to make my own absinthe out of my herbs, without the use of essences. Always fun if you manage to make something good

I didn't have the spirit or the herbs, it's a process. But now I have a kickass column and no time.

[gumbl]

I would be willing to trade some time for a column lol

But definitely trying that essence when I finish the next wash. Since I haven't had a real absinthe it's hard to really know what taste I'm going for Will be fun to see what this project turns into

[falconcrest78]

Please folks I need help. It’s going to be my first Absinthe run ever.
I do have 30 liter stainless steel electric (2500w, controled) keg still with boka design, the column is stainless steel.
Do I still need to fill the column with a copper mesh? Or keep it empty? Does it affect the taste?
Another thing, I have mixed all of the herbs and divide it into 4 2.5 liter glass jars and I have added double distilled 80% alcohol to it.
Do I still need to strain the herbs? Or I can push it into the keg? In the case that I need to add the herbs to the boil, Does the heat element affect the taste? I’m afraid the element will toast the herbs if it will stick to it.
Thank you in Advance
Falcon

[gumbl]

Please folks I need help. It’s going to be my first Absinthe run ever.
I do have 30 liter stainless steel electric (2500w, controled) keg still with boka design, the column is stainless steel.
Do I still need to fill the column with a copper mesh? Or keep it empty? Does it affect the taste?
Another thing, I have mixed all of the herbs and divide it into 4 2.5 liter glass jars and I have added double distilled 80% alcohol to it.
Do I still need to strain the herbs? Or I can push it into the keg? In the case that I need to add the herbs to the boil, Does the heat element affect the taste? I’m afraid the element will toast the herbs if it will stick to it.
Thank you in Advance
Falcon

I think with absinthe you would want to run it as a pot still - more flavour I guess.

I've strained my herbs before distilling and I've also skipped the straining and let it all sit in the boiler, didn't affect my product.. But I'm not sure that's going to work with your boiler.

Anyway, these questions would probably be answered a lot better if you ask somewhere else

[falconcrest78]

Thank you Gumbl, first i want to apologize that I posted my question in your column; I truly didn’t mean to interrupt your discussion, it didn’t ring a bell to me tell after I posted my questions, I was very excited to read your post and from your experience and the other folks here. Again I apologize to you and the other folks in this column.
About the distillation process that I already did, I did it with an empty column and on a very low heat, but still I got the toasted smell and taste on the final product. I guess you are right about the pot still; this will be my next project in the near future.
Best Regards
Falcon

[gumbl]

Oh, no need to apologize! It's just that the odds of receiving guidance from the more experienced guys is higher on other places

Hope everything goes well for you! Good luck.

[aknewb1s]

Has anyone else got a toasted smell or burnt elements after using immersed heating elements along with the macerated herbs?