Finished a batch of HBB and from the spent grains I did a sugar/gumball head. 50 lbs of pannela, the grains and enough water to bring it up to 15 brix, fermented racked and cleared for about 30 gal of wash.
For an experiment I wanted to make a sweet gin. Started with 15 gals of wash in the boiler, and three plates on the flute fitted with the carter head.
Brought her up to temp and pulled fores off, put her into full reflux for an hour,added my botanicals and started collecting.
After severe cuts and tempering down to 40 abv I'll have to say that it's some interesting stuff,Rumginsky?? The few folk that I gave tastes to liked it but for me not so much. Prob going to rerun it with more plates.
The forerunner to modern Gin came from Holland and was run from Brandy Low Wines, called Gineva ( some smarty took the idea from the Swiss and made the Dutch national drink out of it)... Ive tasted it...I must say it's not to my liking.
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kiwi Bruce wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2017 4:57 pm
The forerunner to modern Gin came from Holland and was run from Brandy Low Wines, called Gineva ( some smarty took the idea from the Swiss and made the Dutch national drink out of it)... Ive tasted it...I must say it's not to my liking.
I've my doubts about this, it's called Jenever in the Netherlands and is a grain based spririt, for one good reason, there's no grapevine in that country so no brandy, nor in Belgium nor in the North of France where it's called Genièvre. The name comes from genibre which was either the tree producing juniperus berries or the berries themselves, hence the name genièvre and also Gin, which is the short version of genièvre. The original recipe came from a Dutch doctor in the 17th century.
"In wine there is Wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there are bacteria."
Benjamin Franklin "In moonshine there is Rebeldom"
Garouda
I've been to a Jenever house is Antwerp and had Oude Jenever. The process of drinking it is quite interesting where the bartende fills it to the brim and you have to bend over and sip it out to get the first drink.
I may try to make some. I hadn't thought about that stuff in several years. It's hard to find in the US.
kiwi Bruce wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2017 4:57 pm
The forerunner to modern Gin came from Holland and was run from Brandy Low Wines, called Gineva ( some smarty took the idea from the Swiss and made the Dutch national drink out of it)... Ive tasted it...I must say it's not to my liking.
I've my doubts about this, it's called Jenever in the Netherlands and is a grain based spririt, for one good reason, there's no grapevine in that country so no brandy, nor in Belgium nor in the North of France where it's called Genièvre. The name comes from genibre which was either the tree producing juniperus berries or the berries themselves, hence the name genièvre and also Gin, which is the short version of genièvre. The original recipe came from a Dutch doctor in the 17th century.
Whilst true, I'll add that wine was a huge commodity all over Europe since the Roman period. Wine that soured would preferably be distilled rather than made to vinäger no matter where in the world it was shipped. English monks made brandy for example.
In 2018 I was lucky enough to help a friend of a friend in NW France run a bath of gin thru his grandfather's wood fired still. When I asked what his base alcohol was, the old gent shrugged and simply said, "Mirabelle" which is a type of small and sweet green plum. Later I asked what else he would use and his answer was basically, "whatever will ferment when I need to make some".
I tried the plum based gin brand new and it was interesting. Id love to try it after some aging time.
The Baker wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 6:03 pm
I've seen the expression 'bathtub gin' and been mildly puzzled...
I guess they macerate the botanicals in -- a bathtub.
Or whatever but that is the way of describing it. A rough method.
Geoff
I think traditionally a bathtub gin is what we'd call a compound gin, ie. one that isn't redistilled. Named as such because they were made in a bathtub (large watertight container) and then filtered and bottled.
"I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
🎱 The struggle is real and this rabbit hole just got interesting. Per a conversation I had with Mr. Jay Gibbs regarding white oak barrel staves: “…you gotta get it burning good.”
LWTCS wrote: ↑Sun Sep 26, 2021 4:50 amThey used a small still to ferment a “mash” from corn sugar, or fruit, beets, even potato peels to produce 200-proof alcohol,
Yeah ,I'm gonna say that not everything about that article is credible.
They sure had some magic in those 1 gallon stove top pot stills.
Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
