Genever

[Bushman]

As many of us have been making gin lately. I have been doing some reading about the subject. I never realized there is a definition of old and young Genever and it has nothing to do with age. In the article I read, it is defined as follows:

The difference between a young (=jonge) and an old (=oude) genever has nothing to do with the maturation of the product. A young genever mainly differs in production method and in taste from an old genever.

An old genever refers to the old production method and consists a great amount of malt wine. A young genever refers to the usage of neutral (grain) alcohol. In the beginning of the 19th century a new distillation method with a column, made distilling to 96% ABV possible. Consequently there was no grain taste left in the grain distillate. A young genever does not differ in age but in taste and composition to an old genever.

Malt wine is distilled to maximum 80% ABV, thus contains a lot of grain taste. An old genever will always hold a fuller grain taste than a young genever.

This got me thinking about how most of us are currently making their gin combining the new method of a neutral then macerating it and redistilling through a pot still to extract the flavors.

[Demy]

Interesting, actually the term "new and old" can be misleading...

[NZChris]

My Genever is somewhere in the middle and is quite nice. Narrow heart cut, double pot distilled wheat vodka for the base spirit.

If you have some new make white whiskey, do a Genever experiment with it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you are worried that there might be too much grain flavor, try using whiskey mixed 50/50 with neutral.

[Bushman]

My Genever is somewhere in the middle and is quite nice. Narrow heart cut, double pot distilled wheat vodka for the base spirit.

If you have some new make white whiskey, do a Genever experiment with it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you are worried that there might be too much grain flavor, try using whiskey mixed 50/50 with neutral.

There are so many possibility’s not sure what direction I want to go next!

[B_Stilling]

If you have some new make white whiskey, do a Genever experiment with it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you are worried that there might be too much grain flavor, try using whiskey mixed 50/50 with neutral.

A few weeks ago on a festival I tasted a gin that was based on rye. Had a real nice mouthfeel to it. Got me thinking.

After all its flavor we are after, so why not start with a base that has some positive aspects to it instead of 96% NGS right?

[NZChris]

Absolutely.

Contrary to advice I've read often on forums, many traditional drinks are not made using the finest neutral and do benefit from background flavors from the base spirits.

Forums are great places to find new ideas and directions for research, but not everyone posting on them has done the required research that they needed to do before posting.

I wish you well on your journey., wherever it takes you.

Cheers
Chris

[drive]

My two cents on "jenever"/genever.

The words "young" and "old" have nothing to do with ageing. It's all about malt wine content.
Jenever comes in three categories:
"Jonge jenever" 0 to 15% malt wine.
"Oude jenever" 15 to 51% malt wine.
"Korenwijn" 51 to 100% malt wine.

Jonge jenever is similar to wodka and gin, depending on the amount of malt wine and/or juniper berries.
Oude jenever definitely has a "malty" character, whereas the best of the "korenwijnen" (especially the aged ones) compare nicely
to high-quality whiskies.

Malt wine is not a product with a strictly defined specification. I think any combination of barley, rye and corn can produce a malt wine.
The malt wine is the key to new and surprising taste.

Happy experimenting !