Odin's Easy Gin

[Odin]

You got it right on all points, Sphaleron.

Congrats!

Odin.

PS: Eating a steak for breakfast and of to work in a few minutes. Enjoy your day and the upcoming weekend guys.

[MtRainier]

One thing I noticed when diluting with neutral is that I can get it to clear, but then on ice it will louche again unlike pro gins. I think I'll have to go past the point of clearing it at room temp to keep it clear on ice, but that seems like giving up flavor which I like.

Best thing about doing my own with this recipe is that I can make it way bigger than a commercial one because I don't have to be picky about the haze.

[Odin]

The ice cools the drink, limiting solvency again.

Try to avoid the louch, because some oils/tastes come out of soluiion sooner. The haze will change flaver and not for the best.

Odin.

[sphaleron]

Thanks for the advice once again Odin, I was very jealous of your breakfast this morning

Something just occurred to me and you've probably thought of this already. I've been looking at commercial gins for recipe inspiration. If you want to know how much juniper is approximately in any commercial gin then can you dilute it with water very slowly until the exact moment it goes cloudy. Then measure the ABV of your diluted solution, lookup the "taste saturation" threshold (grams of juniper per litre of 43% base spirit) for that measured ABV, and that corresponds roughly to amount of juniper in that gin. There must be a mathematical function or graph that can be devised through experimentation and research that allows you to lookup that value. Obviously depends on a few other things, for instance temperature, the oilyness of the juniper barries and the presence of other oil bearing botanicals within the gin, but given that juniper is always dominant you may be able to make a reasonably accurate guess?

[Odin]

Maybe yes, maybe no. Rumor has it many of the big boys use essences. As long as these are natural all is fine, but what if not? Anyhow, go ahead and test it and report back please. I like the approach.

Regards, Odin.

[NZChris]

Gin isn't just about the intensity of the juniper. It's about the balance of all of the botanicals relative to each other.

[Odin]

Amen brother.

[The Dark Alchemist]

So, I have 10L of OEG, aged beautifully, all de-louched and sitting at 42% ABV.

Drinking with tonic, it's pretty good and I am happy with it. However, when I taste it neat, it's very bitey and not smooth. I want to run an experiment with a couple of litres to see if I can improve it.

I plan to take 2L @ 42&, drop it back to 30%, then re-run it through my T-500. I made the original batch through the T-500, with all the botanicals in the boiler and the flavours came over nicely. I am thinking it may be some tails causing my taste concerns when neat.

I think there are 2 options;

1. Just run it slow, make cuts and taste test to determine what is kept, and what is not, effectively cutting out any potential tails in the mix

2. Add some Juniper/ Coriander and Tangerine to the gin, with some more neutral; let it sit then do step 1.

Any wise comments to help differentiate between either option?

[Odin]

Taste again and assess where it bites. Front of mouth, middle of mouth or back of mouth/throat? At the first second, on seconds 2, 3 or 4, or later, if you start counting the moment you take a sip. So where ... and when.

Odin

[The Dark Alchemist]

Taste again and assess where it bites. Front of mouth, middle of mouth or back of mouth/throat? At the first second, on seconds 2, 3 or 4, or later, if you start counting the moment you take a sip. So where ... and when.

Odin

Odin,
Sitting here with a neat glass and tasting.

The burny-bite hits at the back, towards the top of the mouth and then flows back up the nose, after about 2 seconds. It's a progressive intensity that drops suddenly after the burn in the mouth but lingers through the nose.

Some background on the production process; mascerated 10x quantity of juniper, coriander and tangerine in 5L of 91% ABV in what I felt was reasonable (stripped, then spirit ran TPW through a T-500 in "water mode" ie, with water only going through the condenser, not the column - saddles were removed from the column) neutral, for 2 weeks. Diluted to 30%, then ran slowly through the T-500 in "normal mode" (ie packed column). Took top 20ml off then cut to 42% and left. IT's almost 4 weeks since blending, although it was quite louchy at 40%, so last weekend, I went through the process of adding 42% neutral to eliminate.

It tastes great with a mediterranean Fever Tree, Capi or Shhh, you know who, tonic water, but neat, it's not as smooth as my first batch.

Thanks for your insights.....

[Odin]

If it hits at the back, its probably you ran it to deep into tails, too fast or for too long, overcooking the ingredients. Now, presuming you didn't distill for over 8 hours, it is probably one of the first. Run slower and/or cut earlier.

Odin.

[NZChris]

Have you sampled the neutral at the same abv, Alchemist?

[The Dark Alchemist]

If it hits at the back, its probably you ran it to deep into tails, too fast or for too long, overcooking the ingredients. Now, presuming you didn't distill for over 8 hours, it is probably one of the first. Run slower and/or cut earlier.

Odin.

Thanks for the info; don't think I ran too fast or for too long so suspect my base neutral was too deep as you suggest.

Have you sampled the neutral at the same abv, Alchemist?

Tried some of the neutral, and had a similar burn, which I think confirms the above.

Next question would be how to fix?

I would think to re-run it, but slowly, taking better cuts and tasting to determine where to keep, and where to discard, in an attempt to remove the tails that are there - no additional botanicals in the boiler. Does that make sense?

[Expat]

Unfortunately no, If the base neutral is the problem, you're going to want to start over. The botanicals and heads live in the same place, so if you run again and cut them, you'll have a very poor gin. Give it a shot if you want.

Couple other things. Have you done the 5 week rest as Odin advised? This makes a massive difference.

Also, unless I've read incorrectly, you macerated your botanicals in 91% instead of the suggested 43%.

OEG is a well thought out recipe, until you're well practiced it's advisable to stick with it.

[NZChris]

Next question would be how to fix?

It tastes good with tonic, so why fix it? Make a new batch of neutral, or re-run what you have, then make a batch of gin for sipping.

Have you tried leaving some open to air for several days?

If you must fix it, you could try re-running it as you would when doing a neutral spirit run, running into at least a dozen jars, then taking your time making the choice of heart cut. I imagine it would be quite difficult because the heads and tails will be loaded with desirable flavors that you would be tempted to keep, but they really need to be tossed. Use this as your gin base and diluent for your next OEG.

[The Dark Alchemist]

Unfortunately no, If the base neutral is the problem, you're going to want to start over. The botanicals and heads live in the same place, so if you run again and cut them, you'll have a very poor gin. Give it a shot if you want.

Couple other things. Have you done the 5 week rest as Odin advised? This makes a massive difference.

Also, unless I've read incorrectly, you macerated your botanicals in 91% instead of the suggested 43%.

OEG is a well thought out recipe, until you're well practiced it's advisable to stick with it.

Thanks Expat.
It's been 4 weeks but I found with the last batch it was drinking very nicely after a week. To be honest, it is improving as time goes on. Had a glass last night, with a Capi tonic and it was alot smoother. I did mascerate at 91% as I was constrained by glass space, thinking the dilution would even everything out.
The batch I have on at the moment, is to the letter, except I am now slightly concerned about the base neutral.......

It tastes good with tonic, so why fix it? Make a new batch of neutral, or re-run what you have, then make a batch of gin for sipping.

Have you tried leaving some open to air for several days?

If you must fix it, you could try re-running it as you would when doing a neutral spirit run, running into at least a dozen jars, then taking your time making the choice of heart cut. I imagine it would be quite difficult because the heads and tails will be loaded with desirable flavors that you would be tempted to keep, but they really need to be tossed. Use this as your gin base and diluent for your next OEG.

I have 50L of TPW waiting to be run. I'll keep best cuts and make another batch and follow to the letter.

Makes sense if it tastes good with tonic, then drink with tonic........... I'll try taking a sample and leaving it to air for a few days as an experiment.

Thanks all, and I'll post my observations.

[Jimbo]

What the heck was Jimbo infusing on the first page of this post cause his is solid green?

Been meaning to get back to this question for weeks. I just checked my recipe.

42 gr juniper berries
12 gr coriander seed
5 gr fennel seed
zest from 1 grapefruit
zest from 2 honey tangerines

Im guessing the fennel seed turned it green? Dont think the juniper or coriander was green.

[Woodsy71]

Hi there folks,

I was wondering if it is best to remove the citrus skins from the boiler before distillation?

Regards

Woodsy

[kiwi Bruce]

Absolutely must remove the citrus skins or the flavor will over power the whole spirit...I remove the citrus early anyway, so test what you like over a couple of batches.

[Woodsy71]

Cheers Bruce

[NZChris]

If doing Odin's Easy Gin, I move the peel to the gin basket or leave it in the boiler. If you find the citrus too strong for wherever you put it tweak your recipe for next time, but I've never felt that a bog standard OEG done according to his original post is overly citrus, wherever I've put the peels.

[Saltbush Bill]

I was wondering if it is best to remove the citrus skins from the boiler before distillation?

Howdy Woodsy, don't see you around these parts much. From my experience of gin making a little citrus goes a long way. Same as making other citrus skin based drinks don't get any pith , just the very out side of the skin. For what its worth I do leave the skin in the boiler when I make gin, but different recipe.

[Woodsy71]

Hey there, Salty

Life keeps getting in the way of my preferred hobbies, so I'm not as active on the forums as I used to be.
I've also decided to cut my gear back to a simple 2" potstill. No vapour infusion. I used to live on Stubbies gin, but now am looking at maceration. I thought i'd start hear with Odins Gin.
I ran it yesterday, haven't knocked it back to proof yet, seemed to go well. The only problem I can detect at this stage is a little "soapiness" on the nose. I'll check it again when it's proofed down to 45%.

Thanks for your input, gents.

Cheers

[fizzix]

Went to the sister-in-law's for Thanksgiving.

"Did you bring some of that GIN?"
"Yes. And tonic."

Then sat back, watched the smiles light up, and took in the compliments.

Thanks yet again, Odin... even though I took the credit!

[Celis]

Reading this topic really gets me thinking of making a mini still just for making some gin! Can't wait to try this recipe!

[Leon]

Did my first attempt at OEG today. 1L 96% bw absolutely free of any taste or smell. Macerated 20g of norwegian junipers, 6g of ground (!) coriander and 1,5 skins of small clemetines in a qarter of the total volume of 43%. Chucked it all in the boiler after 7hrs maceration. Collected 15ml «fores» and 0,85L product in an hour.

First impression is a little heavy on coriander and clementine after diluting to 45%. Added the first oils back and after tasting diluted with another 0,3L of 45%. Much more balanced now, but a little rogh/bold. Not tested with tonic,-work tomorrow.

Thanks so much for a great starting point Odin!!

I think with ground coriander i need to reduce from 3 to 2g pr litre. Will probably use one clementine next time, and zest of a quarter lemon and lime for more citrus depth.

Also thinking of adding a tiny amount in the order of 1g each for this batch size of fresh thuja and spruce for a firmer and more complex picture in the «taiga» segment. I know thujon is poisonous, but not in this concentration.

Might also add 20-50g of peeled and deseeded cucumber for a little freshness.

Anyone that have some thoughts or experience on my botanical additions?

[The Baker]

With the traditional British thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches?

Could be okay...

Geoff

[Odin]

Maybe go slightly lighter on the cucumber. If its a Hendriks style gin you are after. The lime may go better with the cucumber than tangerine or orange.

Regards, Odin.

[Raize]

I substituted satsumas for tangerines and it came out far too citrus. I only macerated for 24 hours and removed the satsuma skins from the boiler before running! Just in case anyone else thinks about doing that. I had to throw about 50ml of super concentrated orange oils instead of 10ml and the finished product is very citrusy even so. Still good though.

[FL Brewer]

I just finished stillin' a batch of Odin's gin, and tried to incorporate my learning from the first batches I did. I used Odin's recipe, with about 30% more juniper (I really like juniper) a little less citrus skin (5 tangerine skins for 6.2 liters of 43% neutral), and about 20% less coriander (and didn't crush it) than Odin's recipe. I macerated for about 18 hours, and distilled with the botanicals in the boiler. I took great pains to scrape almost all the white pith from the inside of the tangerine skins; that is very important if you don't want a bitter gin. After throwing away the first 15 mls (I had planned on Odin's recommended 10 mls, but it came so quickly, I switched to the collection jug a little late), I ended up with 2.5 liters at 82% ABV, when diluted down to 45% gave me a gallon jug and an almost full 750 ml bottle. That's six months of gin for me, as I do tend to get distracted by whiskey.......

The small sip I took just now after diluting to 45% ABV has me convinced I've got Odin's recipe dialed in to my tastes. I did the taste side by side with Beefeater, which is my go to gin, and they seem similar, although this batch needs time to develop, it's only 2 hours out of the still. The objectionable bitterness I got with my first try at this recipe was from the citrus pith, and I don't taste it at all in this version, but of course that may change as the gin ages. Odin's recipe is a great starting point, with the limited botanicals list, I can taste each of the three flavors and can make adjustments for my tastes. If I had a 10 botanical list of ingredients, I think I would have a hard time figuring out which adjustments to make. I know Odin made a point of that in the original post, but I've always liked to try for myself. I'm a believer now!

Another thumbs up for Odin's recipe, it's easy, makes a great drink and is a good starting platform to develop your own personalized recipe. Next task is to figure out a Hendrick's clone recipe, I like that mild, clean (cucumber?) flavor. I like Beefeater's for G&T, Hendrick's for a martini, so if I can figure out a Hendrick's recipe, I'll be totally gin self sufficient.

I'll update as the weeks go by and the flavor develops.