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Ok here we go complete with pics. Just ran this tonight. Started out with 2 gallons of neutral spirit

Here is a pic of a gin basket I made. It hooks up immediately after the output valve on my reflux still. The juniper berries and botanicals go inside this and warm distillate trickles through them.



This is a pic of it mounted after the output valve.


This is a pic of the botanicals inside the basket with distillate trickling through them.



Here is one of the column with the gin basket setup:


And here is the business end where the Briar Patch Gin is collected. BTW it turned out great.



Ingredients used:

juniper berries (fresh)
corriander seed
anise seed
cinnamon stick
lemon peel (yellow part only)

I ran it through with no packing in column and no reflux ( the neutral spirit used was already high quality and needed no further refinining).
The distillate was quite green looking from the botanicals and also too flavourful.

I ran it through again and removed the botqnicals from the basket. The second run was nice and clear and has a very nice gin flavour and not as overpowering as the first run......and thats how I spent my Saturday afternoon.

I'm starting a "Bombay Saphire" recipe this weekend if I can get my new buckets and valves in time. I broke down and bought all the botanicals that go into it and even was lucky enough to find the grain bill for the base spirit. Just waiting for my 1183 yeast to get here befor I mash.

I love the gin head man. I was just going to stick my botanicals in a backet within in the center of the condenser shell and let the vapors condense on that. I made a mistake when I built my current reflux head: I wanted to make a thumper option that would let the vapors pass though like the Bombay Gin Head does... maybe next still..
BTW - Is that an ABV/hydrometer setup at the end of that head befor the bottle? Do you have plans and details on that if it is?

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DAMN RAMBLES!!!

very nice!!
it's the first time is see such a set up.
but I would make the neutral spirit input a bit longer, so the alcohol drips in the middle of the berries

don ventura, hereis Uncle Remus' still displayed, so is his ABV set up

To be a recipe it would help to know how much of what was used where.

2 tbsp juniper berries crushed
2 tsp corriander seed
1 tsp anise seed
2" piece of lemon peel with no white stuff
a piece of cinnamon stick about 1.5" long

All ingredients were put in the gin head. I used this much botanicals for 2 gallons of neutral spirit.

Your right stroker the input nipple does need to be a bit longer. This is the first run with this gin head. I did end up putting a short piece of copper tube inside that nipple to get it to drip in the center of the gin head.
A few minor changes will be made before I use it the next time.

I like that idea, but I wonder how you get an even distribution of the liquid over the botanicals? With the current design, it seems you would get more flavor from whatever the liquid is dropping onto. Does it work this way or would a disc filled with small holes and cut to fit the botanicals cup distribute the liquid over all the items?

Seems to be great Uncle Remus!

I planed to try some gin too, but with a SS basket in the top of my reflux column.

Thanks for this input.

Grayson_Stewart wrote:I like that idea, but I wonder how you get an even distribution of the liquid over the botanicals? With the current design, it seems you would get more flavor from whatever the liquid is dropping onto. Does it work this way or would a disc filled with small holes and cut to fit the botanicals cup distribute the liquid over all the items?

I thought about this. What I thought I might do is replace the 90 deg fitting on the bottom of the head with a 90 deg needle valve like the one you see on the output of the still. Then you could slow it down and let it dam up a bit in the gin head and submerge the spices. But even the way it is lots of flavour got into the distillate.

The final product is super smooth tasting even straight up. The spirit was distilled a total of 4 times.

One strip run through the pot still, one full on reflux run, one run through the botanicals and then a final run to remove the green colour and some of the flavour from the botanicals.

That is great. The basket is most cool. Is there a lid, or is the top of the basket open to the air ? I guess that would increase safety in case the botanicles plugged up the output someway.

Yes there is a lid, a brass one shown here.

UR,

Could you put an U in the output line so it comes part way up the side of the basket then turn out horizontal to your cooler/chiller? This would control the level of the liquid in the basket.

Never thought of a U but that would do the trick for sure. I'll have to do some minor modifications before the next run of gin. Actually a U would be a good idea as it would raise the output end of the cooler and I could use a larger collection container.

...that's what's great about this forum you throw a couple pictures out there and you get input and great ideas from others on how you might improve the existing mouse trap. Thanks guys

What's cool about this forum is seeing UR's mouse traps

Some of the best work you will see...

UR,

After looking at it more, might be easier to swap the input and output (If it does not interfer with the reflux level). Then the product would push up through the botanicals. just might need a screen to keep them in

That would be a problem just putting the head on the other way. Distillate would dam up and sit in the still. I think the simplest solution is like you said just make a U off the output, which is probably what I'll do.

Don Ventura wrote:BTW - Is that an ABV/hydrometer setup at the end of that head befor the bottle? Do you have plans and details on that if it is?

Don Ventura, I posted plan and picture of my ABV/hydrometer setup on http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2437
It isn't as nice as UR's one, but it works!

great looking set up uncel remus where did you find the fittings for that here i can barely find enough copper to build a still good work.

Thanks UR for making your pics of a size that will fit my screen and let me read the text without scrolling.

Uncle Remus,
I said you ran it through a reflux but no packing? I have a Still reflux (5 litres), and I am keen to try some of the mash recipies as well as the gin you mentioned. If I take the packing out of my reflux still, will it then be a pot still?

Nice setup, but wouldn't you get the same result by warming some +90% alcohol and pouring it through your basket. Or just dump it all in a bottle, macerate & filter? I don't see the point of redistilling neutral alcohol just to let the distillate drizzle over the botanicals. This is sloe gin right? Why bother with setting up your still & wasting energy to do this?

canadianmoonshiner wrote:Nice setup, but wouldn't you get the same result by warming some +90% alcohol and pouring it through your basket. Or just dump it all in a bottle, macerate & filter? I don't see the point of redistilling neutral alcohol just to let the distillate drizzle over the botanicals. This is sloe gin right? Why bother with setting up your still & wasting energy to do this?

This was more or less just an experiment. The best gins such as Bombay Sapphire are made in this manner. Cheaper gins are flavoured in the manner you suggest. Probably next time I make it I will start with a sugar wash, or sugar wash low wines and give it a total reflux and then let it pass through the gin head on the way out

I like the idea of fitting the basket to the output.

I was wondering, how would it go fitting the basket in the reflux pipe so that just prior to dumping back in the column it passes through the basket.

Would the reflux strip the flavours out too much, or would it be "just right".

I would imagine that during reflux the aromatics would be stripped out, but also at the same time the vapours would still hold something.

If you had a valved reflux you could probably run with minimul reflux and it would still have some flavour left...guess it depends on the still.

I think the next time I make it I will use the same set up, but start with a sugar wash. Then after the run I will probably run the product through my pot still to remove the oils and some of the flavour of the botanicals. When you use fresh juniper berries the gin comes out green for the first while.

uncle remus
That unit that you have holding your alcometor( i think thats what it is) what are the specs on it, I would very much like to build one for myself. Is that a parrets beak? it looks simular to one. I"m guessing that it is telling you when your % changes and giving you enough time to pull your hearts off before it changes?

THanks
PS: nice lookin stuff

How you build it depends on the length of your alcohol hydrometer. If your hydrometer is say 10" long, cut yourself a piece of 3/4" rigid copper about 12" long. Cap the bottom and drill a 1/4" hole right close to the bottom, just above the cap. Solder in a piece of 1/4" flexible copper tubing and bend it as necessary. On the top of the 3/4 pipe solder on a bell reducer fitting, maybe 3/4- 1-1/4'' . Right at the top of the reducer drill another 1/4" hole and put in another piece of 1/4" flex tube and make a parrots beak.....I will try and post a pic tomorrow of a new continuious monitor I am building...a pic is worth a thousand words

Uncle remus,
That's the same design as mine. I mounted it on a T section made out of scrap 3/4 inch copper. It stands up on it's own and works a treat.
As a matter of interest with the alcoholometer in, it it holds 80 ml.
Cheers
Mal

isn't gin made with steam distillation? (the vapour goes over the botanicals on the way to the condenser)

3 common ways for gin...

1) Macereate and distillwith the botanicals in the boiler
2) Gin basket with botanicals that are exposed to alcohol steam
3) Flavorless spirit infused with extracts

In the US all 3 can be labeled as gin
I have only used method number 1 so far, but have dilluted the flavor with clean spirit to get the flavor milder, so it is a combo of 1 and 3.
I like the basket idea, and will try it when my base alcohol supplies are increased.

I love your gin basket. Gin is one of the main things I want to produce, so I'll be building one! I'm really new to all this so I have a couple of questions. When you say you ran nuetral spirits through it, what exactly did you use? And what is the clear tube running between your output valve and condenser head?

Thanks,
V.R.

Neutral spirits were made from sugar washes, pot stilled first to strip and then ran through the reflux still.

Clear tube is a sight glass. Gives you a good idea how much your refluxing and taking off. In the case of the gin the reflux valve was closed as the spirit had already been refluxed once.