When to add gin maceration botanicals to the wash

[Turbo6ta]

I plan on making some gin and have a question about the botanicals (flavoring):

I am going to use the maceration method of flavoring the gin. I will be putting the juniper berries and a few other botanicals in a cloth bag and then putting this bag into a jar of 80 proof vodka to steep for a few days.

My question is: Once the maceration of the botanicals is finished, should I add it to the wash prior to the wash being fermented, or should I wait and add it to the wash after fermentaion (just before it all gets distilled) ?

Thanks ...

[Turbo6ta]

One more question ... My small batch wash will contain:

Bottled Water
2 gal

Sugar
8 cups (3.5 lb)

Flaked Corn Maize
6 cups (2.0 lb)

Yeast EC-1118
2 tsp

Do you think it is really nessesary to add a little 'Amylase Enzyme' to the wash prior to fermenting ?

[SW_Shiner]

Gin botanicals are macerates in distilled spirit, then the spirit is run again as is, not added to more wash. Adding botanicals to a wash will mean that a lot of flavour will be removed when doing cuts.

[Saltbush Bill]

As above , you don't run wash when making gin.
You need to create a good clean base spirit beforehand.
Then macerate the botanicals in that , the charge the boiler with the combined base spirit and botanicals.

[higgins]

It sounds like you would benefit from reading this topic: Odin's Easy Gin.

Gin is basically proofed down neutral flavored with botanicals, then redistilled.

[Turbo6ta]

As above , you don't run wash when making gin.
You need to create a good clean base spirit beforehand.
Then macerate the botanicals in that , the charge the boiler with the combined base spirit and botanicals.

Maybe I didn't explain what I plan to do very well. Let me first say that I am very new to all this. In fact, I have never made any spirits in my life.

With that said, since I am new, I just purchaed a cheap Vevor 3 gal 2-pot (boiler & condenser) still to practice with.

My plan is to:
1. Put the botanicals in a cloth bag.
2. Then put this bag of botanicals in a jar that contains 80 proof store bought vodka.
3. Let it steep for about 3 days at room temp.
4. Remove and discard the bag of botanicals from the now flavored 80 proof vodka
5. Finally, pour this flavored vodka into the already fermented wash just prior to distilling

This is the way I have seen it done on youtube videos when people don't have the type of still that has a basket or something that will allow for vapor infusion.

[Saltbush Bill]

Pouring pre macerated botanicals into a wash then distilling is not the way to do it.
You will loose most of your flavour in the fores and heads cuts before you even get to the heart of the run.
You need to slow up a bit, learn how to make your own decent base spirt first, learn about cuts, learn how your still works and why.
I don't know were you got those instructions but even the wash recipe isn't something that most here would use.
Go to our recipe section and look for Shadys Sugar Shine recipe as a wash for your base spirit.

[Turbo6ta]

It sounds like you would benefit from reading this topic: Odin's Easy Gin.

Gin is basically proofed down neutral flavored with botanicals, then redistilled.

Ok ... So, if I understand this correctly. I am using a cheap 2-pot still and since I don't have the ability to vapor infuse with a stainless grid/screen I am going to first distill the wash with no flavorings added. Then once I collect all this newly created clean base spirits, I clean the boiler and pour all the base spirits along with the macerated botanicals back into the boiler and do a 2nd distillation.

Basically a Stripping Run followed by a Spirit Run (with the flavoring in this 2nd distillation).

Am I right ?

[Saltbush Bill]

I am using a cheap 2-pot still

Not exactly sure what you have there by two pots do you mean a boiler and thumper?....a photo would help.

and since I don't have the ability to vapor infuse with a stainless grid/screen

Not at all necessarily you can make perfectly good gin by throwing the botanicals straight into the boiler.

I clean the boiler and pour all the base spirits along with the macerated botanicals back into the boiler and do a 2nd distillation.

Pretty much.

Basically a Stripping Run followed by a Spirit Run (with the flavoring in this 2nd distilation).

Personally I would ferment enough to have enough wash to do 3 or 4 strips so that your boiler is full of low wines when you start your spirit run.
This will make it a lot easier for you to make reasonable cuts , especially as you seem new to this and making cuts.
Without putting in the work its going to be hard to make a very clean base using that still. Hard but not impossible.

[SW_Shiner]

Almost right. You need to do a stripping run, then a spirit run with cuts to take out fores, head and tails. Then, with that finished spirit is what you use to macerate the botanicals, than that goes in the boiler. Its up to you whether or not you run with the botanicals in the boiler.

[Turbo6ta]

Thanks 'Shiner'

'Bill' ... Here is a photo of my cheap 3-gal 'starter' still:

[NZChris]

Reading this forum lately, it might seem like a single stripping run is enough to do a spirit run. It is possible, but that doesn't make it a good idea, three or four runs is much better.

No, you do not put the botanicals in the spirit run. The spirit run is to get rid of unwanted flavors before you do the gin run.

I'm doing a gin run today. The spirit has already been run twice, the original ferment was many times the volume of the pot. The botanicals went into the pot, loose, yesterday evening and will still be in the pot when I run it.

[Turbo6ta]

Thanks Chris ...

Something I just noticed in my very short time being a member here ... A big percentage of the members posting here are from Australia and New Zealand.

Distilling spirits at home (moonshine) seems to be more popular 'down under' than it is up here in the US ... What's the deal wit dat?

[SW_Shiner]

Thanks Chris ...

Something I just noticed in my very short time being a member here ... A big percentage of the members posting here are from Australia and New Zealand.

Distilling spirits at home (moonshine) seems to be more popular 'down under' than it is up here in the US ... What's the deal wit dat?

Well its legal in NZ for a start. We also seem to have a large alcohol culture down here.

[Turbo6ta]

Well its legal in NZ for a start. We also seem to have a large alcohol culture down here.

No doubt .. When I was living in the Philippines, some of my best 'drinking' buddies were Aussies and Kiwis. In fact, a lot of them owned / ran bars in certain areas of the Philippines.

Funny how here in the US you can brew your own beer and wine, but God help you if your caught distilling your own spirits. And to think, 'moonshine' was so much of American culture (especially back during the American proabition).

oh well

[NZChris]

Getting caught distilling in NZ back in the 1980s when I first started wasn't a lot of fun. Pretty much the same rules and penalties as you have in the USA now.

Ozzies have cheap access to some of the finest molasses on the the planet, so it's not surprising that they have keen rum makers.

Last I heard, they had really annoying home brew beer rules.

[Steve Broady]

Thanks 'Shiner'

'Bill' ... Here is a photo of my cheap 3-gal 'starter' still:

That still is not the right tool for the job, I’m afraid. In order to make gin, you first need to make a clean neutral base spirit. It should be good enough to drink on its own, before you add the botanicals. Then you distill it again after maceration.

A small pot still is a pretty decent choice for the final distillation, but it’s not the right thing for making the neutral sport in the first place. It can be done, but you’ll have to do a lot more work to get a product that till be happy with.

Ask me how I know. I was using the 8 gallon version of the same still. I can’t imagine trying to do all the stripping runs it would take in just a 3 gallon boiler. And that still as purchased has some significant flaws which you’ll want to address if you’re serious about making good products and just enjoying your time with the still. This might give you some food for thought. viewtopic.php?t=89172

[Turbo6ta]

That was a good read ... Thanks for posting the link

[NZChris]

That pot is larger than anything that I do gin runs in.

It is way smaller than the pots that I make my base spirits in.

The smaller your pot is, the more runs you have to do to produce the same amount of alcohol. There is no easy way to cheat on this. High ABV washes taste bad without expensive or time consuming cleanup tricks. For my 8.5g pot, I ferment anything up to eight stripping runs worth of wash to give me enough base spirit for several gin runs. When I built my still, I already knew that stripping was going to be tedious, but I knew about Charentais preheaters, so built one to speed up the process.

You will be told ad nauseam on this website that good gin needs neutral and that you should use a reflux still to make it, but that isn't quite true and I've made a lot of very nice gin using lightly flavored pot stilled base spirits from grains and grapes and other fruit. The trick is to match the base spirit to the botanicals in the gin. Sugar washes made using the backset, pressings and trub from making whiskeys and brandies can be very suitable for some gins, flavored vodkas, Absinthe etc..

I do have a reflux still and use that to clean up feints to make my finest neutrals.

[Saltbush Bill]

You will be told ad nauseam on this website that good gin needs neutral and that you should use a reflux still to make it, but that isn't quite true and I've made a lot of very nice gin using lightly flavored pot stilled base spirits from grains and grapes and other fruit. The trick is to match the base spirit to the botanicals in the gin. Sugar washes made using the backset, pressings and trub from making whiskeys and brandies can be very suitable for some gins, flavored vodkas, Absinthe etc..

It might be worth taking into account that Turbo is about as fresh to this hobby as they come, most members are going to try to point him in the easiest possible direction.
Hence references to Shadys Shine recipe.
It will if done properly , stripped, then distilled carefully , with good tight cuts, give him something usable.
I don't see a reason to complicate things at such an early stage in the hobby.
Learn the basics first.