Al, your idea to include the gin box in the column is an excellant idea. Do you think that having the marbles and the botanicals all in one long column will change the temp at the top? Would it cause the temp to read cooler?

By the pictures you can tell that I am using a 5 gallon pressure cooker for my still so here is what I did based on my operation . . .

Mash was basically your video one recipe with changes. 11 pounds white sugar, 15 oz 100% pure lemon juice, 5 medium sized potates cooked in spring water and mashed leaving the water, 4 gallons spring water and EC1118 yeast - for a 5 gallon wash. Potential alcohol by volumne was 13% and PH'd at exactly 4%. It took 14 days for fermentation.

In the gin box I used 1 oz of dehydrated juniper berries (totally suggest crushing them), zest from 3 lemons and 2 limes.

Before starting the distillation I put squeezed the lemons and limes into the wash but did not add the actual fruit or seeds. Reflux action to get the proof up. Proofed at 177 so I cut it down with distilled water to 110 proof.

I bought a bottle of Tanqueray Gin and to my surprize the proof is 94.6 and that got my flavor close and that is with the crushed juniper berries. Honestly in a blind taste test only the most sensitive pallets would know the differerce.

Some advice is for sure don't add the berries after and steep them, they will turn your Gin green. Made this mistake with my first run. Also made another mistake in my first run of Gin is that I proofed down a small amount to 80 proof for my wife but it killed the bite that good Gin has.

Question for you Al, what does the Cilantro do for Gin?

Shiner

Temp at the top should be the same...but I haven't tried it yet. Cilantro gives a flavor that I like but it's different from regular gin. Years ago when my Dad was still alive he used to drink a Dutch aromatic gin - I think it was called Veve Severy or something like that. He liked it but the first time I ever tasted it I thought it downright stank. Then it grew on me and I liked it eventually. I don't know what the flavorings were but I've been trying to duplicate it. It's funny how you can develop a taste for things. I was introduced to Marmite by a Brit friend...it looks like tar and you spread it thin on toast. First time I tasted it I thought it WAS tar. But I kept coming back...now it's a staple at home. Go figure

Good Idea guys!

Hey guys, have a question for you. I made my gin and things were great. My wife wanted me to cut the proof down a bit just recently so I took a small supply of gin and added distilled water. Made sense to me since the gin was distilled. The weird thing was that it clouded up below 110 proof. Why did this happen?

Shiner

Mine clouds up too, it might just need filtered?

I don't think filtering will help. There is a reaction happening possibly by one or more of the gin ingredients...ouzo will do exactly the same thing. This will need some looking into...

Thanx Al, It could possible be explaned in video 3 ??

Shiner

Just getting ready to start a wash and was wondering if al tried the gin recipie

Shiner

Al, I took your advice on putting the botanicals right in the column instead of running through a gin box. Works great! I put the screen on top of my marbles and put the botanicals on top of that. The first bit starts out a little green but turns clear once it is up to temp. The taste is MMMmmmm! My wife only drinks my gin now, she is a firm believer now - no headaches like store bought!

shiner

That's great!