I have 2 stills and have learned about distilling and have made a lot of differing top shelf drinks that I love. I am in the process of learning what to do to make Gin. Just made a dedicated Gin still, No.3. What a find was this upload was. I can see myself having a lot of fun with the information that you guys have shared. Thank you so much for sharing. This is a huge leg up to get started with.
Wow! Thanks for another great video Brew bird. I vote this one as the best gin making tutorial anywhere on the internet. And I’ve seen a lot 😉. Happy for anyone to prove me wrong and send a link to one though 😀 Big Jaffa cake fan and might give that one a try 👍
As always a wonderful and informative video for self motivated gin lovers. I concur with Brendan White. On TH-cam, so far, this is the best video on this subject. Please prove me wrong. Good job--Miss Brewbird and Sam. Hope one day in the near future I can pay Shakespeare Distillery a visit. Nice clean and well furnished setup.
Absolutely fantastic info, well done. It is great to see wonderful people sharing what others would consider heavily guarded secrets. The very best of everything to you.🙏
Thanks so much for this video. It is exactly what I have been looking for. So much good information in here, particularly the amounts of botanicals to use.
Brewbird, wonderful video, great and informative, what I loved the most was the botanical additions document that you linked to. Your document (and watching your videos) boosted the quality of gin I make by an order of magnitude. Thanks a ton for posting such useful info. Every home distiller should have that printed out and tacked to their wall. One thing that would be cool to add to that document would be what cuts those flavors come through most in. I just did a thyme heavy (on purpose) run and all of that thyme flavor was concentrated into the first 100 mil. Fortunately I was starting with high proof clean NGS so I wasn't planning on throwing out "heads". It would be an even better guide to have flavors pinpointed in the cuts progression, like how the fruity flavors from juniper come through towards the end, or how coriander is heavy in the second 200 mil (I'm trying to mentally scale it down to 1 liter scale, so take that with a grain of salt). Do you have a public Google docs that maybe the home distilling community could add that kind of info to?
That's a neat idea. I get a bit nervous just having a document that anyone can add absolutely anything to. I don't have anything right now, let me think on it.
Hey Ms. B, I love the set up of the mini Stills with the option to make your own Gin! I love your passion for Distilling! I too have been bitten by the art 😄 Thanks for the Awesome Videos! Your Friend, Austin
Best video about this. Already suscribed! I want to start but a bit concerned about methanol. Any recomendation on how to be sure im separating this properly?
If the methanol really worries you, you can purchase the cheapest vodka from the liquor store and just use that. I'd still follow the recipe and discard a small bit from the start, as the flavour isn't as good in the beginning.
Hey Miss Brewbird, really great video! Just wanted to ask, why you think there is poison (methanol) in the start of distillation? From my perspective (family owned spirit distillery and my study in this field), methanol is produced during fermentation process of fruit, which we use for brandy (plum brandy, apricot, etc.). We remove foreshots and tails in our process but I dont see where there could be methanol in your process because you start with spirit which already is cleared of methanol (98% ethanol spirit). Once again, really good video just wanted to know your perspective on this, cause in my eyes you are just pouring out pure ethanol :)
Hi Martin! Yes, that's fair. I've gotten this question a lot. There is an insignificant volume of methanol being collected. The main reason we take the heads cut here is to remove any residual flavours/oils that are left in the still from previous distillations.
If you are starting out with ABV bottled ethyl alcohol or vodka, there should be NO methanol issues. Methanol enters the picture from yeast induced fermentation, but it has already been removed from human consumption grade alcohol. Now I know what I want for Christmas.
Yeah it's not really an issue, I've worked at a place where they didn't take any heads cut at all. However, methanol is not the only reason for taking a heads cut.
I made a video on louching here: th-cam.com/video/tcu9qaHHdkM/w-d-xo.html I have a bunch of other videos where I make gin as well, but yes we use those stills to make lots of different gins so its good to just discard a small volume at the start of the run to make sure we're getting the right flavours.
Any idea as to whether the recipe amounts would change if using a gin basket to vapour infuse teh botanicals rather than adding the botanicals directly to to 40% alcohol? Great video many thanks from Canada!
That's something you'll have to play around with! Although vapour infusion is usually a gentler process so I imagine if the botanical amounts were the same you'd get a less intense gin.
First off - great video and excellent information. You've inspired me to give gin a try. Question though, I understand taking heads for methanol and other nasty chemicals from a freshly fermented mash where these are produced as unwanted side byproducts of yeast metabolism. Why would you take a heads cut for methanol in the case of your alembic still where you presumably charged it with drinkable neutral sprits or, as suggested, a bottle of vodka?
How much "taste" is carried through by the alcohol vs water? There must be certain components that are only miscible (proper term?) with alcohol, and others with just water? Thanks.
There are definitely some flavour components that are more alcohol-soluble, and others that are more water-soluble. It's a difficult question to answer as it would really depend on what botanicals you are using, how it was distilled, strength of spirit etc.
Excellent video as always! Would you keep the same ratios when scaling up? And would you keep the quantities the same if you were to hang some of the botanicals (say the peels) in a gin basket?
Yes I'd keep the ratios the same when scaling up, and then adjust the recipe after that if necessary. If some of the botanicals were hung in a gin basket, I'd expect to get a different flavour profile (perhaps a more delicate flavour) from those botanicals. You'll have to experiment with it and let me know the results.
Great video but why do you say that the head contain methanol? if you load the distiller with neutral alcohol (ethanol +water) you should't have any methanol, it should have been removed during the previous distillation to obtain the neutral spirit
A couple of quick questions, if neutral Grain Spirit is/should already be rectified, where is the methanol in the first 15 ml coming from? The spirit is already 99.9% ethanol, isn't it? how long do you steep the botanicals in the spirit?
Hi! Methanol is difficult to completely separate out from ethanol. NGS is around 96%abv. Steeping time is up to you, 12-36 hrs is common. Please refer to this gin faq video for full answers: th-cam.com/video/W1rci3PT1xE/w-d-xo.html
Awsome video 🔥 about the allergens not being transferred I've always thought it's safer to assume it may cross over for any product or process when it comes to lethal allergic reactions, is there more information available about this specific to distillation? Much appreciated 😁
Hey Michael, sorry for the late reply. Allergens are usually associated with the proteins in foods. It's generally agreed that proteins don't distill and won't be found in the distilled product. You can find out more about it below. Hope that helps!🤗 www.foodstandards.gov.au/code/proposals/Documents/P1031%20Allergen%20labelling%20exemptions%20SD1%20Risk%20assess.pdf
Heyyyy brewbird, a question, why did you use 40% ABV here but when sam distillates uses 96% ABV? How can it change things? Which is better what is the difference and is the portions the same for both ABV? Thank youu
Hi Miss B! I love the video and I feel inspired to start brewing my own gin! Do you have any recommendations on a good starter kit? I really like the little copper pot stills you have! I was hoping I could buy one myself but I cannot seem to find any manufacturers in Europe. One more thing: Can I dillute my destillate with bottled water? Or does it really need to be reverse osmosis water? Keep up the good work!
i´m a beginner, so it is a great help for me. on question left. When i delute with osmosis water i get this cloudy luche effect. The recepy ist near to yours. What can Ido?
Hello! It is probably too many oils from the botanicals, so the oils can't remain in suspension. If you decrease the amount of your botanicals that should fix it. I also made an entire video about how to prevent gin louching, so you can also look at that: th-cam.com/video/tcu9qaHHdkM/w-d-xo.html
Very cool. Would you use similar amounts in a carterhead style still. I’m normally using around 30g of botanicals per L of neutral. This is around half your suggestion.
My botanical guide is for botanicals that are steeped, whereas the carterhead still is vapour infusion. I don't think the amounts would be the same, but I'd love for you to try it and let me know how it turns out.
Hi Miss Brewbird, thank you so much for your very informative video! I have a quick question: how long do you infuse your botanicals before distillation? Thanks. James
Hi James! I don't wait to let the botanicals infuse before starting the distillation. However, for other gins I have made, I have let the botanicals steep for 24hrs before starting the distillation.
Hi,I made my own gin recipe and gin brand,my recipe is for 1l copper still,how I will transfer my recipe for 20 liters copper still and for 500 l copper still? It is a rule?
Methanol is extremely difficult to completely separate out from ethanol so there will be some in the NGS. However, the amount will be so negligible that you can argue that you don't need to do a foreshots cut. Some distilleries like to do it just to err on the side of caution while others don't do it.
knowing there is so many different flavours in a gin is probably why I am not a lover of some of the ones I have tried because my taste buds where fighting so hard.
Thanks for the awesome video as always, have you ever tried the same recipe on the different distiller? Like this 2 or 1 liter alembic or the distiller for commercial use, would that be the same?
Hmm.. no I haven't with the gin. I've scaled up a rum distillation from the 2L alembic still to a 500L istill, but it didn't turn out the same so we had to change a lot of things about the fermentation/distillation when we distilled it the 2nd time.
Hello Miss Brewbird, first let me congratulate you for your amazing work on your videos, fast, simple, and really useful. I recently started to work on a small family distillery in the marketing department. I'm fascinated at some point to create my own gin recipe and I'm trying to learn some stuff by myself. I have a small question regarding the NGS, which you mention at the beginning should be 40% abv, In my case it would be obtained from an NGS 96,4% plus water(filtered?) until we reach the 40%, however, at the end of the video you mention, adding reverse osmosis water to reach 45% abv, how is that possible to increase from 40% to 45% adding osmosis water? Or probably I'm still not clear with some concepts? Please let me know and thank you in advance
Hey Joel, thanks for your comment☺! Yes, so you take the 96% NGS and you can dilute it with normal tap water to 40%. The distillation will concentrate the alcohol, since ethanol has a lower boiling point than water. So you are separating the alcohol out from the alcohol-water mixture based on the difference in boiling points of the liquids. The distillate you collect will probably be closer to 70%abv, so then at that time you will add RO water to bring it back down to 40-45%.
@@MissBrewbird amazing, now is so clear for me! Thank you so much, and keep the good work, really nice content. Perhaps in some video you could explain in real time how does it looks to produce different types of Gin, dry, distilled Etc. That would be really cool for noobies like me 😂. Anyway, good luck and thank you again.
Very difficult to completely separate methanol from ethanol, so there is a little bit there, arguably a negligible amount. But we don't take a heads cut just for that reason. We also take off some for flavour reasons and to prevent louching.
You add water to dilute the alcohol down to 40%abv and then charge it into the still, then you start the distillation. You shouldn't be opening the still up during the distillation as all the alcoholic vapours will escape.
There is still some methanol in there as it is very difficult to completely separate methanol from ethanol, we also make this cut to prevent louching since there are a lot of oils at the start.
Hello Miss Brewbird, your recipe above (Jaffa Cake Gin Recipe) is for 750ml yes? If i was to do this in 8 gal. Would I multiply ingredients by 4? Juniper Berries would seem a little mush. What would be your opinion?
Hey Michael, the recipe is for roughly 1 litre of gin at 40%abv. Yeah the gins here are juniper heavy compared to other distilleries. You can scale up the botanical amounts linearly, and then convert to gallons.
If it's just the methanol you are worried about then you don't need to be too worried since the amount in there is pretty negligible (ie you'll die of alcohol poisoning before you die of methanol poisoning). I worked at another distillery where they didn't even bother to do a heads cut at all during their gin experiences.
I was using NGS for the gin. The majority of the methanol has already been taken out during the process of creating the NGS. Some distilleries will take a cut just to be on the safe side (and for flavour +louching reasons) while some people don't bother to take a heads cut at all. When you make whisky you are distilling a wash/beer, so you will have to take a heads cuts. The difference is that for the gin, I start with a base that has already been distilled, whereas for the whisky, I start with a base that has not been distilled yet.
I enjoyed your work so much. I have been trying to research for a video similar to yours that really breaks down the stuff in this video. 🧑🏻⚕️ The part at 1:32 is my favorite. Your tip is like the channel from Doctor Ethan! His videos are totally informative and he really helped me on my diet. He is the most knowledgable health enthusiast in the UK and he talks about health symptoms. I suggest you check out his TH-cam out and give Dr Ethan a like! ➡️ #DoctorEthan
Sorry, this is new to me. I've seen videos where they simply infuse the flavor into ethyl alcohol, rather than distill it a 2nd time. Your videos suggest the distillation process creates more methanol. Wondering how that works, and what's the difference with just infusing the flavor, and of course, how dangerous that might be?
Hi, methanol is not created through distillation. It only concentrates it. In this video I used neutral grain spirit, so collecting the foreshots is not necessary. It is just something we got used to doing as part of our procedure. Infusing the flavour through steeping botanicals gives a very different flavour profile than if the botanicals are distilled. That is the main difference.
This is the most well edited, concise video I have seen on this topic. I can't describe how useful the amounts of each botanical provided is. So many resources say what botanicals to use, but not how much
There shouldn't be any methanol if you started from good 40 degree alcohol, so no need to discard the first shot. You should discard it if you were distilling from some fermented lower alcohol mash. I'm not a specialist but in your case, it's safe from methanol I think
The short answer: 1) for flavour reasons 2) to prevent louching 3) to get rid of methanol ( it is extremely difficult to separate methanol completely from ethanol even in NGS)
I believe I said it distils out to around the 50-70%abv, and then you dilute it to 40%abv. If you understand how distilling works, it actually makes perfect sense.
If you use neutral grain alcohol, shouldn't the methanol already be discarded before? Im guessing they would do that while making the neutral grain alcohol right?
There is still a negligible amount of methanol present. It's very difficult to completely remove methanol. The main reason we discard the first bit is to just rinse out the still, so the more undesirable flavours from the previous distillation won't affect the current distillation.
That video was so great. I never even considered making gin, but now I want a still! Is there a best practice for making the botanical a non-alcoholic spirit?
Hmm, maybe a water distillation with the botanicals. I think people distill it with chili peppers to mimic that sharp bite of alcohol. Haven't tried it before though.
Thank you for this. I am going to try Jaffa Cake Gin! Do you have some kind of log sheet that you could share. I want to keep track of what I am doing and make sure that my successes are repeatable! Thanks in advance!
Herbal, with spicy floral citrus support. To be used in bees knees cocktail. Juniper Coriander Angelica Sage Rosemary Lavender Ginger Cinnamon Rose Vanilla Orange peel Lemon peel Also thinking of infusing the botanical into a syrup for a Virgin bees knees
It isn't really necessary, but we distill a lot of different gins in the still, so we always take a heads cut to make sure we are getting the best flavour from the current distillation.
Really good video. But I’m confused as to why you discarded the foreshots. You started with distilled alcohol so the methanol was already removed and the botanicals aren’t fermented so there’s no methanol released again. Am I wrong?
There are trace amounts of methanol still, but we did it more so for flavour reasons, to get rid of any flavours and aromas that might still be there from the previous distillation
Love this video and content. Learned about you through Jesse. I have an airstill, and am looking forward to trying some gin, with product made from my mile high still.👍
The NGS will have a bit of methanol in it. It is extremely difficult to separate out the methanol from ethanol. Also we just take a heads cut to rinse out flavours in the still from the previous distillation.
Great video(s)! Discovered these today and already "liked and subscribed"! Lots of great info; I just bought an alembic still (the same exact one you have in the video) so I'm excited to unleash my inner mad scientist. Thanks for the links to the botanical charts; that's immensely helpful! Do you also have a link to the botanical grouping chart/wheel that you can share?
@@MissBrewbird Thanks! I have one more question for you: I understand that during a production run you can put the tails back into the still on the next run. What (if anything) can you do with the tails from runs from recipe development ? Are they usable in any way or should you pour them down the drain?
You can keep the tails and throw it into the production run too if the flavours are not too different/strong. Or you can just keep the tails and when you have collected enough you can redistil the tails + heads to make a neutral grain spirit. Then you can use this normally to charge your still. Otherwise, you could macerate some fruits in it and make a nice liqueur.
Gin really is the best of the clear spirits. Thankyou for this concise and well presented workbook.
Interesting blackberry visual aid.
As the comment below says: "This is the most well edited, concise video I have seen on this topic". Immensely helpful for a newbie. Thumbs up, way up
Aw thanks! I appreciate that.😊
I have 2 stills and have learned about distilling and have made a lot of differing top shelf drinks that I love. I am in the process of learning what to do to make Gin. Just made a dedicated Gin still, No.3. What a find was this upload was. I can see myself having a lot of fun with the information that you guys have shared. Thank you so much for sharing. This is a huge leg up to get started with.
That's awesome to hear! Glad this video is helping so many people still.
Unfortunately the botanicals chart is deleted😥
Now this is a very helpfull video for gin lovers,excellent thank you miss brewbird
Glad it was helpful!😊
Wow! Thanks for another great video Brew bird. I vote this one as the best gin making tutorial anywhere on the internet. And I’ve seen a lot 😉. Happy for anyone to prove me wrong and send a link to one though 😀 Big Jaffa cake fan and might give that one a try 👍
Aww thanks for the high praise.
Lots of very helpful information packed in one short video. Great job! Thank you for sharing.
Glad it was helpful!
Very informative and enjoyable. Great to see a Canadian at a UK distillery as well.
Thank you kindly!
great video added to my "to buy bookmarks"
As always a wonderful and informative video for self motivated gin lovers. I concur with Brendan White. On TH-cam, so far, this is the best video on this subject. Please prove me wrong. Good job--Miss Brewbird and Sam. Hope one day in the near future I can pay Shakespeare Distillery a visit. Nice clean and well furnished setup.
Hello my fellow Canadian, I just still at home many different kinds of vodka and some wine here in there love the channel
Thanks for the love☺
Absolutely fantastic info, well done. It is great to see wonderful people sharing what others would consider heavily guarded secrets. The very best of everything to you.🙏
Thanks, I appreciate it!
@@MissBrewbird do you still have the botanical chart? The file seems to be deleted unfortunately
This is an amazing physics laboratory knowledge thanks.
useful and short, many thanks
Thanks so much for this video. It is exactly what I have been looking for. So much good information in here, particularly the amounts of botanicals to use.
Great to hear!🤗
Thanks for this video!
My pleasure!
Brewbird, wonderful video, great and informative, what I loved the most was the botanical additions document that you linked to. Your document (and watching your videos) boosted the quality of gin I make by an order of magnitude. Thanks a ton for posting such useful info. Every home distiller should have that printed out and tacked to their wall. One thing that would be cool to add to that document would be what cuts those flavors come through most in. I just did a thyme heavy (on purpose) run and all of that thyme flavor was concentrated into the first 100 mil. Fortunately I was starting with high proof clean NGS so I wasn't planning on throwing out "heads".
It would be an even better guide to have flavors pinpointed in the cuts progression, like how the fruity flavors from juniper come through towards the end, or how coriander is heavy in the second 200 mil (I'm trying to mentally scale it down to 1 liter scale, so take that with a grain of salt). Do you have a public Google docs that maybe the home distilling community could add that kind of info to?
That's a neat idea. I get a bit nervous just having a document that anyone can add absolutely anything to. I don't have anything right now, let me think on it.
Thank you for useful information.
Well done.thanks
You are most welcome
great video! thank you!
Glad it helped!
Hey Ms. B, I love the set up of the mini Stills with the option to make your own Gin! I love your passion for Distilling! I too have been bitten by the art 😄 Thanks for the Awesome Videos!
Your Friend,
Austin
Thank you so much! I can't take credit for the setup for the stills though, Simon Picken, the founder of the distillery, designed the gin school.
I wonder if having a drink with Brewbird would have her explaining the Alchemy of my drink
for you I can do
@@MissBrewbird for you, I'd welcome it
Very good video and I like to go to this school
haha, I'm sure they'll love it if you go.
Best video about this. Already suscribed! I want to start but a bit concerned about methanol. Any recomendation on how to be sure im separating this properly?
If the methanol really worries you, you can purchase the cheapest vodka from the liquor store and just use that. I'd still follow the recipe and discard a small bit from the start, as the flavour isn't as good in the beginning.
Hey Miss Brewbird, really great video! Just wanted to ask, why you think there is poison (methanol) in the start of distillation? From my perspective (family owned spirit distillery and my study in this field), methanol is produced during fermentation process of fruit, which we use for brandy (plum brandy, apricot, etc.). We remove foreshots and tails in our process but I dont see where there could be methanol in your process because you start with spirit which already is cleared of methanol (98% ethanol spirit). Once again, really good video just wanted to know your perspective on this, cause in my eyes you are just pouring out pure ethanol :)
Hi Martin! Yes, that's fair. I've gotten this question a lot. There is an insignificant volume of methanol being collected. The main reason we take the heads cut here is to remove any residual flavours/oils that are left in the still from previous distillations.
If you are starting out with ABV bottled ethyl alcohol or vodka, there should be NO methanol issues. Methanol enters the picture from yeast induced fermentation, but it has already been removed from human consumption grade alcohol. Now I know what I want for Christmas.
Yeah it's not really an issue, I've worked at a place where they didn't take any heads cut at all. However, methanol is not the only reason for taking a heads cut.
@@MissBrewbird Okay, I'm listening. Never heard the term "head cut". Well, I have, but it had nothing to do with brewing alcohol...
We also take a heads cut for flavour reasons, and to prevent louching.
@@MissBrewbird Could you please explain that? I really am interested. Thanks
I made a video on louching here: th-cam.com/video/tcu9qaHHdkM/w-d-xo.html
I have a bunch of other videos where I make gin as well, but yes we use those stills to make lots of different gins so its good to just discard a small volume at the start of the run to make sure we're getting the right flavours.
Brew Bird, great detailed video! I wish I would have found it sooner. Did you take a measurement of how much heads got removed?
Thanks! I believe I said to discard the first 15mL.
Super very nice your Gin resipi video
Glad it was useful
Great video, was just looking for the document unfortunately the link appears broken. Is the document (or something similar) available?
Great video very informative .What size still are you using ?
Thanks, It is about 2-2.5L, but I fill it with 1L.
Any idea as to whether the recipe amounts would change if using a gin basket to vapour infuse teh botanicals rather than adding the botanicals directly to to 40% alcohol? Great video many thanks from Canada!
That's something you'll have to play around with! Although vapour infusion is usually a gentler process so I imagine if the botanical amounts were the same you'd get a less intense gin.
First off - great video and excellent information. You've inspired me to give gin a try.
Question though, I understand taking heads for methanol and other nasty chemicals from a freshly fermented mash where these are produced as unwanted side byproducts of yeast metabolism. Why would you take a heads cut for methanol in the case of your alembic still where you presumably charged it with drinkable neutral sprits or, as suggested, a bottle of vodka?
How much "taste" is carried through by the alcohol vs water? There must be certain components that are only miscible (proper term?) with alcohol, and others with just water? Thanks.
There are definitely some flavour components that are more alcohol-soluble, and others that are more water-soluble. It's a difficult question to answer as it would really depend on what botanicals you are using, how it was distilled, strength of spirit etc.
Excellent video as always! Would you keep the same ratios when scaling up?
And would you keep the quantities the same if you were to hang some of the botanicals (say the peels) in a gin basket?
Yes I'd keep the ratios the same when scaling up, and then adjust the recipe after that if necessary.
If some of the botanicals were hung in a gin basket, I'd expect to get a different flavour profile (perhaps a more delicate flavour) from those botanicals. You'll have to experiment with it and let me know the results.
Great video but why do you say that the head contain methanol? if you load the distiller with neutral alcohol (ethanol +water) you should't have any methanol, it should have been removed during the previous distillation to obtain the neutral spirit
NGS has a small, negligible amount of methanol in it. I really have to make a video on this topic! I will soon.
A couple of quick questions,
if neutral Grain Spirit is/should already be rectified, where is the methanol in the first 15 ml coming from? The spirit is already 99.9% ethanol, isn't it?
how long do you steep the botanicals in the spirit?
Hi! Methanol is difficult to completely separate out from ethanol. NGS is around 96%abv. Steeping time is up to you, 12-36 hrs is common. Please refer to this gin faq video for full answers: th-cam.com/video/W1rci3PT1xE/w-d-xo.html
Awsome video 🔥 about the allergens not being transferred I've always thought it's safer to assume it may cross over for any product or process when it comes to lethal allergic reactions, is there more information available about this specific to distillation? Much appreciated 😁
Hey Michael, sorry for the late reply. Allergens are usually associated with the proteins in foods. It's generally agreed that proteins don't distill and won't be found in the distilled product. You can find out more about it below. Hope that helps!🤗 www.foodstandards.gov.au/code/proposals/Documents/P1031%20Allergen%20labelling%20exemptions%20SD1%20Risk%20assess.pdf
Heyyyy brewbird, a question, why did you use 40% ABV here but when sam distillates uses 96% ABV? How can it change things? Which is better what is the difference and is the portions the same for both ABV? Thank youu
Why would there be methanol to discard at the start of the distillation when you have started with grain spirit/ethanol or a commercial vodka?
Hello, I have a problem with gin. After I drip the gin, it is good at first, but if I dilute it with water, the drink turns white
Hey, that's louching. A very common issue. I go over what to do about it in this video: th-cam.com/video/tcu9qaHHdkM/w-d-xo.html
Hi Miss B! I love the video and I feel inspired to start brewing my own gin! Do you have any recommendations on a good starter kit? I really like the little copper pot stills you have! I was hoping I could buy one myself but I cannot seem to find any manufacturers in Europe.
One more thing: Can I dillute my destillate with bottled water? Or does it really need to be reverse osmosis water?
Keep up the good work!
Thanks! The stills in the video are from al-ambiq if I remember correctly. Yes you can use bottled water, it is just that RO water is more pure.
i´m a beginner, so it is a great help for me. on question left. When i delute with osmosis water i get this cloudy luche effect. The recepy ist near to yours. What can Ido?
Hello! It is probably too many oils from the botanicals, so the oils can't remain in suspension. If you decrease the amount of your botanicals that should fix it. I also made an entire video about how to prevent gin louching, so you can also look at that: th-cam.com/video/tcu9qaHHdkM/w-d-xo.html
Very cool. Would you use similar amounts in a carterhead style still.
I’m normally using around 30g of botanicals per L of neutral. This is around half your suggestion.
My botanical guide is for botanicals that are steeped, whereas the carterhead still is vapour infusion. I don't think the amounts would be the same, but I'd love for you to try it and let me know how it turns out.
Have you made any interesting experiences/observations with your method?
wondering if it would be good to crush the juniper berries - and maybe the coriander seeds?
Yes that'd be good, you'll probably just get a deeper flavour from them versus not crushing them.
Hi Miss Brewbird, thank you so much for your very informative video! I have a quick question: how long do you infuse your botanicals before distillation? Thanks. James
Hi James! I don't wait to let the botanicals infuse before starting the distillation. However, for other gins I have made, I have let the botanicals steep for 24hrs before starting the distillation.
Hi,I made my own gin recipe and gin brand,my recipe is for 1l copper still,how I will transfer my recipe for 20 liters copper still and for 500 l copper still?
It is a rule?
dose juniperus oxycedurs use for gin?
Yes, i believe it is used in gin too.
Where does the methanol come from when you use neutral grain spirit?
Methanol is extremely difficult to completely separate out from ethanol so there will be some in the NGS. However, the amount will be so negligible that you can argue that you don't need to do a foreshots cut. Some distilleries like to do it just to err on the side of caution while others don't do it.
I sample small batches of the "heads" and the methanol has a certain affect on my lips and tongue that I would describe as over activated.
knowing there is so many different flavours in a gin is probably why I am not a lover of some of the ones I have tried because my taste buds where fighting so hard.
Ah I've had some nasty gins before too. Everyone has their own tastes.
Nice video. Have you ever tried macerating the botanicals for 24 hrs first before distilling? If so how does that affect the flavoir
I have tried it, but I have never done a side by side comparison of the same gin recipe that way so I can't say unfortunately.
Thanks for the awesome video as always, have you ever tried the same recipe on the different distiller? Like this 2 or 1 liter alembic or the distiller for commercial use, would that be the same?
Hmm.. no I haven't with the gin. I've scaled up a rum distillation from the 2L alembic still to a 500L istill, but it didn't turn out the same so we had to change a lot of things about the fermentation/distillation when we distilled it the 2nd time.
@@MissBrewbird Thanks for this precious information, I've learned a lot!
Hello Miss Brewbird, first let me congratulate you for your amazing work on your videos, fast, simple, and really useful. I recently started to work on a small family distillery in the marketing department. I'm fascinated at some point to create my own gin recipe and I'm trying to learn some stuff by myself. I have a small question regarding the NGS, which you mention at the beginning should be 40% abv, In my case it would be obtained from an NGS 96,4% plus water(filtered?) until we reach the 40%, however, at the end of the video you mention, adding reverse osmosis water to reach 45% abv, how is that possible to increase from 40% to 45% adding osmosis water? Or probably I'm still not clear with some concepts? Please let me know and thank you in advance
Hey Joel, thanks for your comment☺! Yes, so you take the 96% NGS and you can dilute it with normal tap water to 40%. The distillation will concentrate the alcohol, since ethanol has a lower boiling point than water. So you are separating the alcohol out from the alcohol-water mixture based on the difference in boiling points of the liquids. The distillate you collect will probably be closer to 70%abv, so then at that time you will add RO water to bring it back down to 40-45%.
@@MissBrewbird amazing, now is so clear for me! Thank you so much, and keep the good work, really nice content. Perhaps in some video you could explain in real time how does it looks to produce different types of Gin, dry, distilled Etc. That would be really cool for noobies like me 😂. Anyway, good luck and thank you again.
How can there be methanol in the spirit?
Very difficult to completely separate methanol from ethanol, so there is a little bit there, arguably a negligible amount. But we don't take a heads cut just for that reason. We also take off some for flavour reasons and to prevent louching.
Hi Brewbird amazing video! Are you distilling in Canada ? I live in Montreal and I am learning in Gin bootcamp !
Hey, thanks for the nice comment! I recently came back to Canada, but I think I'll wait a while before looking for a job.
@@MissBrewbird are You in montreal ?
I love Montreal, but no I am in Vancouver.
@@MissBrewbird my name Gustavo Cabanillas
I give you my email ! I have distillery project in Montreal. Can we talk ? Gustavocabyul@icloud.com thanks
Do we add water in the mixture when boiling ? I find the bottom burns easily
You add water to dilute the alcohol down to 40%abv and then charge it into the still, then you start the distillation. You shouldn't be opening the still up during the distillation as all the alcoholic vapours will escape.
Miss B, if you were making a rangpur type of gin, would you use fresh limes in the boiler?
Probably just the lime peels since the peel is where the majority of the volatile oils are.
Why do you separate methanol from already distilled spirit or shop vodka? Hasn't it been removed already?
There is still some methanol in there as it is very difficult to completely separate methanol from ethanol, we also make this cut to prevent louching since there are a lot of oils at the start.
hello! angelica root or roots in general, should be macerated in alcohol? Thank you
Hi! No right or wrong answer here. In general, you can get a stronger flavour if you macerate first versus just distilling it.
@@MissBrewbird gracias 🤗
Were the botanicals added directly or were they processed/ground in any way?
They were added in directly.
Hello Miss Brewbird, your recipe above (Jaffa Cake Gin Recipe) is for 750ml yes?
If i was to do this in 8 gal. Would I multiply ingredients by 4? Juniper Berries would seem a little mush. What would be your opinion?
Was early in the morning I think you know what i mean for 9.75 gal still put 8 gals in to leave headroom.
Hey Michael, the recipe is for roughly 1 litre of gin at 40%abv. Yeah the gins here are juniper heavy compared to other distilleries. You can scale up the botanical amounts linearly, and then convert to gallons.
How do you know when to stop collecting methanol?
If it's just the methanol you are worried about then you don't need to be too worried since the amount in there is pretty negligible (ie you'll die of alcohol poisoning before you die of methanol poisoning). I worked at another distillery where they didn't even bother to do a heads cut at all during their gin experiences.
@@MissBrewbird a
So some throw it out some dont? Is it different for whisky?
I was using NGS for the gin. The majority of the methanol has already been taken out during the process of creating the NGS. Some distilleries will take a cut just to be on the safe side (and for flavour +louching reasons) while some people don't bother to take a heads cut at all. When you make whisky you are distilling a wash/beer, so you will have to take a heads cuts. The difference is that for the gin, I start with a base that has already been distilled, whereas for the whisky, I start with a base that has not been distilled yet.
Can I ask what volume/capacity your stills are?
2L, but I filled it with 1L
@@MissBrewbird thanks!
Dave who ?
Also, why did you make Sam Stand on a box? 😂
He isn't called the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) for nothing.
Have you thought about putting all the ingredients on a dart board and then throwing a dart to see what could happen?
That'd sure be a fun game to play.😄
how long did you say you were going to stay in England again?
I'll be in England until early March.
Hi brewbird
If i have 5L of rotovap how can i use this
You can do a similar distillation I assume. It has been a while since I distilled on a rotovap.
I enjoyed your work so much. I have been trying to research for a video similar to yours that really breaks down the stuff in this video. 🧑🏻⚕️ The part at 1:32 is my favorite. Your tip is like the channel from Doctor Ethan! His videos are totally informative and he really helped me on my diet. He is the most knowledgable health enthusiast in the UK and he talks about health symptoms.
I suggest you check out his TH-cam out and give Dr Ethan a like! ➡️ #DoctorEthan
Well, time to find a cheaper way to drown my sorrows.
Sorry, this is new to me. I've seen videos where they simply infuse the flavor into ethyl alcohol, rather than distill it a 2nd time. Your videos suggest the distillation process creates more methanol. Wondering how that works, and what's the difference with just infusing the flavor, and of course, how dangerous that might be?
Hi, methanol is not created through distillation. It only concentrates it. In this video I used neutral grain spirit, so collecting the foreshots is not necessary. It is just something we got used to doing as part of our procedure. Infusing the flavour through steeping botanicals gives a very different flavour profile than if the botanicals are distilled. That is the main difference.
This is the most well edited, concise video I have seen on this topic. I can't describe how useful the amounts of each botanical provided is. So many resources say what botanicals to use, but not how much
Exactly what I was going to say!
aaaghhh ... the link isnt working ... do you have an updted link for this ? :)
Im a total nerd for these things, and i LOVE your videos
There shouldn't be any methanol if you started from good 40 degree alcohol, so no need to discard the first shot.
You should discard it if you were distilling from some fermented lower alcohol mash.
I'm not a specialist but in your case, it's safe from methanol I think
Why are you getting rid of the first distillate if you are already working with a predistlled 80 proof substrate?
The short answer:
1) for flavour reasons
2) to prevent louching
3) to get rid of methanol ( it is extremely difficult to separate methanol completely from ethanol even in NGS)
The file with the botanicals has been deleted...
So let me get this straight....BUY 40% ABV; Distill to "ABOUT" 45% ABV; Then dilute to 45% ABV....yeahhhh.....I'll get right on that.
I believe I said it distils out to around the 50-70%abv, and then you dilute it to 40%abv. If you understand how distilling works, it actually makes perfect sense.
thanks Brewbird the amounts you quote are very helpful. I'm trying to compile my ingredients at home, but couldnt find the ratios I wanted. Cheers.
You're very welcome!😉
Sorry but that is just totally wrong. You cannot create methanol when you are making ethanol.
If you use neutral grain alcohol, shouldn't the methanol already be discarded before? Im guessing they would do that while making the neutral grain alcohol right?
There is still a negligible amount of methanol present. It's very difficult to completely remove methanol. The main reason we discard the first bit is to just rinse out the still, so the more undesirable flavours from the previous distillation won't affect the current distillation.
That video was so great. I never even considered making gin, but now I want a still! Is there a best practice for making the botanical a non-alcoholic spirit?
Hmm, maybe a water distillation with the botanicals. I think people distill it with chili peppers to mimic that sharp bite of alcohol. Haven't tried it before though.
Wonderful and informative video, thank you for sharing and best of luck to yall at the distillery! Much love from a fellow gin lover in Texas! :)
Thank you!
Thank you for this. I am going to try Jaffa Cake Gin! Do you have some kind of log sheet that you could share. I want to keep track of what I am doing and make sure that my successes are repeatable! Thanks in advance!
That's a good idea, I always just scribble things into my notebook. When I make it, I'll share the link with everyone.
Herbal, with spicy floral citrus support. To be used in bees knees cocktail.
Juniper
Coriander
Angelica
Sage
Rosemary
Lavender
Ginger
Cinnamon
Rose
Vanilla
Orange peel
Lemon peel
Also thinking of infusing the botanical into a syrup for a Virgin bees knees
Nice, that sounds like it would make for a good syrup.
Why is it necessary to take foreshots from an already distilled neutral grain spirit, surely that has already been done?
It isn't really necessary, but we distill a lot of different gins in the still, so we always take a heads cut to make sure we are getting the best flavour from the current distillation.
❤
i want to see a still it colab
А на сахаре слабо самогон забабахнуть? Или первачком остограмиться?
sorry, can't read russian
@@MissBrewbird you are greatest
In your recipe, you mention 4cm of orange peel. Is this cm2?
4cm in length. I wasn't so precise as to do cm*2
Where can I purchase a still like this one?
I forget the brand of this one, just google "2L copper alembic still" and you can see the places selling it.
Really good video. But I’m confused as to why you discarded the foreshots. You started with distilled alcohol so the methanol was already removed and the botanicals aren’t fermented so there’s no methanol released again. Am I wrong?
There are trace amounts of methanol still, but we did it more so for flavour reasons, to get rid of any flavours and aromas that might still be there from the previous distillation
@@MissBrewbird ah that makes sense. Thanks. That recipe looks so tasty I can’t wait to try it. My juniper berries are almost ripe on the tree!
If you use a cheap vodka why the forshots?
Yeah, it isn't strictly necessary. We did it more so to rinse out any oils and flavours in the still left from the previous distillation.
Love this video and content. Learned about you through Jesse. I have an airstill, and am looking forward to trying some gin, with product made from my mile high still.👍
Awesome! Nice to have you here.
Why would there be Methanol in the Heads, since we started with Abv grain alcohol and not a fermate ?
The NGS will have a bit of methanol in it. It is extremely difficult to separate out the methanol from ethanol. Also we just take a heads cut to rinse out flavours in the still from the previous distillation.
Great vid! Where can I purchase one of those small stills you are using?
thanks, I believe that still is from al-ambiq, so you can check it out online
سپاس گزارم از به اشتراک گذاشتن این رسپی خوب و ممنونم از زحمتی که کشیدید.
تو ایران لیتری 800 دارم میفروشم
Love this video so much!! Hope to see more video like this one. Two thumbs up.
Aww thanks, more to come!
would it be possible to get a copy of your botanics grouping chart please
Yes, I linked it in the description box underneath the video!
@@MissBrewbird Thank you - yes I got that one is there any chance of getting a picture of the black and white chart on the wall.
I just have that picture of it, I didn't make a smaller document of it
Great video(s)! Discovered these today and already "liked and subscribed"! Lots of great info; I just bought an alembic still (the same exact one you have in the video) so I'm excited to unleash my inner mad scientist. Thanks for the links to the botanical charts; that's immensely helpful! Do you also have a link to the botanical grouping chart/wheel that you can share?
Thanks 😊 I appreciate the support. I think the wheel grouping chart items are all listed in the botanical chart Google doc already
@@MissBrewbird Thanks! I have one more question for you: I understand that during a production run you can put the tails back into the still on the next run. What (if anything) can you do with the tails from runs from recipe development ? Are they usable in any way or should you pour them down the drain?
You can keep the tails and throw it into the production run too if the flavours are not too different/strong. Or you can just keep the tails and when you have collected enough you can redistil the tails + heads to make a neutral grain spirit. Then you can use this normally to charge your still. Otherwise, you could macerate some fruits in it and make a nice liqueur.
We're just getting started with planning out a home brewing setup! Your videos are about to be a treasure for us. :)
That is awesome, hope it turns out well for you guys.