I am currently making a homemade kowenwijn. That's the higher grade of genever (Dutch gin) which typically has at least 51% malt-derived alcohol. Mine is 100% malt, made from a Munich malt mash. I double-distilled that and proofed down to 40% ABV. Then I separated it in 3 parts: one part I kept as is, one part I am currently infusing with some American white oak blocks (medium toast, light char) and the third part will be infused with botanicals and redistilled once the oak infusion is done. Then finally all 3 parts will be combined together. For the botanicals I will do a mixed distillation: some pre-infused in the alcohol and some will be vapor-distilled using a gin basket. My secret ingredient are the juniper berries, which I hand-picked in Sardinia last year and find them to be superior to the ones I can buy locally. :)
Recently attended a Gin making experience locally and definitely want to try more as the gin I made was pretty good. Your video is a great simplified reminder and thoroughly informative. Thanks. Will be watching more 😁
Found it :) would you know if its possible to extract flavours if the forest, or at least the smells? Pine cones, moss after rain, pine needle. Basicslly like a spring early mornignhn forest walk in a glass
My husband bought me a 5 liter copper distill so that l can start making my own gin. I live in the USA , l have taken a class in the UK ( l am British Born( , but l have never learnt how to set the distill up & what plastic pipes l need. Do you have a video on the process ? Ty
This is a fantastic video thanks! Can I ask what you dilute the gin with to get it to the right ABV please? Is it just water? Also I notice you use a 3L still but only put in 1L alcohol, is there a limit to how much you are supposed to fill it? I was thinking of buying a 0.7L still to start off small but now wondering what volume of alcohol I could put in there? (Am I going to end up with only 20cl of gin?!) Thank you so much!
Fresh and dry ingredients all behave slightly differently during distillation. There are other gins I make with other methods where I use fresh zest but for this the flavour of Dry works better and becomes surprisingly fresh and vibrant during the distillation.
Thanks for this great video, what do you think about distilling herbs and flowers using "vapour stream steam" instaed boiling, becasue they are delicate?
Yes anything delicate I think you would ideally want to put in a basket if you have a still that has the ability to have one. I actually have a cold vacuum distiller that I have done some videos on, which is how I distil all my delicate herbs and flowers at low temperature, but for most people, steam basket would be probably the best option.
Hello. Very curious to explore gin distillation. Couple questions - what do you use to dilute the gin? Also where do you get neutral grain alcohol. Thanks!!
Hi, so to dilute the gin to the appropriate finished strength you can just use filtered water. Buying neutral grain alcohol will depend on the county you are in, for larger amounts you need to be able to provide your rectifiers licence number often but also in the UK 'Masters of Malt' stock smaller amounts for home use.
@@AndrewAHayes it doesn’t cost anything but you have to apply for one. There are some great helpful step by step blogs out there if you do a search - if I get a chance I’ll try to add them to the video description
sorry yes I've just added it to the video description, you can get them here - COPPER STILLS LIKE MINE CAN BE BOUGHT HERE - www.copper-alembic.com/en/products/
Thank you. The video is very helpful especially as we are about to have a go at our first gin distilling at home (we did attend a class at a distillery to get us up to speed before buying our own still). One question for you... Which refractometer do you use? A search throws up so many options so a recommendation from you would be very helpful. Thanks!
Having watched this and the vacuum distillation video, could you not make the argument that this process is more or less extracting the essential oils from botanicals using a NGA base? Could you not achieve the same effect by adding food grade essential oils to your NGA?
There's similarities between distillation and making essential its for certain ingredients, citrus oils can be made through distillation with higher amounts of fresh citrus zest, but there's lots of other complex volatile aromatics in the gin which dont behave in the same way. It might be interesting to play about with, and you could experiment with adding essential oils into a spirit, but I think it would be difficult to produce a good gin that way.
It depends how you think about it - neutral grain alcohol would be stronger than the finished gin which will be diluted too around 40%ABV so a litre of high proof alcohol would potentially make closer to 2 litres finished diluted gin. It also depends if you are comparing it to low price mass produced gin or a higher priced artisan gin. If you hope you hope to make a more artisan gin with high quality botanicals this is likely less expensive than buying one. But most relevant to me would be that like with cooking a lot of the joy is the process and at least for me this is an occasional process that is as much about enjoying making something and learning / improving that as it is about a finished product
I suggest coriander, because real gin doesn’t have only juniper but always the pair of juniper and coriander! Also: Angelica is known to fix aromas. You need just a very little bit, but because of its characteristics it is in most gins. Most importantly: buy an airstill. It won’t be more expensive but not as romantic, but it is really easy to clean, doesn’t scorch, it doesn’t need a heating source nor a pump; it is plug and play- just an amazing peace of equipment! It can even be operated inside (copper pot still can be dangerous in non ventilated rooms!)
Yeah there is coriander in the recipe. I’m a big fan of the classic pairing with juniper. On this recipe oris does the job Angelica can also do of fixing the aromatics. But I do like Angelica too. Yeah I’ll definitely have a look at the air stills. They sound cool
I am currently making a homemade kowenwijn. That's the higher grade of genever (Dutch gin) which typically has at least 51% malt-derived alcohol. Mine is 100% malt, made from a Munich malt mash. I double-distilled that and proofed down to 40% ABV. Then I separated it in 3 parts: one part I kept as is, one part I am currently infusing with some American white oak blocks (medium toast, light char) and the third part will be infused with botanicals and redistilled once the oak infusion is done. Then finally all 3 parts will be combined together. For the botanicals I will do a mixed distillation: some pre-infused in the alcohol and some will be vapor-distilled using a gin basket. My secret ingredient are the juniper berries, which I hand-picked in Sardinia last year and find them to be superior to the ones I can buy locally. :)
Recently attended a Gin making experience locally and definitely want to try more as the gin I made was pretty good. Your video is a great simplified reminder and thoroughly informative. Thanks. Will be watching more 😁
Found it :) would you know if its possible to extract flavours if the forest, or at least the smells? Pine cones, moss after rain, pine needle. Basicslly like a spring early mornignhn forest walk in a glass
My husband bought me a 5 liter copper distill so that l can start making my own gin. I live in the USA , l have taken a class in the UK ( l am British Born( , but l have never learnt how to set the distill up & what plastic pipes l need. Do you have a video on the process ? Ty
This is a fantastic video thanks!
Can I ask what you dilute the gin with to get it to the right ABV please? Is it just water?
Also I notice you use a 3L still but only put in 1L alcohol, is there a limit to how much you are supposed to fill it? I was thinking of buying a 0.7L still to start off small but now wondering what volume of alcohol I could put in there? (Am I going to end up with only 20cl of gin?!)
Thank you so much!
When should I harvest juniper berries? How to know it?
What do you do with the tails?
Great video! You are awesome at explaining
Thank you so much
i see that all botanical are dry, is there a reason why you do not use fresh ones?
Fresh and dry ingredients all behave slightly differently during distillation. There are other gins I make with other methods where I use fresh zest but for this the flavour of Dry works better and becomes surprisingly fresh and vibrant during the distillation.
Amazing video! (as usual)
I really would love to get that little distillery pot, where did you get it?
You can get similar ones here. They are great fun to work with - www.copper-alembic.com/en/
another grand video...thanks Eddie
accidentally hammered 😃
Congrats Eddie, you've got 10k subs!🥳👑
Aw thanks. Yeah it feels like an exciting milestone to reach :)
Thanks for this great video, what do you think about distilling herbs and flowers using "vapour stream steam" instaed boiling, becasue they are delicate?
Yes anything delicate I think you would ideally want to put in a basket if you have a still that has the ability to have one. I actually have a cold vacuum distiller that I have done some videos on, which is how I distil all my delicate herbs and flowers at low temperature, but for most people, steam basket would be probably the best option.
Hello. Very curious to explore gin distillation. Couple questions - what do you use to dilute the gin? Also where do you get neutral grain alcohol. Thanks!!
Hi, so to dilute the gin to the appropriate finished strength you can just use filtered water. Buying neutral grain alcohol will depend on the county you are in, for larger amounts you need to be able to provide your rectifiers licence number often but also in the UK 'Masters of Malt' stock smaller amounts for home use.
Where can I purchase this small cooper still??
You can get similar ones here - www.copper-alembic.com/en/
Great video ! Simon from Alchemist Distiller, here in Canada. Next time : Absinthe distillation ;-)
Oooo I’d love to try absinthe distilling and love any tips if you’ve done it
Hi Eddie!! Your videos are very interesting!! A thousand thanks!! I would like to try your gin once!!! Best regards Alex from Italy
Thanks! 😃
How much would it cost me for a licence to distil alcohol as a hobby in the UK?
@@AndrewAHayes it doesn’t cost anything but you have to apply for one. There are some great helpful step by step blogs out there if you do a search - if I get a chance I’ll try to add them to the video description
Could not find the link for the equipment? Could you please link in a comments :)
sorry yes I've just added it to the video description, you can get them here - COPPER STILLS LIKE MINE CAN BE BOUGHT HERE - www.copper-alembic.com/en/products/
you deserve more likes! well done vid!
Thank you. The video is very helpful especially as we are about to have a go at our first gin distilling at home (we did attend a class at a distillery to get us up to speed before buying our own still). One question for you... Which refractometer do you use? A search throws up so many options so a recommendation from you would be very helpful. Thanks!
I cant find the link for mine but it was a fairly cheap option.
@@EddieShepherd - no problem :) I found one on Amazon and it seems to work well!
Having watched this and the vacuum distillation video, could you not make the argument that this process is more or less extracting the essential oils from botanicals using a NGA base? Could you not achieve the same effect by adding food grade essential oils to your NGA?
There's similarities between distillation and making essential its for certain ingredients, citrus oils can be made through distillation with higher amounts of fresh citrus zest, but there's lots of other complex volatile aromatics in the gin which dont behave in the same way. It might be interesting to play about with, and you could experiment with adding essential oils into a spirit, but I think it would be difficult to produce a good gin that way.
Fantastic recipe
Isn't this more expensive than buying gin? Grain neutral alcohol is about £30 for one litre! How many litres of gin can be made with that? Great video
It depends how you think about it - neutral grain alcohol would be stronger than the finished gin which will be diluted too around 40%ABV so a litre of high proof alcohol would potentially make closer to 2 litres finished diluted gin. It also depends if you are comparing it to low price mass produced gin or a higher priced artisan gin. If you hope you hope to make a more artisan gin with high quality botanicals this is likely less expensive than buying one. But most relevant to me would be that like with cooking a lot of the joy is the process and at least for me this is an occasional process that is as much about enjoying making something and learning / improving that as it is about a finished product
@EddieShepherd thank you
Will this get me drunk if I make this at Home?
Absolutely shit-faced
Nah homemade alcohol doesn't get you drunk, you can have as much as you like
I make 4 quarts of Jamaican rum every 2 weeks, 0% alcohol u can drink until u cant
You will have to drink it, won't make you drunk simply by making it.
*promosm*
I suggest coriander, because real gin doesn’t have only juniper but always the pair of juniper and coriander!
Also: Angelica is known to fix aromas. You need just a very little bit, but because of its characteristics it is in most gins.
Most importantly: buy an airstill. It won’t be more expensive but not as romantic, but it is really easy to clean, doesn’t scorch, it doesn’t need a heating source nor a pump; it is plug and play- just an amazing peace of equipment! It can even be operated inside (copper pot still can be dangerous in non ventilated rooms!)
Yeah there is coriander in the recipe. I’m a big fan of the classic pairing with juniper. On this recipe oris does the job Angelica can also do of fixing the aromatics. But I do like Angelica too.
Yeah I’ll definitely have a look at the air stills. They sound cool