[Jill The Alembics Lab]

No, they are usually left in the pot.

 

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Maceration will draw out more flavour. There are no hard and fast rules here 🙂 It’s very much about trial and hopefully not too many errors. The aromatics with a dense plant matrix work well for maceration – juniper, coriander, the roots and barks. The more delicate ones are best put in at the end of the maceration or vapour-infused. Let’s start at about 30g per litre and see how you go. It will still taste great, but you may decide to fine-tune it to your taste.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

When you are using vodka theres no heads as in toxic alcohol molecules as they have already been removed. A vodka is a finished neutral spirit. Same with the tails.

The only reason to discard anything on these small distilations using a finished spirit is taste. So I recommend when starting a new blend to get some 50ml beakers and take cuts. There are some nice flavours in the tails. This will help you decide when its time to stop – just be taste and smell.

If you don’t already have them our beakers are here

Glass Beaker

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

I think zest would work quite well as a hydrosol as it does have a high % of aromatics. Try making a strong infusion of Zest and pouring

a 30ml shot over ice, top up with carbonated water. Put your hydrosol in a mister bottle and lightly spray your iced tea. Quite magical – we call it the plant buzz 🙂

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi Steve

The still I am using has its own element, which has a low high – it just simmers, hence a steady drip. You have a 5L column, are you using one of our hotplates? How are you heating your still? If the distillate is running, you could turn the heat down to get a steady drip. You will find as you go through the distillation, the drip will become weaker. This is a good time to turn the heat up. At this stage, you will be distilling more water than alcohol, which will slow down the rate. It’s also a sign you are moving into the tails, which can have some nice flavours. Try collecting this part in 50ml beakers. Keep tasting and checking if it will become watery and unpleasant, and you want to stop the distillation before this happens.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi Steve

The thermometers don’t need to be calibrated – and on a small still and if you are making gin its not as important to be checking temps whereas on the larger stills is important when distilling spirits from a ferment or wine.

 

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

You could macerate overnight which will give you a bolder flavour or if you want something lighter and delicate not at all. Its great to have a small still and do small batches and experiement. Take notes each time of what you did and then add tasting notes. That why you can adjust each time and make the perfect blend 🙂

 

• This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi – We don’t recommend using an NS that’s more than 40% abv  – I suggest putting 1L of 40% NS in the pot on your first run. If you stop at 400ml, it will be about 80%abv. You can take another 50 to 100ml if the flavour is still good. Take a final accurate measure of your total yield using a measuring cylinder. Pur some into a 100ml cylinder and check the abv. Using the online calculator, see how much water to add to proof it down to 40 or 42 abv (whichever you prefer). Add your rhubarb juice to the water to proof or dilute your gin. It will be delicious Im sure

 

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi Helene – so glad you enjoyed the course! The hose doesn’t come into contact with the distillate – so any type will do. We use fountain pumps, clear flexible plastic hoses you can buy at hardware stores or wherever you find plumbing supplies. You could also ask them about submersible fountain pumps. If you’re having problems sourcing them where you live we have these to purchase on our sister site

Electric Recirculating Water Pump & Hose 20-100 L Stills

 

• This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi Bonnie
The thermometers on these small stills are not always necessary. The alcohol comes at the highest % at the beginning of the distillation and then transitions into a
higher % of water, which needs a higher temp. So yes, turn it up. It should take about 1.5 hours. Im sure your long distillation gave a great result though 🙂

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi Sharon – I put the juniper on the bottom sieve plate with the coriander and roots and cassia – so the aromatics with a dense plant matrix. They can do with a bit of cooking 🙂 I like to put my citrus peel and any leafy more delicate aromatics up the top. The ones that don’t need as much cooking – make sense. But – feel free to explore and experiment. That’s what makes a great distiller and a great gin. Suggest you make notes however so you remember how you did that fantastic blend that everybody loved!

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi again Chris – For a gin distillation like the one in our course (with an appliance still) the spirit will come out of the still at around 80% ABV (that’s 160 proof) so yes, you do dilute it with water before drinking — it’s called proofing. There’s an online calculator in the course notes that’s easy to use. Let us know if you have trouble with the dilution.

******
If you’re working with very high ABV neutral spirit at the beginning of this process, then yes, you will also need to water that down before putting it into the pot and running a gin distillation. You can make (and buy) neutral spirit with an ABV in the 90% range, which needs to be proofed back (meaning watered down) to 40% before putting it in the pot. We advise never going higher than that 40% starting ABV for a spirit distillation for safety reasons. Higher ABV alcohol is very flamable and can be a hazard.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi Chris – thanks for your lovely feedback, so pleased you are enjoying our courses. I think Im always harping on about guidelines. You are right about your fresh rose, the x 3 just doesn’t work for soft petals that already hold a lot of water in their plant matrix. Less is better for rose and the wet sponge technique. good starting place until you find the right balance.
My theory with Rose is, as long as there is enough water for it not to burn, that’s enough.

We will be running a course on zero ABV beverages (currently in the works). You can start by using your hydrosols as the spirit replacement and finding nice complimentary mixers.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

If you put all the plant matter in the pot with the alcohol and water, do you get burning at the bottom of the pot during the distillation? .
If it doesn’t burn does that mean I can use a maceration technique to make gin and distill with the botanicals in the pot without fear of it burning ?

As you are only taking 400ml of max, its unlikely you will get a burn. You can always suspend your more sticky botanicals, such as fresh citrus peel in a muslin bag. Avoid using powdered plant material as this is likely to burn.

If you are macerating all your botanicals, I would suggest putting the lighter ones in a muslin bag – citrus, leafy material and any finer materials. Robust botanicals like the roots and seeds like to dance around freely in the spirit.

Guido Mase has written a wonderful book called DIY bitters. He has detailed guidelines on how much plant material to spirit to use – you may find it helpful.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Do you use the same 200g quantity of botanical for each quintessence, or do you use less for stronger botanicals like rosemary or pepper ?

Again, it’s a guideline. The botanicals are of course all shapes and sizes. Some store their aromatics deep inside the plant matrix, like coriander and the roots. Others store them on the surface such as the Lamaeciae family of mints, basil, and salvias – that’s a huge family!

Another guide is to use 1:5 which is 1 part botanical to 5 parts spirit. You will find some botanicals absorb all the spirit and you may need to add some more. Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules when we are working with plants, just guidelines, and engaging our senses.

[Author]

Posts