[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 2 years, 11 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 3 years 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 3 years 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 3 years 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.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Watching the making of quintessences if I understood correctly.. all the material is put into the pot with the alcohol and water to dilute it to 36% ABV.
This produces about 400ml of quintessences.
Its important to use your sense of taste and smell and use the 400ml measure as a guideline. I rarely take more than 400ml but I often take less, especially with the more delicate florals. What you are aiming for is a clean bright aroma/flavour that reflects the aromatics of the botanical.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi Gerard – Im sorry for the delay getting to your questions. I answered them at length and I think they were swallowed up. Maybe to long so this time I will break them up into bite-sized pieces!

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

(Replying to Wembley2012)—Scaling up can be tricky. The most efficient way is to do a sacrificial run using the minimum of NS possible. You will then know if the botanical load is too much, creating cloudiness. If it is cloudy, you can always redistil and use it for other purposes. Is the 100lt a pot still?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

🙂

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Thank you! Yes, you could freeze the whole lot. This works on a small still as the yields are relatively small. Of course, on larger stills, it would become impractical. Placing a funnel into the top of the separator directs the distillate into the center. You can then watch the tiny particles of EOs coming out of the solution and floating to the top without contacting the outside of the separator. However, it does still stick when you release it.
Having a warm separator will reduce this. A warm condenser bucket – up to 35-40C can also mitigate this and encourage the EO to break loose. It also means the distillate in the separator is warm and less sticky.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

Hi Kylie, thanks for the lovely feedback. There are refining lentils that can be added onto alembic stills 30L +. They are like copper spaceships! Running cold water over them (we use our pumps), adds another efficient level of reflux and increases the contact with copper. They are quite fun to use.
You can find them at our sister site Alembics if you want to take a look https://www.alembics.co.nz/products/accessories/#copper-accessories

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Jess at The Alembics Lab.

[Jill The Alembics Lab]

The alcohol foundation course is a basic introduction to spirit distillation. You can see we are using a “baby” still. We like to start by keeping it simple and placing the initial emphasis on taste and smell – which does take some practice. We are working on a more advanced course on neutral spirit and will use a larger still where the cuts will be determined by taste and temperature.

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