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Gin without any maceration period
I don’t know but I would take a guess that commercial Gin distillers don’t macerate outside the still. Last night I watched a very informative video by Odin on Gin distilling and got to thinking.It is widely accepted that Arrhenius’ rule of a “a doubling in chemical reaction rate for every change of 10oC” roughly works. This within a range of parameters.So I was wondering how many Gin distillers don’t macerate outside the still and or macerate in the still by holding a constant temperature for a predetermined time. If this be the case then lets take our 24 hour maceration time at I assume room temperature of circa 20oC. So given Arrhenius then 12h@30oC, 6h@40oC, 3h@50oC or 1.5h@60oC. Bearing in mind that there has been a maceration period as the the boiler charge warms up one could shorten the period possibly. For me I would stick with 90min at 60oC.So pick holes in this;Boiler charge of neutral (between 30 and 38%ABV). According to Odin the higher the ABV% the more astringent and dry the Gin becomes. He uses 30%.Add uncrushed Juniper Berries.Turn still on and preheat to 60oC.When at temperature switch off the still and add the other botanicals and close up.Power up and maintain the boiler charge at 60oC for 90 minutes.Proceed with run as per normal with an output speed of less that 750ml / hour.One too many wasted sunsets, one too many for the road.
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5 Replies
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Just do it and see what happens. I’ve tried many variations and all make good gin.My Bombays, like at their distillery, get no maceration time and the botanicals do not come into contact with the boiler charge at any time.
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I’d say that some do, some don’t, there are many ways of making Gin.Without looking too hard I found this example.The bit about Gin starts at the 1.00 min mark.
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That’s a great video thanks. Will do some more searching.One too many wasted sunsets, one too many for the road.
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Give it a try and do tell us what you’ve found here. I have also seen Odin talk to maceration times and maceration ABVs (43% to 60%) so there is more than one way to get this done and they all tend to make good if not excellent gins. I personally just macerate overnight in the boiler at 43% and then bring it to 39% for distilling.– Rrmuf
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I’ve done 48, 24, 12 and 0 hour macerations for the same recipe of 50l charge and they all come out very similar. Cuts are often a little tighter with long maceration times but that’s, in my best guess, to do with the ‘traffic’ of oil and flavour coming through the still early on. I boil ‘on grain’ and get the bakery burn smell a little earlier with longer maceration but in the end I still get the same amount of finished product after diluting clear. I’m not very scientific with my methods, some of it could be more to do with room temperature or quality of ingredients but I consistently get a good product with any maceration time. As standard these days I leave it overnight at a cool temperature to let it settle and give me a chance to remember something I forgot to add!
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