DOING YOUR HOME GIN

Distilleries Canada/ July 20, 2019/ Tips and tricks, Trucs et astuces

For those who do not know, distilling in Canada requires a specific license. This article is for individuals who will begin by using a neutral alcohol or vodka purchased in a local store or micro-distillery and transform this base into a “Compound Gin”, for which has also been known as a “bath gin” during time of prohibition.

Of course, you will need quality juniper berries (not old or wrinkled), dehydrated spices (a handful of coriander, a licorice stick, a piece of ginger…), citrus zest (bergamot ridge, lemon, lime…). In fact, there is really no limit and one can compose their recipe according to what they like or simply take inspiration from an existing gin.

The quick process includes crushing the berries and seeds very lightly to release the aromas and then adding all your ingredients in a jar with the alcohol. Macerate for 24 hours. Conduct your own taste test and possibly prolong the maceration until you attain a result you savor. Once achieved, it only remains to be filtered and bottled.

If you enjoyed this experience, you can do this more thoroughly and more controlled. All the ingredients do not release their aromas at the same time and therefore, you can proceed to their infusion one after the other to control precisely their presence in the result.

More precisely, the assembly method will be the most effective. It will macerate each ingredient individually before bringing them together at the end. By proceeding this way, if you fall short on one, you will not spoil the rest.

It is strongly recommended to take precise notes on the quantities and the brewing time in order to be able to reproduce the recipe easily at a later time and possibly share them with us.

There are some Canadian kits that can help you get started or simply make for great gifts : Ginius and Chez Figue… If Ginius is the most expensive, it is also the nicest and the most complete one.

For information, late in the spring of 2020, the Wabasso Distillery started to produce a neutral alcohol in collaboration with Ginius, which is of much better quality than the only one offered until now.

Happy tasting !

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