I have been getting various results on using the Gin basket and infusing fruit in post distillation, some get cloudy some don't. When I make our Gin with eight kinds of fairly strong botonicals, there is no cloudiness when bringing to drink strength. However I did the same process with just using hops upon diluting it, it went cloudy. The only other difference was the proof of the Alcohol.
And when I infuse Key lime into Rum or even Ginger (I know Ginger is a root) it is still clear when it is diluted to 40%. But when I have done various types of orange zest in the same process they get cloudy.
Here are my questions with what limited info I provided you.
What causes turbidity in using botonicals of fruits?
What is the best way to remove cloudiness?
Do you do any of the following?
Cold stabilize any or all of your products?
Do you use any Pectic enzyme?
Do you filter, and what type of filter and micron size?
Thank you all for any input in this.
Reply:
Cloudiness in dilution is generally caused by oils. Oils are more soluble in alcohol than in water, so dilution decreases their solubility. Reducing temperature also reduces solubility. A classic example is the louche in absinthe when water is added...and it's more pronounced when the water has been chilled. Many infused products will become cloudy when chilled in the freezer.
As in the case of absinthe, the oils may be considered beneficial, depending upon the spin you want to put on the product. Promoting non-chill filtered, and the louche being an indicator of the truly high levels of essential oils present in your product may set yours apart from others...making yours more real, or more authentic.
Many of these oils are relatively large molecules, and have high boiling points, so they often remain in the kettle after distillation...one of the reasons why the spirits collected taste lighter & brighter, while infusions of the same product taste deep & bold or earthy. Therefore, removing these oils will change the character of the result.
Will
Reply:
I have been getting various results on using the Gin basket and infusing fruit in post distillation, some get cloudy some don't. When I make our Gin with eight kinds of fairly strong botonicals, there is no cloudiness when bringing to drink strength. However I did the same process with just using hops upon diluting it, it went cloudy. The only other difference was the proof of the Alcohol.
And when I infuse Key lime into Rum or even Ginger (I know Ginger is a root) it is still clear when it is diluted to 40%. But when I have done various types of orange zest in the same process they get cloudy.
Here are my questions with what limited info I provided you.
What causes turbidity in using botonicals of fruits?
What is the best way to remove cloudiness?
Do you do any of the following?
Cold stabilize any or all of your products?
Do you use any Pectic enzyme?
Do you filter, and what type of filter and micron size?
Thank you all for any input in this.
Reply:...That's probably also the case with the historic high proof points found with absinthe. Our Gin is at 90 and our absinthe, 120.
Reply:
OK...interesting.
"Cold stabilizing". While researching this, I have only found this to work with wine, but does it work with spirits? Would a cold stabilized louched citrus spirit reclaim the proteins and return to a clear mixture? Hmm...
I have been researching this for a while, so if anyone has any guidance on this, I'd appreciate it.
Andrew
Reply:
Would a cold stabilized louched citrus spirit reclaim the proteins and return to a clear mixture? Hmm...
