The last couple of years I’ve had some fun making some Sloe gin, Rhubarb & Ginger gin and also bramble whisky liqueur using harvested berries around this time of year then kept for Xmas / hogmanay. The resultant drinks have been quite well received.

Browsing Amazon and I see you can buy Distillation stills; Here

This quite appeals to my inner science geek. Has anyone had a go at making their own distilled spirit / flavoured gins and lived to tel the tail / retained their eyesight?

Cheers

Kind of illegal isn’t it?

sort of dangerous, isn’t it?

Kind of illegal isn’t it?

sort of dangerous, isn’t it?

No and no. For making gin you start with the alcohol already created (and tax paid). All you are doing is heating it up with some botanicals for flavour. Done it, albeit at a distillery with kit for visitors to use, and had some success. You can flavour it to suit yourself or put something special/local into it

perhaps you missed

I see you can buy Distillation stills;

as anyone had a go at making their own distilled spirit

ergo the replies

Kind of illegal isn’t it?

sort of dangerous, isn’t it?

For the avoidance of doubt (and having the local plod breaking down my door) I’m not asking about / advocating breaking the law!

For the avoidance of doubt (and having the local plod breaking down my door) I’m not asking about / advocating breaking the law!

Boris?

Is that you?

Technically it’s illegal (you would need a Compounders licence), but for a wee bit of home use you’d be fine (the kit could be used for essential oils)

This could be good: https://www.brewstore.co.uk/gin-botanicals-kit

Start with some vodka, and add this ^

This one is even more blatant!

Multipurpose Usage – there are many different ways to use our Moonshine Alcohol Still,home distiller can be used for seawater distillation,steam distillation and for distilling alcohol.According to your favorite,you can make different kinds of items in the moonshine stills such as Alcohol, Ethanol, Whiskey, Water Distiller, Wine Making, Essential Oils, Hydrosol,etc.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stainless-Distiller-Alcohol-Moonshine-Spirits/dp/B0163B8ZKQ/ref=pd_sbs_201_1/260-3949896-6432403

perhaps you missed

Nope. Did you miss: “Simply fill the boiler with alcohol and the column with spices of your choice”. Its how gin and schnapps is made. Nothing to do with getting alcohol out of potatoes. You’ll need different kit for that. You start with neutral grain spirit and add flavour in a still, like the op link (the link above is the dodgier kind)

It’s done all of Europe and as long as care is taken is not a problem.

From gov.uk

Redistilled or mixed spirits

If you redistil spirits or compound spirits by using a still, you must have a rectifier’s licence.

If you mix spirits with anything apart from water, but don’t use a still to do so, you must have a compounder’s licence.

So I think you might need a rectifiers license?

Its how gin and schnapps is made.

Sounds a lot like distilling, what with heating up wine and condensing the vapours and only keeping the right bits of it.

It’s done all of Europe and as long as care is taken is not a problem.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8636424/Boston-explosion-five-dead-in-huge-fireball-during-illegal-vodka-brewing-operation.html

The illegal bit is operating the still. So no, you cant legally make gin from vodka either.

The dangers are both the explosiveness and the risk of methanol or acetone poisoning.

[Edit] you can cold infuse gin which is just leaving the botanicals to soak in the neutral spirit for a long time. A few comerical gins are made this way.

Home distilling of alcohol is illegal (and rightly so because methanol = blindness).

Making gin by steeping some herbs and berries in a bottle of vodka, can’t see any problem with that. I’ve been meaning to have a go myself for some time now (where on earth does one buy juniper berries from though?).

If you mix spirits with anything apart from water, but don’t use a still to do so, you must have a compounder’s licence.

I need a compounder’s licence to fix myself a Jack Daniel’s and Coke?

Clearly, we’ve all been criminalised by those evil EU bureaucrats.

Compounder’s licence

If you distinctly alter the character or flavour of a spirit with another substance, other than water, but don’t use a still to do so, you need a compounder’s licence.

This doesn’t include mixed drinks solely for consumption on the premises, for example, cocktails.

Not sure if that applies to making Sloe Gin and stuff like that.

(where on earth does one buy juniper berries from though?).

Homebrew shops, and the spice section in larger supermarkets. The homebrew shop you can get a still while youre there though.

It is illegal to distill a mash to make alcohol.

Is it dangerous? No, like a lot of things, if you do it properly.

I have a Grainfather for home brewing beer. They sell an attachment for turning it into a still. I haven’t bothered as I don’t want or need to make huge loads of spirits.

It’s all about knowing which are the heads, hearts and tails when distilling, to ensure you don’t poison yourself.

Loads of info on youtube and the like.

Aha.

This doesn’t include mixed drinks solely for consumption on the premises

That would seem to be something of a broad loophole, then!

“Making gin by steeping some herbs and berries in a bottle of vodka, can’t see any problem with that. I’ve been meaning to have a go myself for some time now (where on earth does one buy juniper berries from though?)”

Which is what I have been doing the last couple of years and worked well – some white label tesco vodka, a kilner jar, some sugar and a few handfuls of berries. leave it in a dark cupboard from now-ish to xmas and you’re good to go.

My thoughts with the above link were to pass the vapour through lavender and other herbs / botanicals for a more varied flavours than I’ve been doing before. Clearly this is a bit more of a grey verging on illegal area with additional risks. Think I’ll pass.

Cheers all!

Not sure if that applies to making Sloe Gin and stuff like that.

It would be illegal afaik, but I suspect it’s never been tested in court and probably isnt the intention of the law to criminalise making sloe gin for your own consumption. Id expect theyd only be bothered if you tried to sell it at a market or were making more than a few bottles a year in your kitchen.

It would be illegal afaik, but I suspect it’s never been tested in court and probably isnt the intention of the law to criminalise making sloe gin for your own consumption.

Definitely not illegal as you are not distilling.

Even if the sugar “reacts” with the sloes and slightly increases the alcohol content, then it’s not distilling so still perfectly legal. Same as making cider, wine or beer.

It is completely illegal to sell any alcohol without a licence.

probably isnt the intention of the law

Not the spirit of the law?

Homebrew shops

Doh, of course. Cheers.

If anyone has questions about distilling, feel free to ask – I have a masters degree in it!

Definitely not illegal as you are not distilling.

No, but you are compounding

Although you are correct, there is an exception at the bottom of table 14.1 for your own use.

Best not to share it then 😉

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-39-spirits-production-in-the-uk/excise-notice-39-spirits-production-in-the-uk

I’ve used the ‘steep’ method with an amount of success. I bought various ingredients (juniper berries, cinnamon bark, cardomom, coriander seed, liquorice root, Angelica, rose petals, etc) pretty cheaply from buywholefoodsonline.co.uk. Making the base gin with the juniper is pretty easy and only takes around 24 hours. You then add the other botanicals to it and leave for how ever long you think it needs (up to 3 or 4 days max for me). I tend to make a litre of the base gin, then split it into two and make a couple of different recipes.

Oh, that’s perfect for STW!

https://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/juniper-berries-50g.html

“Juniper berries possess a distinctive pine-like, spicy and aromatic flavour that can make a recipe come alive.”

having the local plod breaking down my door

That will be HMRC and their scary looking excisemen not local police. A big red key will also be involved and you’ll need a new door afterwards. Very keen on the red key, excisemen (or women).