Make Gin Yourself – This is How it Works

Macerating gin is one way to make the popular drink on your own. All you need is the right utensils and ingredients. Compared to distillation, maceration does not require a distillery permit.

Making Gin: Utensils and Materials

Before you can make your own gin, you need to stock up on the ingredients and the utensils for the process. Since the alcohol is not burned during maceration, i.e. the immersion of ingredients in liquids, it is not a question of distillation. So you can run them without burning permission. The following list gives you an overview of the required materials:

• Base alcohol: A so-called neutral alcohol is used as the base alcohol. This is usually obtained from grain or potatoes. You can also use neutral vodka or Kornbrand without any problems.
• Juniper: Juniper is the basis for the gin aroma. You need about 2 to 3 teaspoons of juniper berries for one liter of gin.
• Botanicals: Botanicals can also be added to the mix alongside the juniper to enhance the aroma. These are orange or lemon peels, ginger, spices such as cinnamon, caraway, and nutmeg or lavender. You can even use botanicals from your own garden.
• Distilled water
• Bottle or jar for filling
• sieve and coffee filter

Gin maceration made easy

Once you have the above materials and utensils available, it’s time to macerate. The gin is made in the following way:

• If you use neutral alcohol, dilute it with water. Distilled water is harmful to health in large quantities, but in the small quantities that you need for the gin, it is safe to drink. Korn or vodka does not need to be diluted.
• Crush the juniper berries and the selected botanicals. Leave them in the alcohol for a period of 36 to 40 hours. This mixture then provides the taste of the gin.
• While waiting, move the jar from time to time. After 24 hours you can test the mixture and optionally add more botanicals. This refines the taste.
• After waiting, sieve the botanicals and the juniper over the sieve and then the coffee filter. After that, the flavored alcohol is poured into a bottle or other container.
• Now the gin is ready to drink. You can store it in bottles or containers. But gin does not have to mature itself.