How to Prevent Gin Louching | Miss Brewbird

So it's time to cut back your gin with deionized water, but oh no! The gin's turned cloudy, and the cloudiness won't go away no matter how much you mix it. What should you do? Never fear, I've had my gin louche a few times now, so it doesn't really scare me anymore. In this video I'll share some methods on how to prevent gin from louching, and also how to fix your gin if it has already louched.
#ginlouching #louche #distillingproblems
I'm Miss Brewbird, a Canadian girl training to be a distiller in Wales. I'm also tinkled pink that you've found your way here. If you are interested in learning more about the drinks industry this is the channel for you. Hit that subscribe button for more videos about distilling, spirits, and distillery life. Cheers!
Instagram: @little.miss.brewbird
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Music by frumhere - so, tell me about yourself. - thmatc.co/?l=9...
Music by @frumhere - so, tell me about yourself. via @hellothematic

[@adammitchell3462]

As a home distiller, I've just went down the rabbit hole with gin. From my teenage years,I wasn't a fan of what I understood as "gin" ,but now as a home distiller, I now understand that if somone says that they dont like "gin" probably dont really even know what it is because it can taste alot of different ways and now that ive crafted my own wonderful gins, I absolutely love it! And to the home distiller, the info you offer your subscribers is priceless!

[@MissBrewbird]

Hi Adam, that's great to hear. Yes, there are so many different gin flavours.

[@ChasingTheApex]

Beautiful cuts, brilliantly articulated, highly educational, and god god knows I love a drink! Subscribed

[@MissBrewbird]

Thank you discord fam!😊

[@giacomofaramelli2707]

Very useful video even for the pro like me (gin distiller, italy). Very good point with Odin, it's a logical thing but sometimese the simpler is the harder to imagine. I subscribed to the channel.

[@MissBrewbird]

Thanks for subscribing! 😄

[@tomlittle22]

I louched my first one yesterday, and it was great to have this explanation. Its just for home use, so I might not bother fixing it! I have even noticed a few brands marketing "cloudy" gin. Doubt it'll be the next big thing, but it is another interesting variable to consider. I love this hobby. So much so I have accumulated a preposterous amount of gin in the house.

[@MissBrewbird]

That's awesome to hear. Yeah, playing with all the different recipe ideas can become addictive. Haha.

[@brucekrisko4364]

It was very smart to interview Jesse from Stilit. That was a great video. After watching it, I've subscribed to your channel to learn more about home hobby distilling. I'm sure more will follow me. Good luck fulfilling your dreams in the industry.

[@MissBrewbird]

Awesome, thank you so much!🙂

[@kennethcounts5905]

Thank you so very much for the education.

[@MissBrewbird]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kennethcounts5905]

I have been playing with Gin, just a labor of love to see when everything is just right and I am coming off the still at 160p It Louches like crazy even after an extended cut. You can almost see the oils in it. But the aroma is just Heavenly.

[@ianhui3719]

Learned the technical side of gin distilling. Impressive equipment setup. Great video as usual.

[@1star_god]

I just met u but ur editing already has me in love

[@MissBrewbird]

Thank you! I do try.

[@thefattymcgee5801]

OMG I feel so special my gin only louches when I add tonic water

[@gdbrewing]

Great video and explained so well, I’m now proud of my louching gin.

[@MissBrewbird]

Wonderful!

[@marshallballantine-jones3819]

Very helpful, thanks for your work. Odin's online forum explanation was also helpful.

[@MissBrewbird]

You are welcome!

[@aime_c]

Thank you for such great knowledge in this effective format ! My druid's gin is hazy as hell, I was freakin' out. Glad to hear its just good medicines ! ;)

[@MissBrewbird]

Glad to help!💖

[@inkukchoi3972]

Thanks for you valuable and educational information. I really enjoyed and got helped.

[@MissBrewbird]

I'm glad it was helpful, and I appreciate your comment!

[@mustyditch4703]

Wow … I will have to give this a try. Thanks much.

[@MrPovsklada]

Thank you so much for your efforts!!! This is a very interesting topic. Make more videos like this. It's very interesting to learn about gin. There are more videos about gin with them. Please publish the recipe

[@Stoutluvr]

Thanks for that information. I have experienced that before.

[@MissBrewbird]

Glad it was helpful

[@JacobFisher]

The more you know about gin! I feel like I could make my own now

[@MissBrewbird]

you definitely can, it's not as daunting as some people might think.

[@dansworld9635]

Another great video! Thumbs up!

[@MissBrewbird]

Thanks again for the love.

[@BeardedBored]

Incredibly helpful:-)

[@MissBrewbird]

Glad you think so, and it's so cool to see you here!

[@BeardedBored]

@@MissBrewbird Love your experiments, and how precise you are with testing variables. Those mini alembics look like fun testing stills:-)

[@nicolasmichel7278]

Hello! Thanks for your channel! It's really amazing! I have a question : you speaks about 100ml of heads, but how many alcool do you have at the beginning? Thanks a lot!

[@MissBrewbird]

The still is charged with 50L of 40-45%abv alcohol at the start.

[@jamesgrey8093]

I want to make gin now...

[@ZionetteEsther]

Wow!! This is so informative! I learned something new.

[@MissBrewbird]

Glad to hear it!

[@briegoudon3000]

Great video! What is the name of the copper still in this vid and where can you buy one?

[@MissBrewbird]

it is a hillbilly still, it was made by "the craft distilling business" in the uk

[@briegoudon3000]

@@MissBrewbird thank you so much!! Sorry one last question, but what is the cost of this still? By the looks of it think I will need to save.

[@MissBrewbird]

@@briegoudon3000 I have no idea, you can email them and ask.

[@CaseyAngelova]

Another great video! Do you have any experience about slow proofing gin? I know it is used in brandy and becoming more popular with whisky, but I haven't seen or read much about its use in gin. Thank you!!!

[@MissBrewbird]

Hi Casey, unfortunately, I've never slow proofed anything.

[@wojomojo]

Great video. Why de-ionized water?

[@MissBrewbird]

Deionized water has the ions and salts removed (eg. calcium and magnesium ions) so the water is quite pure. I should also mention that when we bottle the gin it goes through a reverse osmosis filtration system first, so there is an additional purification process before the gin enters the bottle.

[@theghostofsw6276]

I heard someone talk about proofing down liquors, in general, very slowly.....over days (if not weeks). Any truth to avoiding a louche by doing that? Also....in general should you proof down your product in such a way? Thanks.

[@yuenkokleong]

replying because I heard about that too! and I wonder the same.

[@MissBrewbird]

Most commercial distillers will proof it down, but home distillers won't do it as much (or at least that is my impression). I can't say I have tried proofing it down slowly over days, as you often don't get the luxury to do that in a commercial distillery. I don't think you could just keep slowly adding water indefinitely without it louching at some point though. You are adding water to the product, which dilutes the flavour, so ideally you wouldn't add too much water in.

[@darrenng9828]

Thank you for the info, I am new to distillation. Question, have you come across any particular botanical that may cause severe louching more than others? Also, I notice some folks use distilled water for maceration. Isn't that redundant since the process itself is called distillation? Can I use just normal tap water for maceration?

[@MrPovsklada]

the strongest turbidity in my experience is from citrus. You are right, it is enough to use ordinary tap water for maceration

[@esc2281]

Just a question here, in Ricard, the french Pastis, the cloudiness comes when you put water or ice in, wich is the way to drink it. Wouldnt it be a good thing to try this in gin ? it would give it more taste ? Since the cloudiness aint a parameter for qualitie ?

[@MissBrewbird]

For some drinks, it is accepted that they will go cloudy. Drinkers expect that. However, for gin it is usually expected that it will stay clear. The cloudiness isn't a bad thing at all, it just isn't what people expect.

[@nellynelson965]

Now all I need is how to stop sediment of some sort appearing in all my bottles after a week or 2.

[@MissBrewbird]

Oh is the sediment in a bottle of beer or gin?

[@nellynelson965]

@@MissBrewbird gin. turns up after a week or so. very confusing as its crystal clear. And just done 3 batches of gin for xmas. 2 non louched, last one... son of a

[@MissBrewbird]

My best guess is that if you are diluting the gin with water, and the water isn't reverse osmosis or deionised water, then the water you are using has minerals in it that are precipitating out overtime. This can be fixed if you use a purer form of water when diluting back the gin. Passing the gin through a very fine filter may also help. Otherwise, if you are adding something to the gin like a sugar syrup, then it could be the sugars crystallizing overtime. Also, this is a good idea for a video, I may have to make it sometime.

[@paulnicholson3528]

why is it that a store bought gin i have here, will not louch when adding water, a lot of war ter?

[@MissBrewbird]

It doesn't have lots of botanical oils suspended in it in the first place, and/or it has been chill-filtered to remove any oils to prevent louching from happening.

[@sotolseis1421]

where can i get chill filters

[@MissBrewbird]

Hello, to chill filter your liquid you'll have to have a cooling device to get the liquid down to around 0-5 degrees celsius (this is the chilling part of the process). Then, for the filtration part you can use a plate and frame filter. This type of filtration device is usually just used in industrial settings though. You'll be able to find it if you just google 'plate and frame filter'. Hope that helps.

[@saturnslastring]

@miss_brewbird since the louche effect is oils coming out of solution and into suspension in water, could you let the gin rest in a separatory funnel and let them separate into layers over time?

[@MissBrewbird]

hmm yeah that could work, although you'd be working with such small volumes that it would not be practical to use the funnel in an actual distillery setting. Someone once told me they left their liqueur out in a container and the oils naturally separated so he just took a spoon and gently removed the oils, so that the liqueur didn't louche when water was added later on.

[@saturnslastring]

@@MissBrewbird I've seen some really big separatory funnels xD. Anyways, I had a little bit of gin from a cut that got scorched so I decided to experiment on it. I mixed some of it with an equal volume of cold water and it louched. I put t in a separatory funnel and left it alone. Some of the oils are starting to separate into their own phase over the aqueous phase, but it seems pretty slow. The liquid at the bottom of the funnel is slowly turning clearer. I also had an idea that thoroughly mixing the louched liquid with a neutral more hydrophobic liquid might pull the botanical oils out of the aqueous phase and into the oil. To test the hypothesis combined 50ml of gin with 50ml of cold water in an erlenmeyer flask and added 25 ml of flavorless almond oil. I added a stir bar and let it mix on a stir plate for 30 minutes. Its been 18 hours and it has definite helped clarify the gin. It still looks a little hazy, but the aqueous phase has decreased from 100ml to 95 ml, and the oil phase has increased from 25ml to 30ml, indicating that some oils have been pulled from one to the other. It's been very fun experimenting!

[@saturnslastring]

@@MissBrewbird It's been two weeks and the cloudy gin that was mixed with the flavorless edible oil is now perfectly clear.

[@MissBrewbird]

wow that's super cool. Does the gin taste very different now, is it still good?

[@saturnslastring]

@@MissBrewbird I don't know xD. I was actually using a scorched batch for that experiment. I'll try it again with some of my unscorched gin and report back. That way I'll have a control to taste alongside it.