Specialist Questions - Spirits, Essential Oils, Vinegar

Would you like to ask us about spirits, essential oils and vinegar? Please observe our forum rules (see Helpful tips for use).

June 2018:

It has now been an unbelievable 16 years (!) since the last major change to the website and forums. When you think that two to three years are an eternity for the Internet sector, that is really something. In any case, there has been so much going on in terms of technology that it has become urgently necessary to completely redesign not only the forums, but also the entire website, from scratch and bring the programming up to date. Naturally, along with this we also introduced various new features; for example it was high time we allowed pictures to be uploaded with a forum post too or enabled users to subscribe to the forums via RSS feeds. And of course we have subsequently included pictures that are saved on external websites and were then integrated here using an img tag, so that no valuable information is lost. In any case, we hope you continue to have fun swapping experiences and trying things out.

Juni 2002:

At this point, we would first like to extend a big thank-you to all the users of our specialist questions for their lively involvement. Without you, we could never have developed such an informative and high-quality reference guide in such a short time (the first post dates from April 8, 1999). The large number of posts and high numbers of visitors made it necessary for us to develop the specialist questions ourselves using PHP and MySQL (at last no more annoying advertising banners!). During the course of this, we have hopefully introduced several improvements.

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Helpful tips on use:

Below are a few rules so we can maintain the high quality in the future as well.
  • This is a moderated forum. This means that anyone can write whatever they want, and the post will also be saved, but the content will only be published once it has been reviewed by our editorial staff, or deleted if necessary. Therefore, there is no point in posting the same contribution multiple times simply because it doesn’t appear immediately.
  • If you would like to see the most recent posts (irrespective of the topic), click Show the latest posts.
  • The forum is very comprehensive, and many topics have already been dealt with extensively. Therefore we recommend using the search function or alternatively the advanced search function before you add a new post in order to avoid having posts with the same content.
  • After you add or answer a post, you then have a chance to change the text you have written. So read through your text again carefully after saving it and click on “Change post” if necessary.
  • If you ask a question, then also expect an answer. Think about this as well when you are wording your question. Hardly anyone will answer vague questions such as “How do I distil schnapps?”, “No oil comes out; what am I doing wrong?” or “The vinegar isn’t fermenting, why?”.
  • The three topic areas, i.e. distilling spirits, distilling essential oils/hydrosols and making vinegar, are divided into three different websites. Each website contains the two forums “Recipes” for all the topics concerning fruit and recipes, and “Discussion” for all the other topics related to distilling spirits, essential oils/hydrosols or making vinegar. If we find posts that are unintentionally in the wrong forum, we will move them to the right forum. These posts have not been deleted, just moved.
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So, that’s it. We hope you have a lot of fun swapping experiences, reading, posting and naturally also trying things out afterwards. Dr Malle & Dr Schmickl Dr. Malle & Dr. Schmickl
There are currently 106 entries in the forum.
Add new question

  • Question 17

    Rum guy  | Uk, 26.08.2021 07:39:19

    If I have 10lt of spirit at 37.5% how much spirit at 70%do I need to add to bring it up to 40% ?


    Reply

    Just use our "mixing"-calculation-tool see the following link. I have entered your figures already, so there you'll see the result and you can, if necessary, also change them to calculate other concentrations.


    https://www.distilling-spirits.com/tools/calculations/mixing-alcohol/?alc_c_low=37.5&alc_c_high=70&alc_c_soll=40&alc_v_low=10#result

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  • Question 18

    Sylvie Sgf | Quebec, Canada, 22.07.2021 01:46:04

    I am going to buy your book. But I heard you also sell stills (for
    making essential oils). I will need to buy one. So I found your website
    and I see pictures of the stills that you sell and they are made of
    copper. I have a feeling that maybe it would be better to have neutral
    components, like glass, could the copper make a copper residue in the
    oil that we absorb and it would make us have too much copper in our
    body? Maybe my question does not make sense, because I really don't know
    much on the subject. So maybe you could help understand more about the
    use of copper in the stills. But if you do answer this in your book,
    then just forget my question, because I will buy your book. Thank you
    very much in advance.

    Reply

    In principle you're right, but centuries of distilling essential oils
    have shown, copper doesn't harm at all. Moreover the opposite is
    true, this material has a positive effect on the distillate. But why is
    it nowadays more common to use steel? For the simple reason, it became
    much cheaper to weld steel and the material also became cheaper than
    copper in the scope of the time.


    And no, neither essential oil nor hydrosol contain measurable amounts of
    copper. BTW, the human body needs copper salts in small amounts, we
    would even die if we had no copper in small amounts in our food. Copper

    is only toxic for mold and similar microorganisms.

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  • Question 17

    Emerita | Venezuela, 29.04.2021 15:37:22

    Hello, how are you, regarding the answer to question 16, I have a question: when distilling chamomile and rosemary, the essential oil obtained is only chamomile or is it a mixture of chamomile and rosemary essential oil? Thank you for your attention. Cordial greetings, Emerita


    Reply

    Of course it will be a mixture. For this reason, hay flowers oil always smells also a bit like rosemary, since rosemary is mixed to the hay flowers to improve the oil yield.

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  • Question 16

    e | Venezuela, 24.04.2021 18:43:59

    Hello, how are you? Check out the video on YouTube dated January 12, 2017, where 210 g of rosemary and

    290 g of chamomile were distilled. My doubts are the following: why were those two plants distilled? Can rosemary be distilled with another plant? Best regards, Emerita




    Reply

    Yes, in fact all plant materials can be mixed, it just depends on your personal "taste" if the mixture fits or not. Rosemary is different however, this material helps other materials to lose their essential oil. Thus, the combination of chamomile and rosemary results in a higher yield of oil than the sum of both yields, if distilled separately.

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  • Question 8

    Alex | SEATTLE, 04.04.2021 21:54:16

    Hello, I have your book and the ebooks, I am a home cook putting my ingredients in Mason jar. I want to make an intense orange vinegar using blood orange, or perhaps mandarins. I don't think infusing the oranges in the vinegar for two weeks will give me the intense flavor I want. Is it possible to put the oranges in the jar at the beginning of the fermentation process?


    I do not have a white wine mother. So I thought I would combine in a large jar 1)a warmed, live, nonfiltered white Vinegar 2)a bottle of white wine adjusted for sulfites/ABV and 3) the peels of the oranges. I would check in about 3 to 4 weeks. Is this a good plan? How long could this all sit in the jar to get the best flavor? Or should I remove the mother at first sign of vinegar and let the peels/vinegar sit on their own before bottling? What do you think?

    Reply

    Yes, putting the oranges in the jar at the beginning of the fermentation is possible, but this is not really a different to infusing the oranges. It will be more intense, if you only use the peel (incl. white parts) or the zest (without white parts) of the orange. Take care to use only fruit with untreated peels, like organic cultivated oranges.


    You do not need a white-wine-mother-of-vinegar, the type doesn't matter, it's just important to add living vinegar bacteria. Yes, if the bacteria in the nonfiltered white vinegar are still alive, you can use it. How to test activity of the bacteria: just add a small amount of distilled alcohol to a sample of the white vinegar (alohol content of the mixture: roughly estimated about 2 % ABV). Cover the glass (jar) with a sheet of kitchen paper and place it in a warm environment. If after about five days to a week a mother-of-vinegar has developed, you can use the vinegar to start your fermentation.

    >> How long could this all sit in the jar
    not longer than fermentation takes, to avoid musty smell. The flavor depends on the amount of peels / zests you have added.

    >> remove the mother at first sign of vinegar and let the peels/vinegar sit on their own before bottling?
    No. How intense the taste will be, depends on acidity, the higher, the better. Thus:

    I would suggest to do it in two steps: at first perform the fermentation until finished, thereafter start the infusion. Infusion time depends on amount of peels and your personal taste, can take several weeks. Thus, test regularly, and if you're satisfied, remove the peels to avoid excessive bitter taste.


    We wish much success!

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  • Question 16

    Azar  | sweden, 11.02.2021 09:24:45

    1. Do you have a fermentation container?

    2. Can I infuse anis with 12 percent dry white wine?

    3. How do you make clear Arak when you are infusing the anis? Will, it not turn to another color during the infusion?

    Reply

    ad 1: Yes, but only for our own use. You can take an oval bucket right (available at hardware stores), drill a hole in the lid to plug in the fermentation lock.


    ad 2: Infusion: No, too less percent, better use 43 % at least high-quality Spirit: yes, the percentage shouldn't be higher.


    ad 3: yes, this is true, for this reason the infusion should be distilled, or rather make a spirit, this results in a better quality. As already said with tasteless 12 % alc. put the anis in the steamer basket.

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  • Question 15

    Ben | VAE, 10.02.2021 10:07:49

    We are interested in your products, especially the CLASSIC Still essential oil destillator , but it would also be important if the equipment could also distill water. Is that also possible with this equipment? 

    Reply
    Yes, of course it's possible to distill water with the LEONARDO® CLASSIC. After all, intentionally it's purpose is to bring water to a boil and thereafter condensate the formed steam. This is in fact the principle of a steam distillation if you fill the steam space with plant material.


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  • Question 7

    Huda | Saudi Arabia , 18.01.2021 10:29:10

    Thanks for giving a chance to question

    Is cutting apples in small pieces and submerging them in water, stirring every day, to prevent mold?

    Is the stirring limited to the alcoholic fermentation period, approximately two weeks, only?

    How much sugar should I add? And how much the appropriate BRICS scale

    Reply

    ad 1) no, this is to guarantee that the yeast also decomposes the solid parts which are floating on the top of the mash.
    ad 2) yes, stir only while it's fermenting. The alcoholic fermentation time depends on the available amount of sugar. Yes, if you don't add sugar, the fermentation will be finished after a few weeks, depending on the ambient temperature. On the other hand, if preparing a high-grade mash (thus, using the proper yeast and adding sugar), alcoholic fermentation takes about 8 weeks.

    ad 3) The maximal amount of sugar you can add depends on the type of yeast, or rather the alcohol tolerance of the yeast you have added. The supplier of your yeast should know this value. This topic is explained thoroughly in our books "The Artisanal Vinegar Marker’s Handbook" or "The Artisan’s Guide to Crafting Distilled Spirits".

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  • Question 14

    Emerita | Venezuela, 12.12.2020 01:16:07


    Hello how are you, a question: geranium was distilled and the color of the essential oil was green and it remained that color for several days, then the bottle was opened and it turned red. Why did this color change occur? Maintains

    the properties of essential oil? It can be used? Thank you very much in advance for the responses and your time. Saludos cordiales



    OE-geranium.jpg
    Reply

    Of course, oxidation due to air contact could be a reason. Although, neither I've ever recognized an effect like this, nor I did find a description in literature or the like. We received green geranium oil already, but it didn't turn pink after a while. Having said that, there are so many different varieties of scent geranium out there, that I do not wonder if the oils differ not only in smell, but also in color.

    Just to be sure: it could not be the case that the content formed foam while cooking and the color is in fact an impurity caused by this foam?

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  • Question 15

    Glen | New Zealand, 16.11.2020 01:08:31

    Hi

    What can I use the top of the distillation (higher alcohol ) for after taking it off..Im using the middle for a smoother finish..can the top still be drunk ?

    Cheers

    Glen

    Reply

    Since the heads (I suppose you mention this fraction) contain poisonous components, you can't drink it. Even don't use it in the course of your next distillation. This fraction can only used externally, to clean windows or the like.

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