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Gits Attending: Keith, Alan & Anne, Andrew, Sandra & Janet, David P, Dicky & Janette
Naturally the day starts with a classic GOG FEB at the
Hilden Manor Beefeater, London Road, Tonbridge TN10 3AN
Then everyone wanted to visit Sewing World in Tunbridge Wells - except Dicky & Janette
who claimed they got lost - and headed straight for the pub - typical!
and Keith could not resist the lure of Camden Road Retro Centre
Luckily they managed to prise him out of there before he bought something really silly!
The promise of a cooling draught at the pub worked it's magic...
We enjoyed an extended stay there, booked a table for later, then went looking for the distillery...
- some bright spark said "It's only 1 minute walk down the hill" - so Dicky went scouting...
and found some lovely people who did not have a clue.....
Oriental Nanny - "Jim? So Sorry - no Jim here - hope you find him!"
Lovely old lady in a very posh house - "A gin distillery? How lovely - wish I knew where it was!"
Finally a young chap with a smartphone looked it up - about a mile down the road!
So Dicky & Janette were LAST to arrive AGAIN- hey ho! Much merriment & mockery ensued!
Inside the Old Coach House, there were wondrous things to behold...
The equipment looked very high quality - the welding was closely inspected
Ready to rumble, with an enthusiastic & skilled instructor and a fascinating List of Botanicals
First Will told us about his range of artisan drinks, and we sniffed a few, sipped a few ...
then he introduced us to the equipment...
On your left - say hello to Mr Alembic ... and on your right Mr Hotplate
Then he gave us guide sheets, from which we selected the botanicals which appealed to us...
There was cake (thank you Dave) and a G&T to help the decision making...
After much deliberation, with Will's valuable assistance, it was time to assemble our recipes...
First weigh out all the ingredients very carefully - then put them all in a little plastic beaker
Put all the goodies into the still, add 600mls of deionised water and 400mls of pure NGS (ethanol)
Put the lid back on the still, connect the condenser vessel, turn on cooling water
Let's get going! Turn on the hot plate and bring the temperature up to about 70°C
We are looking for a fast drip!
If you really want to see it happening, there is a video clip HERE (9.2MB)
We stopped the process when we had 400mls of distillate, then tested it - about 77% ABV
Then we added more deionised water to bring the ABV down to 40% and bottled it - job done!
After 3 hours, weary but delighted with 6 bottles of individual gins distilled and ready for testing!
As each one is to a unique recipe, we each logged every detail for future reference!
Time for refreshment & a hearty meal at The Chaser Inn, Stumble Hill, Shipbourne TN11 9PE
A perfect end to a perfect Grand Day Out - everybody enjoyed all of it - thank you Will!
