New Gin got cloudy (louche) after dilution - might filtering help?

[Pyrate]

Hey Folks,

I had a new recipe in my still. 3 days maceration, a lot of crushed juniper, all distilled in the pot with some reflux in the column.

We diluted to drinking strength at 45% ABV. It got immediately cloudy. Right now we are discussing the best way to get rid of the louche before we bottle the gin.

Adding neutral at the same ABV might be a way. But the dilution we need seems to be to high. We tested and the results are that we need 2 parts neutral at 45% ABV to 1 part of the gin at 45% ABV to get rid of the cloudiness.

We are wondering if filtering might be a solution? Has anyone experience in filtering cloudy gins to get rid of the haze? I have the Enolmatic bottler and therefore can put some filter cartridges at work. Might 0.5 micron help here? Do we have to chill or does it work because the haze is already visible at room temperature?

Thank you!

[Dismal]

I assume you want to filter just this batch?  Chill filtering will work but will change the flavor.  Any filtering will. 

In the future use less botanical in the boiler. 

[Cosmic.Distiller]

Unless you have a lot of citrus, anise or other high oil botanicals, it's the fact that you are using a lot of crushed juniper. Juniper is high in oils (unless you get the sad overly dried stuff, which then throw it away!), and a three day maceration with a lot of crushed juniper will give you that cloudiness. I underline the three areas that contributed to it. As Dismal stated, chill filtering could get rid of it, but you will be altering the flavor. You need to change your recipe and SOP so it doesn't happen in the future. You could dial back the juniper, don't crush it, and shorten the maceration time, and I bet you might even like the flavor better. 

Edit to add: If you are concerned about the batch you just made not matching the flavor of future batches (which it won't, especially if you chill filter it), you could do a one-off "Limited edition" where you keep it cloudy and macerate colorful botanicals in it, such as butterfly pea flower to make it a nice sky blue (which cloudy would look pretty cool with, also obviously submit any changes to ttb). Just an idea. 

[Pyrate]

Thanks for your input and (marketing) ideas. 

At the moment its only about this batch and it has to be clear in the bottle. The different methods are clear but I didn't found any recommendation about the filter type and size (e.g. 0.5 micron). Has anyone experience with filtering the haze? I want to use the Enolmatic bottler and can apply a filter cartridge there.

[glisade]

I wouldn't touch it. Let it sit for a week or so if you can. A lot of times the louche will clear itself. And if you proofed at a cold temperature, when the temp goes up it may clear itself. For example: if it's 60F in the distillery and the gin louches, when it's sitting on the liquor store shelf at 70F it's fine. Try warming a bottle up a bit and see if it goes away.

[Pyrate]

12 hours ago, glisade said:

I wouldn't touch it. Let it sit for a week or so if you can. A lot of times the louche will clear itself. And if you proofed at a cold temperature, when the temp goes up it may clear itself.

During the process of dilution the liquid reaches temperatures above the average room temperature. If you mix water and alcohol the chemical process releases heat so that the liquid becomes warmer.

But I already saw what you described with "giving it time" in another case. Today I will conduct some experiments with this batch. The thing is: I have to be certain that there is no haze in the bottle 😉 

[Pyrate]

Update: I tried filtering it with a 0.5 micron filter and it worked. But I think the filter was some kind of "full" at the end because it started to let more and more through. I had about 100 Liters at 45% ABV. The temperature of the liquid was about 15 degree Celsius, I didn't chill it beforehand!

So for any person that might read this in the future: In some cases it might work to filter out the haze / louche / cloudiness in your final product. In my case it worked fine and the taste is very good after the filtration. I expect the crushed juniper to be responsible for the haze and I think we had too much botanicals (in weight) in this recipe.

[Dismal]

Also for future reference, I've experimented with filtering of louched Gin and filtering of flocculation in liqueurs.  From my experiments, which are by no means exhaustive, the problems are slightly different.  For louching there are more oils than the alcohol can hold in solution at a given temperature and removing some oil solves it.  Flocculation is caused by polar molecules forming chains over time.  Louching shows up as a general cloudiness immediately or at a threshold temperature whereas flocculation manifests over time (weeks/months, shelf-life issue) and appears as ribbons in the product.  It's colloquially referred to as "snot" for good reason.  Flocculation is best dealt with, in my limited experience, through the use of borosilicate fiber filters like this one: https://www.tcwequipment.com/products/graver-gfc-haze-pre-filters?taxon_id=51 that are especially good at attracting the polar molecules that form snot.  I've used lab filters like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006H8XGNC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details and a simple vacuum flask and Buchner funnel on a few hundred ml to test. 

Pyrate's original question regarding filter selectivity size is still relevant; my point is that choosing the right filter medium for the problem is also important. 

[Iron Fish]

We've noticed Flocculation in some of our products in the past. In your experience does the borosilicate fiber filter have much effect on flavor and mouth feel?