GIN. A potable spirituous liquor which derives its character istic flavour principally from the juniper berry. The term is an abbreviation of "geneva"—a corruption of "genievre" or "june ver," the French and Dutch equivalents respectively for juniper. For many centuries juniper has been used in the preparation of alcoholic beverages and in all probability the practice at first arose from a desire to mask, by means of this or some other flavouring material, the nauseous taste of the crude spirit obtained by the earlier methods of distillation. The principal varieties are the English and American, to which the term "gin" or "dry gin" is usually applied, and the Dutch, which, in addition to being known as "geneva," is sometimes referred to as "Schnapps" or "Hollands." British gin is prepared from a spirit obtained by distilling a fermented mash consisting usually of 75% of maize, 15% of malt and Io% of rye. In order to deprive it of the characteristic flavour of grain, the spirit is redistilled in the presence of the flavouring matter—chiefly juniper and coriander—this process being repeated several times, thus producing the "dry gin" of commerce.
In the United States spirits are prepared from a mash consist ing of about 85% corn or maize, 12% malt and 3% rye. There are two general methods of distillation of spirits from this mash, which may be classified as continuous and batch type. In the continuous method, the mash is fed into the beer column and run through a series of rectifying columns in such a manner that all the higher and lower boiling point alcohols are removed, and com pletely refined spirits, free from any odours or taste of grain, are continuously withdrawn from the final rectification column. These refined spirits are then distilled in the presence of juni per berries, coriander seeds and other ingredients without the necessity of redistillation at this point in the process. In the batch method distillation, the process is discontinuous and several redistillations are usually necessary in order to produce a final highly refined neutral spirit. From this point on the production of gin is the same as the preceding method. In either case it should be noted that in the United States the spirits are first thoroughly refined before adding the flavouring ingredients, whereas in the British method this is not usually done until after their addition.
Many British distilleries, however, operate according to the American method.
Sweetened gin, usually consumed as a cordial, is obtained by adding sugar syrup to the "dry" variety. In the preparation of the syrup refined sugar is dissolved in its own weight of water, and the solution is added in the proportion of about 6gal. of syrup to Ioogal. of gin. Compound gin is a product obtained by mixing neutral spirits with distilled gin or gin essence, or other flavouring materials customarily used in the production of gin. In this case there is no redistillation of the flavouring ingredients with neutral spirits but only a mixing operation. This type of gin is practically negligible in the United States.
In preparing the Dutch product one measure of malted barley is mixed with two measures of ground rye. Each hundredweight of the mixed meal is then mashed with about 24gal. of water at a moderately high temperature. Cold water is then added in suf ficient quantity to reduce the specific gravity of the wort to about 1.035, yeast being then added to ferment it. After two or three days the fermented wort is distilled and juniper berries and other flavouring materials added to the resultant distillate— known as low wines—the mixture being again distilled. To obtain a product of high quality the spirit is sometimes redistilled more than once. Some manufacturers of geneva purchase pot-still spirit, specially prepared for the purpose at Schiedam and known as "moutwyn" or "maltwine." The spirit is then treated in a manner similar to that adopted in the manufacture of British gin.
In general, in the Dutch product the distiller endeavours to retain a certain portion of the taste and odour of the grain, and also some of the higher and lower boiling point alcohols, some times known as heads and tails. The American and British dis tillers on the other hand try to eliminate these as far as possible, the best gin being considered that in which the spirits are the most refined. (F. G. H. T. ; J. W. L.)