Visiting Monkey 47 Gin distillery in a fairytale setting

26 Jun Visiting Monkey 47 Gin distillery in a fairytale setting

Deep in the Black Forest is home to the Black Forest Distillery. Overlooking a small valley fringed by dark pine forest, here lies a small cluster of buildings where Monkey 47 Gin is made. But this is not where it began. It began like so many success stories in the home of founder Alexander Stein. And it almost went wrong a few times. At the time when gin was beginning a tentative rise, Alexander Stein thought it would be a nice idea to get started with a special recipe. This recipe was based on the writings of Montgomery Collins, an Englishman stationed in Berlin after WW2. There he coordinated the reconstruction of the English quadrant, which included the Berlin Zoo. Here he particularly cared about the fate of a little monkey named Max.

After his service ended, Montgomery decided to settle in the Black Forest as a watchmaker. However, this adventure did not go as planned and he had to abandon this ambition. Instead, he started a BB, which he called Zum Wilden Affen (The Wild Monkey). Anyway, he was of course an Englishman and decided to experiment with making his own gin. The recipe he developed was based mainly on the Lingon Berry, and included 46 other botanicals, mostly from that region. This became the house gin of his bb. And this is the recipe that a friend of Alexander Stein discovered in 2006. Who decided to base his own gin on this. No mean feat to get started with loose notes, without proportions of the different herbs and without knowledge of distilling. As with so many entrepreneurs, the start of this adventure did not go very well for Alexander. In Christoph Keller he found a suitable distiller. But the investment he had to make to arrive at a gin he was completely happy with threatened to get in over his head. Even ordering the bottles, a model he discovered at a flea market and had recreated, brought him to the brink of bankruptcy. Fortunately, it was at this point that interest in gin took off, and with two wheels above the precipice, things more than worked out. We are visiting the Black Forrest Distillery to see with our own eyes how Monkey 47 Gin is made here. The basis of the recipe is molasses alcohol. This is brought in from outside and in this lingonberries are soaked for a number of days per batch of 60 litres. When they have released enough flavour, the other ingredients are added. And there are quite a few. Everything is carefully weighed to ensure consistent quality. In this botanical bomb, of course, juniper berries are used, as well as six different types of peppers, citrus (everything is peeled by hand), flowers, seeds and berries. With a large hand blender, everything is mixed and taken to the distillery, across the courtyard. I can say without a doubt that these are the most beautifully designed stills I have ever seen myself. 4 beautiful pot stills are standing here next to each other, designed by the famous still builder Arnold Holstein. The capacity of each still is only 99 litres – the alcohol is topped up with water here – for very intensive contact with the copper and it takes just under 2 hours for all the alcohol to evaporate. Incidentally, a few secret botanicals are added to this herbal mixture just before distillation. When all the alcohol has evaporated, it enters a collection tank via the condenser. In principle, the gin is now ready and only needs to be diluted with water. But first, this distillate is left to rest for 90 days in large earthenware barrels to allow the components to marry. After this period, the water is added, of course diluted to 47% alcohol, and it can be bottled. And these are the bottles that you can buy at your favorite liquor store. The story of Monkey 47 gin is truly one of a kind. The small scale of everything means that many hands are involved in making this special gin. The process of making the gin is of course comparable to that of many others, but the recipe in particular makes Monkey 47 unique. And if you can also visit the distillery in these beautiful surroundings, the circle is complete.