The gin distillery in Basel.
GIN LAB. is a distillery in Basel, Switzerland, at Gärtnerstrasse 46 in the Aktienmühle. This is where our own spirits are made — and where you make your own gin in one evening at the still. Not a look behind the scenes, but a bottle you take home.
The Aktienmühle in Basel was restored, and our distillery found its place inside. The grain once milled here is now the base of our gin.
We distil on an Arnold Holstein pot still with rectification column, in batches of 300 litres. Alongside it several Büchi rotary evaporators for vacuum distillation at low temperature — so botanicals survive that heat would destroy.
Since 2018 more than thirty recipes have come out of this, awarded among others with Gold at the Concours International de Lyon and Grand Gold at the Frankfurt International Trophy.
- StillArnold Holstein
- Capacity300 l
- Columnrectification
- Vacuum distillationBüchi
- Single distillatesover 20
- Recipes since 2018over 30
- AddressGärtnerstrasse 46
4057 Basel - Getting theretram 8
Wiesenplatz / Ciba
Blended, not cooked together.
We distil more than twenty botanicals separately — each on its own, at the temperature it can take. The composing happens afterwards.
The usual route in gin production is a botanical basket: everything into the vapour together, one run, done. That is faster and cheaper — but the citrus peel then cooks at the same temperature as the juniper berry, and whatever is delicate gets lost.
We distil each botanical on its own. Juniper on the pot still, citrus peel and herbs under vacuum at low temperature. Then we blend, millilitre by millilitre, until the ratio is right.
Distilling each botanical separately takes longer than a single run in a basket. In return every recipe can be reproduced — and in the workshop every guest can compose their own ratio without anything having to be distilled again.
- Every botanical distilled separately
- Pot still for juniper and roots
- Vacuum for citrus, herbs and flowers
- Blended rather than cooked together
- Reproducible batch after batch
- More than twenty single distillates in stock
Twenty bottles, one plant each
Juniper, angelica root, cardamom, lemon peel, spruce needle: every botanical stands here as its own distillate in its own bottle. Each was distilled at the temperature it tolerates — citrus peel gently, roots harder.
Anyone developing a recipe first smells and tastes each bottle on its own. Only then does the weighing start. That is the difference from distilling everything together: there the whole thing is decided in one run, here each ingredient can be judged separately and changed afterwards.
Why the column is needed.
A pot still alone can distil a great deal, but it cannot separate everything. The rectification column sits above the pot; on its bubble plates the vapour condenses and rises again, several times over. With every plate the selection of what travels upwards gets narrower.
With Gentleman's Gin this decides the clove: the head notes are wanted, not the heavy oils beneath them. Without plates both come along.
Four ways into GIN LAB.
GIN LAB. offers four things: the public gin workshop, team events and company gatherings, the event space with its bar, and contract distilling — producing spirits under contract for brands, hospitality and companies.
| Area | What it is | Key facts |
|---|---|---|
| Gin workshop | An evening at the still, you take your bottle home | CHF 180 · 3 h |
| Team and company events | The workshop for groups, with apéro and bar | up to 25 people |
| Venue and bar | Rent the room, book the bar, or the mobile bar comes to you | 40 seated · 80–90 standing |
| Contract distilling | Your own recipe, your own label, your own bottle | from 10 bottles |
The Aktienmühle.
The Aktienmühle in Kleinbasel was built as a grain mill in 1898 and used that way for decades. Today the site holds a quarter of workshops, studios and small businesses.
Our distillery sits at Gärtnerstrasse 46, just behind Wiesenplatz. Tram 8 stops at the door, by car it is five minutes from the motorway exit.
Whoever comes for the workshop stands in the same room as the still. No seminar room, no partition.
The room seats 40 people and holds 80 to 90 standing. The public gin workshop runs on Thursdays from 17:30 to 20:30 and costs CHF 180 per person; further dates are added on demand. Enquiries go to hello@gin-lab.ch.
- AddressGärtnerstrasse 46
4057 Basel - Tram8, Wiesenplatz
- WorkshopThu, 17:30–20:30
- Seated40
- Standing80–90
- Contacthello@gin-lab.ch
GIN LAB. is a brand of Ale & Bread GmbH. More on contract distilling, team events or our Negroni.