Page 1 of 2

Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:33 pm
by djc
Has any tried Sugar maple charcoal filtering their whiskey, like Jack Daniels?
I've carbon filtered vodka before.
So I was thinking of making charcoal out of 1" blocks of sugar maple, and filtering my whiskey thru it before putting in a charred barrel.

Any thoughts?

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 3:05 pm
by blanikdog
Found this using the search function. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 3#p6822213 It should answer your question.

blanik

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:23 pm
by Barney Fife
I age about half my whiskey and half my rum on maple charcoal now. Mmmm! I don't filter it in maple, but instead age it in maple. I make my own charcoal, but deeply charred maple will do as well, maybe.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 11:25 pm
by scarecrow
If only we could get sugar maple in OZ. :(

My poor substitute is to add a smidge more maple syrup. Piss poor way of doin' it, but .....

scarecrow

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:49 am
by djc
Barney, what's your process for making sugar maple charcoal?

thanks

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:16 am
by Dnderhead
I like to take a old pot,(can with mettle lid will work) remove the handle off the top (for vent) fill with wood chunks ,set on a fire out side (it will stink up your house)
then "cook"until no fumes are escaping. (caution the fumes will burn!)
once cooled, rinse off charcoal,and dry

this is dry or destructive distilling, you can capture the smoke/fumes and have "liquid smoke" as used for flavoring

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:57 pm
by Barney Fife
Do a google search for "make your own charcoal"; you'll get a lot of ideas.

But here's how I do it. Got to an automotive paint shop, and buy a couple 1 gallon paint cans. Make sure to specify uncoated paint cans! Most paint cans have a plastic lining, so go to an automotive paint shop. And get li8ds for them. Fill a can about 1/3 full with maple blocks, none larger than 2" square or so, and plenty fo small ones. Put the largest chunks on the bottom. Put the lid on tight, and punch a dozen or so holes in the top. Not big, no more than 1/8". Now, either toss the can in a fire, or put it on a hot plate or propane burner. Outdoors! Lotsa smoke gonna happen here. Once it starts to smoke, back off on the burner some, and let it go until the smoke is almost non-existent. Shake the can once in a while; if it's in a fire, just kicks it around some. You'll see new smoke again, but soon you'll not have any real smoke once more. Take it off the heat, pop the lid off(careful, the damn thing's hot now!) and pour cold water into the can. The cold water will make the charcoal snap and crack into millions of little fissures where your drink will find its way into the goodness.

Once cool enough to hand with bare hands, you can add it to your spirits. Do it right away if you want the smokey flavor, or leave it air dry a few days or longer if you want less smoke. Once dry, store it in a paper bag or anything that breaths a bit.

Oh, why more than one can? Because you will want to try other woods, and you only want to use the same wood in that can, becauszxe it will get very oily and smoky in there and will throw the flavor of the other woods.

enjoy! It's great for grilling, too ;)

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2010 4:51 pm
by djc
Thanks, I appreciate the info!

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 9:01 am
by pope
As far as sourcing maple is concerned, I think some people get confused by the name 'sugar maple,' which is the same species (acer saccharum) as what is known in the woodworking community as hard white maple, white maple, country maple, etc. You should be able to find samples or pieces at any lumber yard or in a friends garage. Or, if you're desperate, order samples from an online lumber supply. If you're in the US places like woodworkerssource.com sell samples for like $3-5.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 7:21 pm
by white_likker1
found planks at this site. Four, 7 in. L x 6 in. for 9.99
http://www.grillshowroom.com/4-piece-mi ... erm=132627" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:52 am
by Barney Fife
That's awful expensive for wood. Plain maple boards can be had at most any lumber yard for way, way less than that.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:40 am
by white_likker1
Barney Fife wrote:That's awful expensive for wood. Plain maple boards can be had at most any lumber yard for way, way less than that.
but do theu have any chemicals in them?

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:49 am
by Barney Fife
Oh for chrisakes.... No.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:42 am
by white_likker1
Why the attitude? I was just askin??????

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:23 am
by Barney Fife
Sorry about that; we went through a long pissin' match a few years ago, here, on the subject of wood and chemicals.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:05 am
by BareKnuckles
scarecrow wrote:If only we could get sugar maple in OZ. :(

My poor substitute is to add a smidge more maple syrup. Piss poor way of doin' it, but .....

scarecrow
Got them and hickory all over my yard. I'll ship ya some. I imagine it would be super expensive to ship a load of wood to OZ!!!!!
:clap:

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 7:24 am
by dan_buddy
I no this is a really old post and I probably won't get a reply but after reading this I this I'm gonna try apple wood charcoal I have a huge apple tree that fell down a few years ago and most of it is just sitting buy the shed in the wood pile .. I'm gonna take the hard wood for aging and I think I'm gonna try to make some of the charcoal for for sprits and the BBQ
That's for the great read once again

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 1:48 pm
by rad14701
dan_buddy wrote:I no this is a really old post and I probably won't get a reply but after reading this I this I'm gonna try apple wood charcoal I have a huge apple tree that fell down a few years ago and most of it is just sitting buy the shed in the wood pile .. I'm gonna take the hard wood for aging and I think I'm gonna try to make some of the charcoal for for sprits and the BBQ
That's for the great read once again
Don't hold your breath because none of the previous posters in this topic have visited the forums in quite some time...

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 10:03 pm
by Red Rim
Dan,
Thanks for pulling this thread out of the closet.
I smoke my oak, which has oak and charcoal in it, pretty much like Dunderhead discribed. It is always crazy to do something, think you have created a new way of doing things and then find out that the old pillar members were doing this years ago.
It works great.
Now I will take dunderheads advice and try it with maple. It grows like weeds on my property. I use it to smoke meats anyhow. Build a fire, cut a few fresh green branches and smother the fire with green maple. The sweet sugary smoke is delicous on meats, why not in my whiskey?

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 6:59 am
by dan_buddy
Do you smoke it all the way ? Till its charcoal ? Do you
Soak it in water before your whisky ? I made some yesterday with apple wood but I don't no if I'd wanna add the to my drink but I also did go all the way and turn it to coals .
Oak is hard for to to find as where I live it's mostly fur

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 1:58 am
by shadylane
I've used chard sugar maple in the jars but haven't tried using sugar maple charcoal for filtering yet.
Experimenting with the Lincoln county process is on my to do list.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:02 am
by dan_buddy
I have trying making charcoal over the weekend not as easy as they say ..
How much do you chat your maple ?
I have a apple tree that's been drying for years
Anybody no why every recommends only the heart wood ?
And oak barrels all heart wood ?

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 9:32 pm
by W Pappy
dan_buddy wrote:I have trying making charcoal over the weekend not as easy as they say ..
How much do you chat your maple ?
I have a apple tree that's been drying for years
Anybody no why every recommends only the heart wood ?
And oak barrels all heart wood ?
Well think of the heart wood as you would a fruit gotta get rid of the pith to get to the goodness.
That is where the natural sugars and flavors come from.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2016 7:06 pm
by pope
When I made charcoal I took wood chunks and put them in a stainless bain marie with a nail hole in the top. Put the whole can in a fire, dig it out the next day. You'll have pure black sugar maple charcoal. If you want to activate it, douse it with water when it's fire hot.

As far as mellowing with charcoal, I've put finished spirit in a big stainless pot, stirred in about a handful per gallon, and let it sit for 1, 2, and 4 days. I thought four was too mellow, but after 1-2 days you will notice the charcoal taking the edge off.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 5:27 am
by Stonecutter
shadylane wrote: Fri Nov 28, 2014 1:58 am I've used chard sugar maple in the jars but haven't tried using sugar maple charcoal for filtering yet.
Experimenting with the Lincoln county process is on my to do list.
Basques Sugar Maple All Natural Hardwood Lump Charcoal 8.8 lb.

Shady did you make your own charcoal? It’s a little pricey but I’m thinking this would work great for aging or filtering!

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:32 pm
by shadylane
I make my own charred sugar maple.
Some times, I get carried away and make charcoal out of sugar maple. :lol:
Don't make the mistake I've made, trying to use charred wood or charcoal as is.
Put it into a bucket of water and stir it around for a little while, then rinse it off before use. :wink:

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 12:27 pm
by Stonecutter
Yeah, so it turns black if not rinsed properly? Right? That’s what I was wondering. I’d like to try the Lincoln County method(although I understand that it really doesn’t impart any flavor) as well as toasting some maple chunks for aging.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 2:16 pm
by contrahead
Resurrection of this old thread has given me some ideas for a new topic to pursue. A topic that needs clarification in several areas.

As to [Stonecutter's] “Sugar Maple All Natural Hardwood Lump” (charcoal): I think it would make an excellent material to conduct aging with; it being a quality hardwood “lump” charcoal rather than a “briquette”form of charcoal. It might help with filtering some; but herein is where some clarification is needed.

I am not certain, but suspect that Shady's advice on pre-soaking the charcoal with water first; has less to do with cleaning (rinsing) the charcoal, but more to do with loosing a goodly amount of your spirit by having it trapped inside the dry and thirsty charcoal.

<------>

- Molded charcoal briquettes might have all kinds of unwanted impurities in them; unrelated combination of ignitable wood byproducts or chemical additives used for easier ignition, steady burn and binding agents to hold the coal dust together.

- Thorough pyrolysis or destructive distillation, is a chemical decomposition, or chemical breakdown. The charcoals we talk about here are mild or unfinished attempts at pyrolysis. The charcoals that we cook hamburgers on, still have multiple trapped chemical compounds - that give smoke its aroma. In a bourbon barrel the char is only so thick, the spirit passes that to penetrate the wood behind it. Having charcoal that was not completely burned through or not fully carbonized in the center, would seem to be desirable for bottle aging.

- Historically, because of its density and work-ability, oak became the most obvious and desirable type of wood for many separate fabrication needs. It was nothing more than its superior grain and non-porous cell structure that made it the best available type of wood to use for liquid holding (dry-tight) casks. Since oak wood was generally the most valuable, other woods were used for less demanding cooperage. There is no law or rule that states that charred oak is the best wood to age with. Since pretty-much all whisky barrels were, or have been made out of oak for reasons of construction practicality; nincompoops assume that oak is the only proper wood to age whisky with. These same people might smoke their chickens or beef briskets in only Hickory chips too, until they discover that Cherry or Apple wood makes a better meat that does not taste so much like like bacon.

.. One would assume that regular charcoal does accomplish some filtering; that it can trap some of the largest lipids and questionable molecules that pass through the still along with the product. But not nearly so thorough a filter probably, as activated charcoal would be.

- One does not make activated charcoal by dropping hot wood coals into water.

- Superheating natural sources of carbon, such as wood or nut shells, produces activated charcoal. “This ‘activation’ process strips the charcoal of previously absorbed molecules and frees up bonding sites again. This process also reduces the size of the pores in the charcoal and makes more holes in each molecule, therefore, increasing its overall surface area”.

- It is said but difficult to believe, that “one teaspoon full of activated charcoal has more surface area than a football field”. This is evidently determined by determined by gas adsorption.

- The fact that activated charcoal is so effectively absorbent explains why it is sometimes used in emergency rooms for poisoning and drug overdoses. It's good for some anti-inflammatories, pain relievers and sedatives; but no good for absorbing lye, alcohols or petroleum products from your stomach.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 3:18 pm
by Hambone
I don’t think charcoal would do anything for aging, no matter what the wood. The goodies are in the substance of the wood…which I would think would be destroyed in the charcoal making process.

Re: Sugar maple charcoal filtering

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:02 pm
by contrahead
Hambone wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 3:18 pm I don’t think charcoal would do anything for aging, no matter what the wood. The goodies are in the substance of the wood…which I would think would be destroyed in the charcoal making process.
Like the science says, the goodies are not all burned through, or destroyed – unless you're talking specifically about “activated” charcoal.

There's probably a thousand ways to make charcoal. When Jack Daniels makes charcoal, they get a stack of wood burning red hot and then put the fire out with a water hose. They don't even attempt to restrict the oxygen supply.

When I make charcoal, I get the wood all blackened and charred before I choke it (deprive it of oxygen). In this case some of the “goodies” have no other place to go – they must stay in the charcoal. I attempt to achieve an even char on the wood, but also to leave an un-burned, un-carbonized center in the coals.

I don't pretend to be an expert, but I know damn good and well that my homemade charcoal, has helped to age or mature some of my product. The proof is in the taste.

(I meant to include this video before - but forgot. This guy has millions of viewers - yet never utters a word in his videos.)
Primitive Technology: Charcoal