Filtering and Activated Charcoal

[Ceedubya]

What tecniques do you use to filter your vodka, and for those using activated charcoal where is the best place to purchase it?

Can I get it anywhere in bulk?

Thanks!

[new_moonshiner]

idea is to make is so you dont have to use charcoal to clean it up .. but if you need it you can use charcoal thats used in home water filters not fish tank filters or check here.http://www.buyactivatedcharcoal.com/bul ... swodjk_Kyw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[minime]

Got to agree with NMS''er. If you ferment and distill correctly you don't need to carbon filter. If you're pot stilling for vodka follow wineo's simple sugar wash and distill at least twice with good cuts and you'll have an excellent product. Carbon is expensive, messy, and a waste of time.

good luck and welcome

[rad14701]

I agree 100%... I've NEVER had to carbon filter my neutral spirits... Being patient and not getting greedy goes a long way in guaranteeing clear and smooth results...

[Husker]

Ceedubya,

This gets posted a lot. There are several simple things which make a fine clean product. Carbon filtering is NOT one of them. If you have gotten this information from some home-brew shop owner, or from some site like Gert Strand's site, then ignore the information. They are using carbon to clean up awful turbo yeast, and recommend turbo yeasts, because they make HUGE profits from selling it.

To make clean product:

1. Use a good recipe. See our "tried and True" recipe section. Try a recipe such as wino's plain ole sugar wash or Uncle Remus Rice Vodka or Deathwish Wheat germ recipe or for a flavored whiskey like drink, uncle jesse's simple sour mash method

2. Do not use a turbo yeast. It is nothing more than expensive stuff, and makes a product which will usually require carbon filtering to make it palatable.

3. NEVER push the ABV of your wash over 12%. When you push higher than this, you will produce much more off flavored congeners, and those are hard to remove, and when not removed, again, people use carbon. Simply keep your ABV in a reasonable level, and you will not have to fight trying to remove them.

4. Learn how to properly drive your still. This is the BEST way for you to produce a better product. Proper driving is not running too fast, and learning just how to make VERY conservative cuts to remove all of those nasty things you do NOT want in your drink.

Learn the above, and forget about "carbon filtering"

H.

[Ceedubya]

Husker,

informative, thoughtful, and concise... Thanks!

Thanks to all for the advice and info, I am on my way to making this an official "hobby" and wanted to be sure I wasn't missing anything. Sounds like I'm not at all.

[Husker]

Be sure to take your time and learn. This is a hobby of patience. Also, be sure to observe safe practices. NEVER leave a running still. Make sure your water supply to the condenser is on. Better yet, read the safety threads, and the "mistakes" threads. They help give you an idea of proper (and not so proper) techniques.

Also, be sure to have fun. This is a hobby, and enjoyment both making, and partaking your finished product is what you should strive for.

H.

[ZAXBYC]

I cannot agree more with husker.

I have used turbo yeast, and the distallate always had a 'tang' to it, even after getting the cuts well done

Once I had to distill a vile nectarine wine I had made becuase it was absolutely undrinkable, this turned out to be one of the best spirits I had even made.

Be patient, and dont be greedy and you will have a much better final product. This is espicially important if you want to high quality product

[lawnman 2]

i have a relux still which i make vodka or plain spirit and the flavour by using chips from my brew shop.
i use a britta water filter as my filter system as i use a turbo yeast which does leave some odour but i have a 25 lt still and i only collect 3lts @ 80%
i filter my brew at 80% water down to 40% and filter again no smell all good throw into chips and soak away and wait

[Husker]

I continue to hear of people using a brita PLASTIC filter to filter hi proof (like 80% ABV) with to "clean it up". I just wonder how less clean the finished product is in the end? Yes, the smell might be gone, but what other chemicals have you picked up in your product from this process?

H.

[punkin]

i have a relux still which i make vodka or plain spirit and the flavour by using chips from my brew shop.
i use a britta water filter as my filter system as i use a turbo yeast which does leave some odour but i have a 25 lt still and i only collect 3lts @ 80%
i filter my brew at 80% water down to 40% and filter again no smell all good throw into chips and soak away and wait

I know three or four guys who are doing pretty much what yo are doing mate. They're in a slightly better position than you though, at least they've tasted what proper hand crafted alchohol can be like.
Not trying to be a smartass or put you down, but until you've tried proper neutral from a modern still made with wholesome ingredients and good cuts, let alone ujsm compared to your cordial bourbon, or mollasses carefully potstilled with good cuts, let alone all grain, you just don't have a bench mark.

The blokes i know have tried samples of my brew and when they bring a bottle to my house they leave it on the table and it gets taken home full. People will drink the better product all day. Not trying to ring my bell here, but i promise you that if you were to modify your still to pot still and run ujsm, grains or fruits, dwwg etc, or build a proper reflux still and use a wssw or bwsw to produce a 95+% and flavour it with natural ingredients like fruit and herbs that you would be embarrassed of the homebrew tasting stuff you used to make.









It'sJustNotInTheHuntPunkin

[Dnderhead]

I imported this from another forum----and I wont take a chance NO WAY NO HOW! no contact with plastic


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Help... Ive experienced a real problem... people getting sick from something in the distill et ... so much so emergency was called... the fire department said they had seen this problem before from other home distillers using [blue and other] plastic water jugs [3-5 gals.]. They thought the proof was to high for the plastic and was leaching or dissolving chemicals, harmful for consumption, out of the plastic
I threw all of that batch out... apologized and promised i wouldn't let that happen again.
I am now using 1 gal. glass jars... kind of a pain... but safe.

[DrTorque]

I'm at the point where I've only made a few batches... I don't have anywhere near the experience of some of these other guys, but I've already learned my lesson when it comes to this topic. My first batch was a turbo yeast. I drank it, and it tasted better than low-end vodka, but it had off-smells that I didn't want. Re-distilling it didn't even remove them completely. I probably enjoyed it more than I should have simply because it was "mine." People that I gave it to suggested carbon filtering.

My next batch was a non-turbo. All of those off-smells and flavors are gone, and no one suggested carbon filtering. I didn't like the speed at which the non-turbo fermented, but I got the help I needed on this forum, and subsequent batches have gone much faster.

I doubt that I'll ever use a turbo again.