Hi
I am curently using a reflux still and filter my spirit with a bucket filter.
However we have been looking to upgrade the system by using a long carbon filter like that made by fuselex. I was just looking for your advice and poteniallly, some plan so I can make my own. At this stage, stainless steel is preferable.
Yer probably not gonna like what I'm gonna say: If yer booze needs filterin' then it has nastys in it and is not good booze.
Good booze comes from a good wash or mash that is properly run through a still. It doesn't need filterin'. If booze needs filterin' than the distiller that made it should look to his methods and especially ingredients.
well ive always filtered my brew been brewing for 2yrs now but thought after reading your post i thought id leave out the filtering stage this time and see hoe it tastes.
my brew smells good and clean now .
as before i didnt relise that you had to clean the saddles in the reflux head i cleaned them and noe my brew is clean and dosnt smell methoy.
and when i was brewing it it really stank methoy like really strong but all good now pays to ask questions and you get answers.
ok ill be leaving this brew to age for atleast my usuall 4-6 weeks and give her a taste test.
Im not sure why some people are anti carbon filtration, i can assure you that carbon is a major part of commercial distilling. why pretend its a big no no. ??. If anyone is looking at filters, stay the hell away from plastic, and don't be fooled into thinking that these modified water filters have special carbon, its just a regular water filter carbon block. One common brand of filter ( a waterco brand re badged and sold for alcohol use with a ceramic block which is only any use in filtering water from a rain water tank) used a plastic bowl which when exposed to above 45% went from its transparent form, to milky white, releasing Byspehol A ( now banned as a plasticizer in molding food grade products) and monomers ( great if you want cancer).
NB* my info comes from a friend who's expertise IS filtration and happens to be professor of chemical engineering.
the only differences with GAC Vs block, are particle sizes. The GAC form may have some carbon dust in the first few minutes, which is child's play to resolve, just pour it back into your pre filtered spririt. GAC is less expensive than having to buy cartridges to match a particular brand product. Using GAC gives you freedom. The whole process is about contact time, if you pass the alcohol by too quickly, the result will reflect this.
First, cost... Why spend money on carbon to cover sloppy distillation practices, which is probably what those major distilleries are doing... They want to wring as much profit from a run as possible and filtering out the funk gets them there...
Second, un-needed labor and time... Why spend time fussing when it can be better spent enjoying good clean spirits with friends...
Third, pride... Being able to make cleaner spirits than the distilleries without having to carbon filter is something worth bragging about...
Fourth, learning to do it right... If folks just use carbon filtering as a crutch then they may feel that they have no reason to learn to refine their skills and do it right from the get-go...
That's a short-list... Now, that doesn't mean that you couldn't try to use carbon filtering in an effort to salvage that occasional bad run before re-distilling...
carbon has its place in my distilling shed. since I potstill making neutral can be quite time intensive, so I take a short cut by carbon filtering between first and second distillations. also making wite rum from a dark aged rum. but I'd never use it to try and make an undrinkable batch into something passable.
if you need to carbon filter your booze to make it drinkable then something is off. expecially with a column you should be able to remove all but the faintest flavors just by making good cuts. However that being said, if the quality ios good, but you just want to remove the last bit of flavour then by all means go for it.
I use an 18" long 2" dia length of satinless tube, cloth filter on the bottom end and fill the tube with carbon. i dribble the product into the top and collect in 1 gallon jars. this works well for a light stripping of flavour and color from rum (makes a clean but still flavourfull white rum)
I've seen some systems that seal both ends of the tube and use a gravity feed input and a small valve to regulate output flow. this would work well too (search for "silver rum" on the forums, you'll find rumbulls setup)
Got a few questions about carbon filtration. I'm doing a vodka blend with spring water and am looking to do some carbon filtration. Can't seem to find much exact info on it.
Can anyone clarify difference between non activated and activated along with best source materials for charcoal?
Any thoughts on some good quantities for a carbon - vodka ratio? (ie. 8 grams per gallon) Also considering different filtration techniques. I'm wondering if we can fill a small sack and drop it in the bucket with the vodka, like a tea bag for a couple days or does it have to actually run through the charcoal?
I'd like to smooth the taste out a little more and am hoping the charcoal will do that.
