Polishing spirits

[growler]

What what should the concentration of spirit be when adding activated charcoal for polishing the spirit. I have been told that about 40% is the best, but I would like to hear if that is really the case. I would prefer to put the carbon in at a higher conc if that would work.

Thanks

[rad14701]

The higher the %ABV of the spirits, the better... Diluting the spirits just means that the activated carbon also needs to filter the water as well as the alcohol... The water will also slow the overall filtering process...

But the real answer is to make a better wash and improve your distillation practices to the point where filtering is not required... Many here have never filtered spirits and never will... It's just something that was introduced when brew shops started selling cheap stills with turbo everything, including fining agents and activated carbon to account for the problems presented by turbo yeast... This is especially the case when running turbo washes through a pot still which turbos weren't designed for...

Perhaps you could provide more details so we can better assist you...

[growler]

To rad14701

Thanks for the clue about the strenght for 'polishing'.

My still gives up to 96% if I increase the reflux to the max. It is an offset head valved reflux number, 2" column 600mm height. It gives a pretty good product when run as a pot still, and a better product when refluxing. But I sometimes get a vodka with some taint. Don't know why. Sometimes it is fine. I try to be as consistent as possible over the entire process, but bugger me, it is not always perfect. The last batch was using EC1118 yeast, and it was not a lot better than the turbos I used to use until you guys advised against the turbos. I am going to try birdwatchers tomato paste sugar wash next time.

[King Of Hearts]

To rad14701

Thanks for the clue about the strenght for 'polishing'.

My still gives up to 96% if I increase the reflux to the max. It is an offset head valved reflux number, 2" column 600mm height. It gives a pretty good product when run as a pot still, and a better product when refluxing. But I sometimes get a vodka with some taint. Don't know why. Sometimes it is fine. I try to be as consistent as possible over the entire process, but bugger me, it is not always perfect. The last batch was using EC1118 yeast, and it was not a lot better than the turbos I used to use until you guys advised against the turbos. I am going to try birdwatchers tomato paste sugar wash next time.

Try using 1056 American Ale yeast, or Safale 05 the dry version, as clean as it gets.