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Thinking about making enough oak charcoal to put in a 1/2 gallon SS pot with holes in the bottom and running my product through it. Will this do anything or not, Thanks

charcoal can reduce hardness with out removing too much flavors.
if you dont rinse it good it can add a bit of"smoky" flavors
I would suggest not to drill to many holes in bottom
as you want product to stay in contact as long as possible.

I use charcoal to filter and it does make a difference. I read a military manual that said that if activated carbon was not available that ground charcoal could be used to filter water but it needed to ba a much larger amount.

I use about half a cup of charcoal that I have put through a corona mill with about 2mm gap at the plate per liter. It is messy but I think it is worth it. Also you don't need to drill holes in a good pot. Just dump the charcoal and stir a couple times a day for a couple of days. Then just let settle and take off the top.

It would probably be a good idea to wash the charcoal in a kitchen sieve or something like that to get rid of the fine dust because it seems to just hang in the liquid. I usually filter my low wines so I don't bother because the likker run takes care of that.

2MM must almost be dust, Am I right on this. Thanks for the help.

I do get alot of dust because charcoal is soft but most of it ends up looking like corse sand. Since you will be running finished likker throught it I would suggest you wash it out until all that is left is granulated. I have poured unwashed charcoal dust and all into low wines and the finer stuff never seems to fully settle. Not a problem with low wines because the spirit run leaves all the dust in the boiler but not something you would want in your finished product. Also I get just the slightest hint of color, like a light chamomile tea.

I have also regenerated it by heating in a toaster oven until it reaches about 600ºF but it makes a big stink as it releases everything it has taken out of likker and was asked why I didn't just by fresh charcoal.

Like I said I use it cause I don't have activated carbon available.