Home Distiller

This is what the Lincoln County Process:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_County_Process
There are some interesting mentions about George Dickel and how they do it(cooling the liquor, then filling the vat before letting it drip through).

There are lots of different kinds of Maple so be certain what you are getting is Sugar Maple(the other types have a lower sugar content)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_saccharum
I Believe Curly/Spalted/Tiger/Birdseye are all Sugar Maple. These are fairly common in the woodworking world.

This is a link to a "how to make charcoal" article

http://www.ehow.com/how_12210126_make-c ... maple.html I copied the text below

Here is one thread that mentions a basic process once you have made the charcoal:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... aple#p7659

I was looking for a "how to" on a small scale to do the Lincoln County Process and making sugar maple charcoal. Before I get raked over the coals because there may exist some post somewhere about this.....I searched the site and googled all manner of variations of "sugar maple charcoal", "lincoln county process, and "charcoal". I found very little. I apologize now if I missed it.
1
Cut dried sugar maple wood into small 1-inch chunks using any type of wood saw. If you do not have easy access to a maple tree, you can use a piece of lumber as long as it has not been treated with preservatives.

2
Prepare a baking container for the wood by drilling six 1/4-inch holes in the top cover of a metal container large enough to hold a few cups of the wood chunks. Use a steel drill bit and keep the holes near the center.

3
Place in a heated outdoor grill at 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Watch the holes for the type of discharge to regulate the stage of the charcoal making. As the wood heats for the first 30 to 40 minutes, steam is produced. Watch for the yellow smoke over the next hour, showing that the gases are being released. Once the discharge clears, cook for another 30 minutes to reduce the wood to a brittle charcoal.

4
Fill a large pot or bucket with cold water deep enough to submerge all the charcoal.

5
Remove the container from the grill and remove the cover, using pot holders or oven mitts to protect your hands from the heat.

6
Drop the hot charcoal into the cold water for about five seconds. Dump out the water over a metal sieve to catch the charcoal. The steam causes the surface of the charcoal to crack into millions of fissures, increasing the filtering surface of the sugar maple charcoal.

7
Use a food processor or blender to process the charcoal into a coarse powder, suitable to fit into a tube. Use only a couple handfuls at a time. DO AT YOUR OWN RISK MY WIFE WOULD MURDER ME

8
Spoon the sugar maple charcoal into a funnel attached to a 1-inch-wide tube about 3 feet long. Tie off the end of the tube with three layers of cheesecloth and a rubber band. This will prevent the charcoal from dropping out of the tube as you filter. Add enough charcoal to fill 24 inches of the tube.

9
Pour water through the funnel into the tube until it runs clear from the end of the tube. The wet filter is ready for your distillate.

I'm assuming you can use whatever size tube ya want for this? Like say if ya got 15' of 1" tygon tubing and dumped a half gallon in there then came back when it was all done filtering. That way you could go do something for an hr or so while it filters?

You probably could, I would think 2" is ideal(because of volume of liquid/charcoal). 4" would probably work if you had enough charcoal.

I like 1.5" because it holds a half gallon bottle real well. Copper scrubbies in the bottom, packed with charcoal and about 8 hours later (if it packed right) it's filtered!

I also used a meat tenderizer/rolling pin with the charcoal in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Worked real well, no angry wife.

onemarleyfan wrote:I also used a meat tenderizer/rolling pin with the charcoal in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Worked real well, no angry wife.

I used a bowl and a heavy stick. I think I would like your method better!

I had to change bags a couple times, but that's cuz I went hogwild and beat the shit out of the charcoal. I didn't want to use my mortar/pestle, but it probably would work pretty good.

I had to change bags a couple times, but that's cuz I went hogwild and beat the shit out of the charcoal. I didn't want to use my mortar/pestle, but it probably would work pretty good.

Excellent thread, thanks guys. Long time JD drinker, was, but still LOVE it in a Jack and Coke like no other (my favorite mixed drink). Even with countless gallons of assorted bourbons and whiskeys aging I still buy Jack to make Jack and Coke, weird?

So Im gonna do this. I have some maple, gonna coal it up and build one of them like Richard7 did, excellent idea, and run some bourbon through it.

When I posted Jimbo, I had not done this yet. I couldn't find one concise thread that covered it so I thought this would be nice. I am not a huge Jack/Dickel(never had Dickel). I do have a bottle of Jack Single Barrel that is pretty good.

The charcoal so far has worked like a charm. I think I cooked it a little longer, and was skeptical that it would break up easily, but it did(and it smells effin wonderful, a little sweet and smoky). I am looking forward to putting some jars through the charcoal. I'm doing the process and then age on American, French, and Hungarian Oak, as well as some Toasted Cherry/Maple.

Nice thanks Marley. If you taste a JD next to a 'proper' bourbon LOL! You notice its just plain and empty and 'flinty'. Sounds crazy but reminds me of gunpowder, from when I was a kid and made gunpowder and blow'd shit up with my brother. I now call JD Oaked Neutral. haha.

Anyway, I think it might be that flinty charcater from the charcoal thats makes it so god damn good in coke. Dunno. But spending 20 bucks a bottle for a proper Jack and Coke, when I can make bourbon for $1.60 is pissin me off a little.

You may not want to dump your best booze in first! Whenever I change my charcoal it comes out black. So I use a quart of near tails, and run it through about 10 times till it clears up.
First pass is darker than coffee, but each time it gets clearer. Eventually it will run crystal clear.

I was going to do like step 9 and run water through it til it clears. I am going to be watering down to 55% but will be running it through at 62.5%.

2" tubing I could probably find, but 4" would be a little hard to find I believe. Unless I just went to get some copper pipe sections and use that. But the 1.5" stick I have left over from my very first still would prolly work awesome in that jig 7 built. Might have to get my McGuyver hat on and whip myself up a filtering device...

I'm using 3/4" right now(all I could find at the recycler). I need roughly 3.5liters for my "experiments". It is time consuming using that small diameter tubing. I definitely would use the 1.5", I wish I had a longer 2" tube(don't we all!!). I made enough charcoal to fill a 2" pipe. I started this morning and am almost done(10pm). Smells nice and smoky.

If you need 4" I have a number of 20-30" pieces up in the ad section.