How To Filter 101....

[knightmare1015]

There's been alot of arguments on filtering, but no one has yet to post up anything about it. I was told that it's required when you go legal by the feds when I registered my equipment. Filtering is a gray area. Some are for it, and some are against it. Others are for it until you gain more experience. This is an affordable filtering system that you can build at home without having to spend alot of money on these complex systems that you see all over the web. Carbon filtering your distillate does removes any remaining by products that distilling alone can't. If you cut correctly and use this system, no one can come close to your quality.This works best at 100 proof (50% ABV) or less. Here's what you'll need:

#1: Coffee filters:
They're cheap and you can get them almost anywhere. No one is going to think twice about you buying coffee filters (that's until they see this thread of course). I recomend around using 10 coffee filters each time you're filtering. Popcorn Sutton had a saying that you should memorize: The slower you run it, the better product your liquor comes out at :

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#2: A container of some kind:
I prefer a quart mason jar before I use any other container because you'll need to rinse the carbon with boiling hot water before any filtering begins which I'll explain later:

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#3: A funnel:

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I got this one out of the automotive dept. at walmart for around $1 buck. This will hold up because alot of the chemicals in the auto industry are alot stronger than alcohol can ever hope to get. However if you can afford it, I would recomend that you get a stainless steel funnel. Milehigh Distilling has a really nice one that has a removable strainer built in, but it's a little bit expensive though. Here's the link:

http://www.milehidistilling.com/product ... ainer.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

#4: Carbon:

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There's many places to get carbon. You can get it roughly crushed where aquarium supplies and equipment is sold, but it's not been prepped and requires activation which is simply done by pouring boiling water through the carbon before filtering. You can also use commercial water filters like Brita and Pur, but they can expensive and you can't reuse them like you can with this system. After you're done filtering, just simply pour boiling water back through it and let the carbon air dry over night. I recomend that you get the carbon from either Milehigh Distilling or Brewhaus because they get the stuff that's best suited for alcohol. Here's the links to Milehigh Distilling. First the carbon:

http://www.milehidistilling.com/premium ... 0x50-mesh/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Now for the video. Now please keep in mind that this company will recomend that you buy this filtering system when you don't have to. Also overnight soaking is not required and by using boiling water before and after filtering, your carbon will be re-usable. There's also a shop tour which is often used to get you to spend money so please be careful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPk_x3_MFKA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Here's what my system looks like assembled:

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This funnel system can be used on other containers besides mason jars such as milk jugs, and carboys. This system will also improve the quality and taste of cheap commercially distilled spirits as well. I did a before and after taste test with cheap vodka, and after I ran it through this filtering system, I could barely tell the difference between the cheap and premuim vodkas. So yes it does work and it does make a major difference.

Conclusion:
I.M.O, You should not have to filter your distillate after you've made roughly around 6 or 7 runs because at that point you should know what quirks your still has and how your recipies will turn out before your next run. Some people will need less runs, while other might need more. Now I also see why the feds want filtering done with commercially made spirits. Once again Prairiepiss pointed it out in another thread and it is a very good point. Alot of these commercial distilleries don't give 2 craps about about what they make. They only care about the money. The feds make them filter their stuff because they don't want them causing trouble with bad spirits that can cost them money in a lawsuit. Another reason which Prairiepiss also pointed out is that most commercial distilleries don't know how to make cuts either. Popcorn Sutton filtered his spirits which is good enough for me and it also gives me a little peace of mind as well. That's just me though. You don't have to filter if you don't want to, but it's recomended that you do if you're new to distilling.