Home Distiller

I searched and did nto see much...

I have about 28g of 55% that has so much black fine charcoal in it looks almost green or grey in color.

Anyone have any tims of filtering it? It never settles out. Paper filters don't really work.

I have been thinking maybe a small amount of charcoal/carbon like you do filter neutral.. but normal like maple carbon/charcoal if I made some.. and crushed it to make a filter bed. JD is filtered through maple charcoal after all..

Just want to clean this up rather than running it as pretty tasty as is is right now.

Thoughts?
B

My liver does a pretty good job.

I always filter through a stack of 3 coffee filters. But I’m only filtering a couple gallons worth. You could use a section of pipe as your vessel, clamp coffee filters to the bottom and hang it above a collection vessel. If filters alone aren’t doing it for you, you could add a small amount of activated charcoal inside the pipe. Good luck!

Coffee filters not working and end up plugged fair amount in there.

B

It sounds like you need to rig up a vacuum filtering system to pull it through the filters.

Deplorable wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 9:55 am It sounds like you need to rig up a vacuum filtering system to pull it through the filters.

Or more surface area and or multiple filter stages (to try and get the slightly larger bits out before the fines so that the filters don't clog so fast). Not sure where you'd get the different grades of filter paper though; maybe a lab supplies company?

There is nothing big left already gone. It is Blacky Green so much carbon/charcol in it. Goes throught paper towel too. 28G is alot to filter too lol..

I tried 1 glass 10 shets of paper towel and go some of it but lots supper fine.. that would filter better in coffee filter. I have a wine filter but don't want to use as its got plastic parts... so no go and will not do that.

Vaccum filtering likely work but don't have that option...

Worst case will run it and then put in my barrels... and wait.. but be nice to avoid that.

B

What about adapting beer or wine filtering elements to be used in HD approved material housings? The standard housings are of course almost universally plastic, which is accepted for low ABV, but could be replicated approximately with suitable materials.

zed255 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 11:09 am What about adapting beer or wine filtering elements to be used in HD approved material housings? The standard housings are of course almost universally plastic, which is accepted for low ABV, but could be replicated approximately with suitable materials.

Cost to make that be crazy.. and a pump thats safe for 55% also be $$$ this is a one time thing.. so don't need to do this all the time.

B

bitter wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 11:47 am

zed255 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 11:09 am What about adapting beer or wine filtering elements to be used in HD approved material housings? The standard housings are of course almost universally plastic, which is accepted for low ABV, but could be replicated approximately with suitable materials.

Cost to make that be crazy.. and a pump thats safe for 55% also be $$$ this is a one time thing.. so don't need to do this all the time.

B

Get yourself something like this:



I did for small batches and it works great at removing cloudiness and ultra fine particles. Get the paper for the recommended filter size and then put a single coffee filter over it for a dual stage collection. You'll also need a small cheap vacuum pump but its well worth the time savings.

When you say that it never settles out, how long have you given it?

NZChris wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 12:47 pm When you say that it never settles out, how long have you given it?

Over 6 Months.. might be 8 Months now. I was hoping to sypon it off the top the carbon and have it settle. The largest pieces do settle but this is like finer than the finest flour you can get.. or finer..

B

Do people use bentonite on finished products? I thought winemakers do. Maybe try it on a very small amount to see what happens

Bushmans filter .

viewtopic.php?f=83&t=25090&sid=021df5c6 ... d#p6943007

Bentonite?
Works for wine

Bentonite has a reputation for stripping flavor, so I would only do small experiments with it.

Whiskey has to be aged for years to get the best out of it. Maybe you are just in too much of a hurry?

55% is quite low for barrel aging and 8 months isn't a long time compared to the flavored products that are aging in my shed and available in my local bottle store. If you are in a hurry, I suggest that you re-distill it with some fresh wash to drop the ABV to below 27% and don't contaminate it with carbon after the distillation.

NZChris wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 10:39 pm Bentonite has a reputation for stripping flavor, so I would only do small experiments with it.

Whiskey has to be aged for years to get the best out of it. Maybe you are just in too much of a hurry?

55% is quite low for barrel aging and 8 months isn't a long time compared to the flavored products that are aging in my shed and available in my local bottle store. If you are in a hurry, I suggest that you re-distill it with some fresh wash to drop the ABV to below 27% and don't contaminate it with carbon after the distillation.

This has been in barrels for at least 4 years, some was 12 year stuff hence the lower ABV. Its was 8+ months in glass to try to settle out and never did

The carbon/charcoal was from the barrel char. I'm trying to avoid redistilling it and loose all the flavour those upto 12 years gave.

B

Push with co2 or nitrogen instead of pump? There are beer filtration systems setup to work like this. Short exposure time wouldn't leave much co2 in solution (nitrogen would be better)... know any home brewers?

Maybe acquire a used Buon Vino Super Jet Wine Filter off eBay and swap out any nylon parts with alcohol friendly hdpe plastic or stainless and ethanol approved hoses? You'll likely need quite a few filter pads.

I have a Buon Vino Super Jet but don't want to use it too much plastic. Not worth the risk..

B

I take the home water filters for reverse osmosis systems, the paper filters, and cut them into squares and stick them in my funnel.

Try using pure wool felt.
I bought a roll that will probably last me a lifetime. I cut into squares to fit a large funnel.
It's about a 1/4" thick, it filters fast and is washable to be reused. I bet it would work great in your situation.
Hope this helps

I know that activated carbon needs rinsing so you dint create that problem. But I didn’t think a barrel would cause that problem. Could you rig up a long pipe and pack with some filter material? The longer the pipe the higher pressure will be created by the fluid itself. You probably could create a tight filter bed out of many things from paper, charcoal (not activated carbon for whisky) to sand. Not sure what would work best.

I have been procrastinating hoping time and gravity will help. 28G of 55% to filter will be a pain. This was the end of a whole bunch of barrels.. so full or super fine charcoal.. grey almost greenish look. maybe time will help all in glass. Should check and see if top it at least better and take that off the rest.. maybe over time have more and more clear. I keep thinking might just run it then fill my 15g barrel with it.

B

had a barrel do this, it was a combo of too much tails and the fine char. mine did settle after about 6-8months so racking was an option for most. the rest i ran thru a packed cheesecloth filter seemed to clean up good.

On a small batch I had a problem and tried to filter it out. Bought laboratory filter paper, I think it was 5um which is very, very fine. I used used 6 filter papers per quart and it took forever as it clogs real quick. Once done I started again with a second pass and third pass then gave up.

Could never remove everything and the batch stayed unusually dark and has not altered. I'm scared off of filtering for life.

I'm wondering if anyone here has tried a n95 mask, or a HEPA?

juana_b wrote: ↑Mon Apr 25, 2022 10:16 am I'm wondering if anyone here has tried a n95 mask, or a HEPA?

Both of those generally contain plastics so not recommended.

I think your best bet is still a deep bed of some filter media like sand or hardwood charcoal (rinsed) or maybe even oak sawdust. After it gets plugged a bit by the charcoal it’ll filter finer even. But you might need a long pipe to develop the pressure unless you do that mechanically.