I would like to add my $0.02 worth. Carbon filtration is an adsorption filtration method. The impurities bind to the carbon, leaving the clean liquid to flow through and be collected. The secret is to make sure the liquid gets exposed to as much carbon as possible. This means, that you want to avoid channeling. This will happen if you are not careful in loading the carbon into the filter setup (you might get "clumps" in the column). I would suggest a modification of the procedure. Hydrate and clean the carbon, and then let it dry (to get rid of the water- and yes, you should use clean, distilled water). Then, add some of your vodka (or whatever you're cleaning) to the carbon and let it soak. You're essentially "hydrating" the carbon with your vodka. Go ahead and use alot of your vodka here. You'll be recovering it as you continue. IMPORTANT: as an aside, you need a valve setup on the bottom somehow, to allow your filtration to start and stop. Set the valve to "closed". Add *some* of your vodka to the empty column to create a little "bath" if you will, of liquid sitting at the bottom of the column. Now stir, then add the carbon/vodka slurry to the column (still closed at the bottom, so nothing is going through). Make sure the slurry is smooth, and not clumpy, and pour it all in. Now, let it sit. Let the carbon slowly settle to the bottom of the column. If you do this right, there will not be any channels, and the carbon filter will be uniform. While this is settling, the vodka is being cleaned, so its a win-win situation. After the carbon is settled, *slowly* open the valve and start to collect your filtrate. Keep adding your vodka as you go- do not let the liquid meet the top of the carbon. Keep it wet, and flowing. At the end, when you're done you can let the carbon dry out as you let the remaining vodka flow out of the column, until you've collected all that you can. As for flow rates- that is up to you (by adjusting the valve). Faster flow rates = less time in contact with the carbon = less impurities removed=more flavor retained. Slower flow rates=more impurities removed=cleaner (more neutral) vodka. You should dispose of the carbon at this point when you're done. It's difficult to clean it, and it's cheap. Think of it like you're trying to clean sweater fuzz off of a tape roller, so you can reuse the tape. Not worth the effort...
These are all wonderful notes, and I appreciate them! I've never thought of soaking the vodka in the carbon after it finishes drying and I'm excited to try that in a future filtration. I've received some wonderful notes from our supports on filtration and I'm anxious to incorporate them all in the next batch. Thanks again!
i used your solid carbon block with buckets yrs back. it was slow but worked. here's my experience. if you filter vodka too much with carbon it actually loses some of its drinkability. it becomes so smooth and tasteless that your martini actually lacks any bite and all you get is vermouth etc. in a mixed drink its better, so its very counterintuitive. normally you put cheap hooch in mixed drinks ... a britta pitcher works well too. filter as many times as you like. it will burn thru their carbon inserts quickly tho. the venturi effect explained would be nice for your viewers. cheers.
Did you just give me some awesome science theories to look into? I love you for that. I'll look into the Venturi Effect for sure! Couldn't agree more on over-filtering more, by the way. I like some character and some bite to spirit.
Thanks for the info. As a winemaker I already have a 3-stage filtration system and I usually filter down from 2 micron to 1 micron to 0.5 micron. These are 10"x2.5" canister filters driven by a 110V JIAWANSHUN Household Electric Wine Transfer Pump. Could such a system also be used to filter the distillate? My concern would be whether the pump diaphragm can handle such high degrees of alcohol. I might have to go for am impeller pump instead. What do you folks think?
Wow, that's a heavy duty filtration system! Nice job! I think that's a wide enough diaphragm to be able to handle alcohol. I FEEL like wine is actually thicker than alcohol with all that fruit juice so if it can handle your wine, my impression is it can handle the base alcohol just fine.
@@milehidistilling1 Thanks for the response but I wasn't thinking about thickness. I was more concerned about the high level of alcohol. Wines are normally between 10% to 18% ABV, however distilled spirits can be up to 80% ABV. I am wondering whether that will burn through the diaphragm.
@@debonpanton3366 Ah! Gotcha! I'd probably look into a different pump specifically for spirits, yes. Is the one you have for wine plastic/some sort of ethylene? I'd definitely recommend getting a stainless one. A nice transfer pump or magnetic pump drive would work well.
Just can't lose that finger nail polish taste. I've tried everything I can think of. Using sugar and yeast, that's it. Ready to give up. Filtered it like crazy. Only good for windshield washer anti-freeze solution.
Hey there, don't give up! Keep trying and learning! It sounds like you have heads in your jar. Are you familiar with cuts? Heads are acetone and give off that nail polish remover smell. There's unfortunately no way to filter them out once they're collected into the jar. I'd recommend pitching the jars that smell and taste like that and next run, use your smell and taste as accurately as possible to try to avoid getting the heads in your jars. I have a few resources I can send you for help on cuts if you'd like.
Sounds interesting! Can you explain what cold filtering is? Are you talking about putting carbon directly into the jar of distillate and filtering that way?
@milehidistilling1 when I mentioned "cold filtering" I have taken the high proof spirit and left it in a freezer over night. It won't become solid due to high proof, but any fats/oils (either from wood chips/barrels, or from tails) will become solid particles and get caught in a Brita or other filter. Think if you put some butter in hot water. After it mixes and is 100% liquid, put it in a refrigerator. Only the butter will become solid and make it easier to remove.
It's essentially just drying it out and then putting it in an oven. Everyone seems to have different times they bake the charcoal and different temperature they bake it at. Anywhere from 220F to 400F to 700F in an industrial oven. And times from 20-30 minutes to an hour to three hours. To reactivate charcoal, it has to be heated at a high temperature so I'd personally do 400F-500F for 30 minutes and go from there.
Filtering before barreling, IME removes a lot of the off flavors up front, this leaves less work for the barrel to age. That said, if you find the end product less clear than you want, use layers of coffee filters. These aren't fast at filtering, but they are cheap and will not alter any flavors.
I didn't notice much proof loss, but it could be because I let my carbon dry out extensively before I filtered with it. That carbon will absorb those water molecules as you wash it/clean it, and those water molecules filter along with the alcohol molecules and become part of one big solution, hence the small loss in proof.
I heard someone say that happens when your carbon is wet. You're basically introducing the water that's in the wet carbon into your filtered product, which dilutes it some.
How much spirit do you loose to the filtering? I have your same setup I only filter about 4-6 quarts at a time. Almost a quart always disappears in the filtering process. I probably should wait until I have a larger quantity to filter. Thanks for the video.
We lost two 750 ml bottles, so around 2/5 of a gallon when we filtered. I let my carbon dry out pretty extensively before I filtered which likely helped with some of the loss.
@@milehidistilling1 After it stops dripping sprits, could you add some distilled water to "rinse" it ? I know you'll loose proof but that could be figured into the dilution/proofing process. Maybe recover those lost 2/5
Everyone has their different process, so to each their own. I've heard of people boiling their carbon to clean it prior to filtering but you're saying you filter in the boil? Did you lose lots the alcohol to evaporation?
Hi, Michael. I do not. I'd recommend just doing stripping runs/spirit runs instead of filtering for whiskeys and rums. Filtering will really dull your flavor, so it's not conducive for whiskeys or anything where you want the flavor.
