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Carbon Filtering


sailorman9

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Is it true that carbon filtering must be done at room temperature? In my new distillery in Northern Wisconsin, I plan on doing the filtering in a spot where the ceiling is high. This room is unheated and right now it's about 20 degrees in there. Will the be problematic?

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Is it true that carbon filtering must be done at room temperature? In my new distillery in Northern Wisconsin, I plan on doing the filtering in a spot where the ceiling is high. This room is unheated and right now it's about 20 degrees in there. Will the be problematic?

I just find it interesting you would even consider working in such an adverse condition. Have you looked at using a 'pump up' system? Basically it's a large pan with a large amount of surface area using the same amount of filter material as a narrow column, only very short space. If you don't want to use a pump just fill a stainless pressure container(s) (soda kegs work well for this) with the distillate and use CO2 to pressurize the keg, sending the distillate up through the bottom of the filter material in the pan. The top of the pan has holes in it with a ring around the ouside like a gutter to catch the 'overflow' of the distillate, guiding it to a central point catch tube. You can easily regulate the flow with a valve on the keg output line. Use about 3psi to do the push.

Make the 'pan' out of copper, shape it like a wide, shallow funnel. About 18" across, 3" deep, or guage size according to your usage. Get fancy and feed from multiple points in the bottom and it will fluff the media as it filters, so it doesn't form any channels.

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I use a sanke keg instead of a cornelius keg, that way I have 3 times the volume. I modified a 2" stainless steel cap with a CO2 barb and a 23" copper tube to get the spirit from the bottom of the keg. 15 psi would only get the spirit up about 6' so I use considerablly more pressure to get it up the required 11'. I have a design to automate the system by using a sensor in the funnel attached to a circuit wired to a electronic valve. This way when the spirit gets low in the funnel, the valve will open allowing CO2 to enter the keg and pushing the spirit up to the funnel. I still haven't found a sensor that will work in a high proof environment, so right now I just have to do it manually.

I would be interested in taking a look at your design for the copper filter system.

Curt

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Carbon filtering doesn't have to be done at room temperature, but nonetheless I would not recommend using carbon. If used in the wrong manner you will strip out color and more importantly flavor.

Are you saying that you use a different filter medium, or that you don't filter at all (other that sediment filtering)?

Thanks

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What are you filtering? Perhaps he would like it stripped of flavor... i mean, he is using carbon.

I filter carbon out of our vodka and rums at any temperature ( though it doesnt get much colder than 45 in our distillery) and have had no problems.

With the spirit at cooler/chilled temperatures, you will loose some essential oils that are still in solution, but maybe thats not such a bad thing.

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There are a couple of different "charcoal filtering" processes used in distilling. Filtering for the purpose of eliminating flock or chill haze is usually done at just above freezing, using filter medium that may (but doesn't necessarily) contain activated charcoal. Filtering for the purpose of rectification uses large amounts of hardwood charcoal and may be done either at ambient temperature or chilled. This is what vodka producers do, often multiple times, and what some whiskey producers do before barreling, most notably Jack Daniel's and George Dickel. This process, often described as leaching, removes or modifies some of congeners that cause unpleasant flavors or aromas. Filter the spirit through enough charcoal and you will remove all of the flavor and aroma.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Through expirimentation I learned that a temperature of 20 F is too cold. I ran a dark rum (aged on heavily toasted oak for 1 week) through the carbon. At first it cleaned it up and taking out all the dark color (the exothermic reaction produced enough heat to let the carbon do its work). When the heat had disipated and the spirit ran through at the room's temperature of 20 degrees F, the spirit exited the filter with the dark color.

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  • 4 years later...

After blowing a gasket (seeing the price of some activated carbon filtration systems with pumps ) I am wondering if anyone has ever carbon filtered vodka (95% abv.) as it is coming of the parrot. Couldn't a cylinder packed with carbon and a 20-50 micron filter at the bottom sit between the parrots beak and the hearts container?. The flow rate is minimal (approx. 20 litres/hr. or 1litre per 3 minutes) . Using gravity (no pumps) and filtering while distilling. would this be a time and $$$ saver? Am I missing something, does the alcohol need to be watered down for carbon filtering? I just thought the carbon would last longer not having to filter the already filtered cutting water..

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  • 2 weeks later...

According to the manufacturer I am working with on activated carbon absorbers, the "contact time" is very important in the selection and type granule as well as the colder temperature to "activate" the carbon.

The cost of the absorber columns I suppose is how much is required to be absorbed. It's all dependent on each distiller product assessment.

What size absorber/filter did you get a price on Crazyhorse? PM me and I will try to compare.

Mike

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