Whiskey Filtration

[robbins1993]

Hey ADI users,

I'm having issues with sedient and haziness with the whiskeys Im filtering at barrel strength (123 pf), and the product diluted to 100,90,and 80pf.

In BOTH rye and bourbon whiskeys.

I chill the whiskey down with stainless steel jugs that are filled with water and frozen. I can get the batch of 240 gallons down to 38 degrees Fahrenheit withbthis method. 

I let the whiskey settle for an hour at the 38 degrees Fahrenheit and proceed to filter after.

Currently im running the whiskey through a 3 cartridge canister with 5 micron filters, a single cartridge canister with a 1 micron, a single cartridge canister with a .45 micron, and a single cartridge canister with a .22.

The whiskey comes out looking very clear and has no evidence of haziness or sediment but about 8% of the finished bottled product becomes hazy and settles over a few months. The other 92% of the bottled product has no issues with sediment or haziness.

 

Any suggestions or proposed alterations to this method would be appreciated!

 

 

[JustAndy]

That seems like an insane amount of filters to process 240 gal of whiskey. If only some of the bottles get hazy are they the first ones you bottled or the last ones? Do you have pressure gauges on the filters to make sure you aren't exceeding their functional pressures? 

 

[captnKB]

Slow reduction of proof with often help prevent hazing or sediment issues as the spirit settles into the bottle.

Have you tried slowly reducing the proof over one month before bottling?

[Tom Lenerz]

My biggest suggestion is filter closer to bottling proof. 

Also it is a lot of filter cartridges, are you washing them in-between uses? What type of water are you preparing them with? Hard water can put Ca & Mg ions in the cartridge which will cause problems after filtration.

I'm also not sure your temp and the time at the temp is making an impact on your filtration process.

We've in general had bad luck with cartridges for a number of products and are more and more switching to pads. However on our rye, we do a single, room-temp filtration through 5 micron cartridges with no problems.

[Streven]

We are preparing to begin dumping our first whiskey and looking for a filtration resource.  I had been in communication with Alex Findlow of Findlow Filtration but received a message that he unfortunately passed away last month.  My main concern is filtering to prevent any sediment / haziness from settling in over time.  Can anyone recommend a resource I can contact regarding best methods with the equipment I have available - ErtelAlsop 10-plate filter press and sediment filter housing?  Or in general if anyone is using similar equipment and has any suggestions I would appreciate it.

[Foreshot]

For the filtering size:

For whiskeys most people I talk to stop at 5 microns. That seems to be the point that the flavor can change. I've not personally noticed that. You should try some experiments to test the flavor on your spirit to see if there is a noticeable difference or not.  

For the equipment:

How much are you doing at one time? What is your budget? If you're not doing much (100g or less) cheap canister filters do a good enough job down to 1 micron. Lower than that and you will have a harder time finding inexpensive filters if you can. If you need tighter filtering go with a plate filter. The thing with plate filters is that they leak an amount of product during filtering. For smaller amounts you can do a 6 plate Vino super jet. Don't do the three plate, we have it and it's a little too small. There's a ton of different filter plate systems like that one. It's all a matter of how much you are filtering at one time. For larger amounts other folks can help more, we're tiny so I don't much experience with larger equipment.

I haven't noticed any sediment from 5 micron or less for whiskeys. For anything sweetened we do 1 micron. Sugar brings over tiny contaminates that need a finer filter. (Look up acid beverage floc). To completely remove haze we do .5 micron. Anything else, even 1 micron, won't clarify properly.

For filtering protocol:

We do limoncello that has lemon juice in it. That's as bad a spirit to filter as possible. For something that dirty you need to start at the biggest size filter you can get. We prefilter to 55 micron then start with a 20 micron in the canister filter. We do that 2-3 times. It will use 2-4 filters. Then we go to 10m, 5m, 1m. We pass the spirit through each filter at least twice. We will use a new filter each pass or a little more often. IF you try to go straight to a really small filter size you'll use way more filters, you'll be harder on the pumps, and it will be a pain.

For cleaner spirits like whiskeys or GNS/vodka/Gin we go straight to 5 micron or less. For whiskeys out of a barrel we do 5m. For the others we do a 1m filter as we are bottling it just to eliminate anything that might have gotten in there.

 

[Streven]

Thank you for the great information!