whiskey Cloudy Sprit

[PharderSN27]

I was cutting my whiskey to 80pf and after I had added majority of the distilled water, I noticed that it started to get hazy.  The product tastes great, but just curious of why this happened.  This was my cleanest run of spirit I've made and I have never had an issue of the spirit getting hazy.

 

Cheers

[Foreshot]

If the water was colder and you don't chill filter that's probably it. Cloudiness will occur at under ~46% ABV with colder water. 

If that's not it then I don't know. 

 

[Dehner Distillery]

tails

test the end of your run with a glass of water.

[3d0g]

If you like the flavor profile, you're going to have to bump the proof up.

[B-rad]

I am having similar problems, and I have the abv at 47.5 

It was very cold when I proofed it. If it was temp related wouldn't it clear up as it warms?

[Natrat]

All else being equal (ie your distillation technique, grain bill, etc) then increased oils or waxes can be traced to one of two things: clean your condenser better OR your fermentation has changed. Mr. Dehner also nailed a possible cause...are you cutting deeper toward tails?

AND this is why people chill filter :-)

my money on your grain bill. 

[PeteB]

The haze you describe above is what we call flocc in Australia. It almost always happens when diluting past about 46%abv

All the distillers that I know just leave the diluted spirit undisturbed for about 6 weeks and the haze forms crystals (flocc) which settles to the bottom of the tank. Bottle the clear spirit without disturbing the flocc.. By doing it this way you have removed the minimum amount of oils etc that contribute to flavor.

Or you could chill filter if you can't wait the 6 or so weeks but that is said to remove more flavor.

Other possible causes of the haze are saponification or louching. I don't understand the difference but neither of those will form a flocc and drop out of suspension over time.

[ThomasM]

I would assume it's a proofing issue rather than mashbill, cleaning, etc.

We've settled on leaving everything at 46% or above, because we have zero interest in chill filtering.

Best of luck!

[nabtastic]

it's probably floc but could be beta-sitosterols from the wood as well.  I've filtered to 1 micron and still had issues with it but only in barrel aging.  Chill filtering will work but you'll alter the flavor (all filtration will alter the flavor profile regardless of hype).  Racking might lessen the issue if you cold crash it - which is the same principal behind chill filtering.  It's most likely floc from fatty acids. 

I don't know for certian but I'd bet this is at least partially the reason some of the established distilleries carbon filter before and after aging.  Since we do single-pass spirit runs I'm experimenting with condenser hygiene which will be super annoying if it ends up "solving" our issue since I have to dismantle the still to clean it. 

[Dehner Distillery]

Did you use RO water or what kind of water did you use?

does it settle out?

[Afilters]

If you need help cleaning this up, I'd be glad to.

It's a simple fix.

Alex