Filtering herbal macerations (Fernet)

[Liquid Riot]

 

Hi folks, I have a question about filtering products containing a lot of particles in suspension, specifically Fernet. Our Fernet starts out as a neutral spirit, in which we macerate 23 different herbs and spices and then barrel age for 3-6 months. The final step is to back sweeten the spirit with Agave Nectar. The product becomes fairly viscous and has a lot of residual fines from the herbs held in suspension. We currently filter while bottling with the following setup: 2 10" filter housings (one with a string wound cartidge, the other with a 5 micron cartridge) connected to an XpressFill diaphragm pump filler (http://www.xpressfill.com/volumetric-bottle-filler.shtml). The product looks great at bottling, but after a couple of weeks sitting in the bottle we are seeing a significant amount of fines settling out and clumping on the bottom. I have concerns about going with a finer filter cartridge as the current filters load up pretty quickly and severely tax the pump on the bottle filler as it is. I have reached out to our filter supplier for their opinion, but I'm hoping some of you may have thoughts as well. Cheers!

[Oregon Spirit Distillers]

I would consider filtering the product before you add sugar.  I would then let it rest for several days and rack it.  Repeat.  Then add sugar.

[Liquid Riot]

Thanks Oregon. That was my filter reps first suggestion as well, and makes a lot of sense! I'm a little embarrassed I didn't think of it myself... I'm going to try that when we process the next batch.

[Oregon Spirit Distillers]

Riot,

Don't be embarrassed.  Guess how I learned this?

 

[Afilters]

You always have to filter as it is going to presented in the bottle.

Never filter before and then add something later.

I'd be glad to help you,

Alex

 

[nabtastic]

at what point are you proofing your spirit? you may need to slowly lower the proof over a matter of days.  I agree on adding the sugar last, just before the final filtering

 

edit: My bad.  noticed the month of OP not the year.. 

[Liquid Riot]

Thanks for the feedback folks. Here's what we have been doing to reduce our sediment issue:

1) Empty barrels through a 1 micron bag filter.

2) Use a 0.5 micron filter at bottling.

My initial concerns about filter loading were not realized. The 0.5 micron filter media loads up about as fast as the more open filters we were using earlier. We still get a little sediment but we have managed to minimize it to an acceptable level.

Cheers!