I read that cheap alcohol can be cleaner/smoother after filtering it through activated charcoal (or a charcoal filter of some type). Assuming I would want to filter more than one bottle, which is the most frugal option? a) activated charcoal alone b) a commercial water filter cartridge c) a special coffee filter d) an aquarium/other charcoal filter from a pet store
Is activated charcoal common, or would I need to find it somewhere special?
I do a lot of alcohol base and I run mine through a carbon Z filter, twice. It makes it very smooth and almost odour less and tasteless.
Garry
No, I actually brew mine up from scratch using water, dextrose and yeast. I then run it through my still to create about 3-4 litres of 80% proof alcohol. I water it down to 50% proof, making the volume increase to about 5-7 litres.
I then run this through a Z filter once, change the Carbon and then run it through the new carbon a second time. I then keep the new carbon batch for the first run the next time.
I then water the alcohol base down to between 35-40% creating between 7-8 litres in total. (Roughly 2 gallons)
If you are using Vodka I would assume it would have already been filtered thoroughly anyway so you should not have to filter it. But to answer your question, I guess you would be able to filter about 2 gallons of spirit through the Carbon Z filter before changing the carbon.
Best regards
Garry
Hi, Activated charcoal is a very common "industrial chemical" & industrial grades are cheap & normally bought by the tonne I think. This grade is suitable for your needs, & of course there will be other product features, maybe granule size & suchlike, that you would need to investigate. Availability from a supplier of such products may be in 20Kg bags, I am not certain its so long since I last checked, & you might have to talk the supplier into selling such a relatively small amount. Do not be put off by anyone suggesting pharmaceutical grades which become very expensive because of the distribution & retailing issues. Similarly, water cartridges & fish tank filters which may also contain diatomaceous earth are likely to prove expensive. I would experiment by simply adding the loose charcoal granules & swirling around, exact rates of charcoal to crude alcohol would depend on the levels of impurity in your brew but relatively such impurities would be low so a start point might be 1.0 Kg per charcoal to say 5 litres. As I recall the charcoal can be recovered by flushing with boiling water, but you would need to check this. Good luck Pete.
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