Carbon Filtering

[Jedi Master]

Hi all,
I hope nobody minds,but all this Esencia talk has me salivating.
I have been using an air still for a little while now,and the advice I found on here must have saved me a shed load of grief.
I have tried a lentil wash, almost ready to strip now.
After 3 goes,I finally got a clean cut in the base of a wine bottle,and have cobbled together a carbon filter that I copied from history on this site.
The booze run through it is definitely better than not.
I have high hopes that when I splash out on an Essencia,it will be better yet.
I want to say 'To infinity and beyond!',but it's the wrong movie..

[Icefever]

The old adage of "if I'd known back then what I know now" I would never have spent the money on one....this is my own honest opinion...there will be others that swear by them.
When I started this hobby I read somewhere that if you make a good clean wash..double still...and make your cuts correctly... there's need to filter.

This works fine for me....but one mans meat and all that.

Mmmm think I do the decision with you lies Jedi Knight.

[Almanac]

Opposing opinion Over years of using my Airstill I learned that no matter what you're making you have no choice really. The Airstill works but at a very basic level and Carbon filtering is a must. How to best do that is a matter of opinion.

For example, if you set up a double bottle filter with the alcohol running from one to the other and then to a collection vessel I'd say go for it. The Essencia does have a ceramic filter but the right size carbon will do just as good a job in any double filter setup with enough carbon.

I estimate two bottle filters with 500ml of 0.4-0.85 carbon each will do every bit as good a job as the Essencia. The only advantage the Essencia has is that it is neat and tidy

I have an Essencia which I still use for her Vodka and, for simplicity, I have recommended it to newcomers as a simple all-in-one solution particularly when running an Airstill. However, an SS alternative would be preferable. I won't be replacing the ceramic filter in my Essencia so I am currently working on designing it's successor which I want to be a self contained unit with easy to replenish filters.

With larger pot stills it is absolutely possible to get clean neutral by making careful cuts but you lose a lot this way to the Heads and Tails. By using an efficient carbon filter system you can make a wider cut taking some of the late Heads and early Tails which the carbon will then efficiently clean and polish for you.

Of course, with larger reflux stills a lot of the impurities you get with a pot still simply aren't there so filtering is not so much a necessity as a choice.

When my Essencia is finished as a spirit filter it will be re-employed as a simple water filter by removing the ceramic filter altogether and refilling the carbon filter once a month

AM

[Easydrinker]

I agree with that last post all the way.

I would expand upon the very last couple of lines.

Ceramic filters,as are now used for the better water filters are "claimed" to be able to filter sub-micron particles.
This may be true,what do I know?
I have been looking at these as a cheaper alternative to the Essencia "standard ceramic filter".
Early days yet.

Robert.

[Jedi Master]

I feel that I'm missing out on some spring BBQ somewhere,as the usual poster names seem silent,but I'll press on with my possibly daft questions and thoughts.
So,with the Essencia,the ceramic filter lasts a long while,and the secondary filter containing only carbon lasts a shorter while.
Has anyone here taken a ceramic filter apart,to discover it's inner workings?
Easy D.spoke of "SUB-MICRON" particles being blocked by the ceramic.
I (think) that I understand,from reading the e-book by Gert Strand,about charcoal catching molecules in it's fissures.
I can only assume that the Essencia holds back some of these larger particles,in the upper chamber,and filters smaller particles by "trapping" them,in one or other set of charcoal.Assuming that there is indeed charcoal inside the ceramic filter.
This must mean that,eventually the spirit in the upper chamber is full of large particle rubbish,and possibly only worth re-distilling or throwing out?
Am I barking up the wrong tree?

[RumJohn]

I don't filter anything. I believe that if you make a clean wash and distill it correctly, carbon filtering is not necessary. So I have to ask myself, why do so many people find filtering necessary.

Lets start with the wash. Apart from when I am making cachaca, I do not use a nutrient. And then I only use dead yeast cells. I do not add clearing agents or whatever to adjust the ph.

Distilling and making the cuts is important. Without observing an operation, I will assume that the majority of runs that require filtering were run too long. It does not take much in the way of tails to ruin the whole run. Make the cut ahead of time if necessary. Go for quality, not quantity.

I have never used an Airstill, but over the years reading various posts, I would tend to believe that it is not up to the job. Great to get you hooked on distilling perhaps.

This is not intended to offend anyone. I am just trying come up with reasons why.

[Easydrinker]

I think that is quite a good response RJ,you hit on the salient points,and they all seem valid.
I am acknowledging the fact that you never seem to strive for a neutral spirit,for your own operation.
I am sure that you are willing to cut the new guys here some slack,and let them learn from mistake or advice,on the way to a continuation.
Nothing is set in stone,and we all need to find our own way.
Those of us that have been here awhile have some idea of what we are doing,but NO-ONE here has the magic key.
Damn,
I seem to be going off on one.

Night Night

Robert

[Mash]

I think the EZ filter is ideal for small volumes. Fits on syphon tube.... and you can recycle the elements.

That said I use it less and less. As my washes get cleaner and my cutting improves.

RJ. I agree 1m% about additives and skill but ....Airstills nope. Phrases like Horses for courses, Bad workmen etc spring to mind

[RumJohn]

@EasyD: In response to last post at this site. I used to make gin and several flavoured vodkas, including mango, pineapple, passionfruit, plain and several degrees of chilli.

But I did not enjoy making a neutral. I would have to reconfigure my still to 3 times the length, pack it properly so turbulence was not an issue, and everything would need to be very clean.

It would take an hour to bring the boiler up to temp, another hour to equilibrate and then draw off the alcohol so slowly, so as not to upset equilibration, that it would take me two and a half times as long to get a liter of vodka as it would to get a liter of rum.

But it was clean, pure and odorless. The amount I sold was just not worth it to me. I believe that a beginning distiller should start out with a simple brown sugar wash and shoot for something like a rum. Rum has a lot of flexibility and latitude. But a good azeotrope has none. Starting out with a rum, brandy or moonshine lets the person learn his wash and his equipment.

[Mash]

Proper good idea that RJ

[Easydrinker]

@ RJ I do hope that you didn't think my last post was a criticism.It was not intended as such.
The point that I maybe didn't make clearly,was that the air-still,which you correctly pointed out can be a great initiation into distilling,does call for very tight cuts,and as such these cuts can be "expanded" if carbon filtration is used.
I now use my own larger version of this still,and am happy to set aside an extra 500ml or more of distillate as heads or tails,but for someone who's wash capacity is 4 litres,either this means a small hearts cut,or usually carbon filtering.
I think that while your point of going for a rum spirit is valid,maybe you can appreciate that the majority of people buying an Air still/Smart still are probably initially chasing a neutral spirit,possibly to flavour with a bought essence.
Let's face it,that's the reason that this site was started.
Some move on to larger stills,some are content to stick with something that they know better with every use.
I'm suggesting that there are many ways to contentment.
Are we still buddies?

Robert.

[RumJohn]

@EasyD: I did not take your comments as being critical. Never did, never will. I am more than happy to share a few ideas and if somebody is able to derive a little benefit from that, then I will consider it a good day.

Of course we are still buddies - you being a POM an' all.