StillSmart

I need to pay more attention.
Nuking JD chips without covering results in the alcohol level lowering to around 54% (from 65%) in 3 runs, next time I will cover the jar, I diddn't think to cover and thought the loss was usual, lesson learned.
I have also tried to clean up the dark matter with charcoal filtering and ended up with a clean product that is not so tasty, another lesson learned.

Is there a quick way to clean the dark matter or as suggested is the leave it alone method the best..?

Watching

What i did i just used some cotton wool in a tunnel and filter it that way hears my end results.

I bought a stainless very fine coffee filter, which gets the most chaff out quickly. A simple coffee paper filter is a bit slow. Cotton wool it good.

Best idea I found is rinsing the chips under the tap before use.

Sitting square bottlee on a corner in a wheat bag for a couple of days, also helps concentrate any dark matter and makes decanting easier.

Maker wrote:I need to pay more attention.
Nuking JD chips without covering results in the alcohol level lowering to around 54% (from 65%) in 3 runs, next time I will cover the jar, I diddn't think to cover and thought the loss was usual, lesson learned.
I have also tried to clean up the dark matter with charcoal filtering and ended up with a clean product that is not so tasty, another lesson learned.

Losing some of the higher alcohols through nuking, as would happen with barrel aging, seems perfectly acceptable to me. At a distillery it may go into a cask at 63% and usually come out at 54-56%.
As you have discovered,charcoal filtering Oaked spirit is a no,no.

Robert.

I think sometimes the best lessons are learned rather than read, no harm done and I am a little smarter.

That, that doesn't kill you, will make you stronger.

Robert.