Monday, January 18, 2010

Home brew

Had some issues in the last couple of days getting my carbon filter system to run reliably.  Apparently the problem is variable density in the carbon blocks, which I can attest to.  Ideal time for a polishing run is about 4 hours/litre for me, which allows a comfortable triple filter before tossing the carbon block and changing for the next batch.  This just keeps ahead of still production while producing an optimal drinkable spirit.  When it takes over 24 hours and a litre is still on the first pass, we have a problem.


I was briefly tempted by a change to a different filtering system, with only 3 problems:


(1) $200 setup cost
(2) ongoing carbon costs (significant, especially as I get the blocks free)
(3) ongoing spirit loss through dumping saturated carbon – as much as 400ml.  O.o


After some experimentation, problem solved…


Boil the bastards before use.  To be exact, boil the freckle out of them.


This appears to both dissolve any solidified salts out, allowing freer flow, and at the same time allows a simple density test – anything that floats from the outset is too low a press density to polish effectively.  Anything still on the bottom after a 20 minute boil is something to be kept for very sloooow polishing when you have a lot of time to spare.  Going from the bottom on cold to the top on rolling boil is officially Goldilocks material.  :)


I am also pleased that production has now exceeded consumption to the point where I will need to move to 5 litre glass demijohns for storage before and after polishing.  This means I will now be able to maintain at least a gallon of polished, drinkable spirit on hand, which can be decanted and flavoured as necessary.  Combined with 8x 1150ml bottles for individual flavourings and wood chip soakings, this means there’s basically an inexhaustible supply of hard booze on tap at all times.  :)  I’m currently experimenting with different rums and whiskies from pure essences, but for bourbons I really can’t go past a good wood chip soak.  10 days on chipped Jim Beam or Jack Daniels barrels seems to be the go, plus the essence on top.

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