Comments on: Filtering Spirits Using Brita Type Filters

By: quinn

quinn — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:24:49 +0000

hey mate
i have been brewing beer for a long ti9me now if i made a filter using carbon/activated charcoal would it remove most of the odour and impurities as buying filters here are very expensive:(
Thanks

By: Curious…. « Taste Tweak Repeat

Curious…. « Taste Tweak Repeat — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:24:29 +0000

[...] lower quality alcohol can purify it a bit more and raise the flavour profile by a small amount. The article is heavy in science, but I found it quite interesting… While this method is only referred to [...]

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:44:57 +0000

If the IX resin is dumping H+ into the filtered product, I would expect it to increase the acidity.

By: Swift

Swift — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:35:28 +0000

The Discovery Channel show Mythbusters did a test similar to yours with slightly different results. Though you might be interested.
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode50

Cheers,
Swift

By: DJ

DJ — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 01:01:39 +0000

Hi, just found this site and wanted to add a couple of things from the chemistry side:

The activated charcoal works by binding with stuff, that’s why it needs to be dumped or recycled after a period of time. So it’s definitely ‘possible’ for alcohol, an organic compound, to be removed; but it’s going to be in very small amounts as it’s not very complex and doesn’t have many bits that will stick.

The hydrogen ions produced from the beads actually increases the acidity of the solution (pH). Regular water has loads of buffers in it that will mop up these ions resulting in the H2O and CO2, but again it’s tiny tiny amounts. To change your alcohol percentage by 0.5% you’d need a couple of pennies worth of metal in there!

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:18:27 +0000

It’s a subject of great debate, with many differing viewpoints. Personally, I have chosen to avoid plastic where possible as I don’t want to take the risk. There is some more information here (Q8):

http://www.wikignole.be/wiki/New_Distillers_FAQ

Basically, seeing as there appears to be evidence that plastics can leech out into water when stored in plastic bottles, it seems logical that alcohol (as a solvent) would have a similar effect. The amounts concerned are probably very small, but it would be remiss of me to recommend that people do this when it could potentially impact on their health.

Or to put it more bluntly, if it was me then I’d probably switch to glass containers (pretty cheap at Ikea) as soon as possible. There’s a small risk from what you’ve already done, but in the ‘real world’ it’s *probably* minimal. The choice is yours!

By: Christopher

Christopher — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:58:05 +0000

since you wrote:

“For now, just know that most people would say that plastic and alcohol do not mix, and that you could be risking your health if you choose to do so.”

(sorry, i don’t know how to use tags apparently)

By: Christopher

Christopher — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:56:13 +0000

I’ve started infusing vodka with fruit in some plastic containers I bought from Tesco. Now I’m worried since you wrote

I searched here for an article on the risks associated with alcohol/plastic interaction, but couldn’t find one. Should I be concerned? Should I dump out this vodka I’ve been infusing?
Thanks!

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:34:31 +0000

Thanks Steve, glad you like it! Just goes to show as well how much better the stuff you can make at home is compared to the cheap spirits you can buy… or even the expensive brands!

By: steve

steve — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:19:34 +0000

Love this site – I’m still learning the dark arts of brewing but the britta vs vodka experiment is one I’ve tried a few times and it does make cheap ass supermarket vodka more bearable!