DIY inline filter for vodka, neutral spirits, moonshine

Home made instructional video on making your own inline activated carbon filter. In this video I sourced my items from Bunnings and Kmart (for the filter). It is made out of irrigation pipes, connectors and tubing.
Cost of this build (without the water jug filters) about $28. Still have another 4 meters of clear tubing left over (tubing alone for 5 m was half the cost at $15!)

[@MikeBaxterABC]

The white stuff in the water filter you opened up is polystyrene sulfonate ... it a resin used as an Ion exchange media in water purification, it absorbs trace quantities of heavy metals, it won't hurt anything and its safe of course, but of little benefit filtering spirits.

[@outie555]

+Yeggster Shane good thing I use activated carbon then

[@harrisorganicwineandspirits]

Vinyl tubing may be food grade but NOT recommended for alcohol at 10% or above as the plasticisers in the tubing can be removed by the alcohol.

[@outie555]

thanks for your comment, i didn't know that. is there any way to test it or do you recommend any tubing that is safe for spirits?

[@JohnHPixelMD]

I use food grade silicone tubing for mine. Haven't noticed any issues at all with it and the tubing I bought was sold specifically for use with brewing and and distilling. It's also high temp rated and super flexible and easy to work with. Here's a link to it on Amazon smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B074Q6QF9S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@williamelliott]

@@outie555 use a chemical resistant hose

[@harrisorganicwineandspirits]

You will find vinyl tubing goes brown and hard after a while. Look for HDPE plastic which has the recycle triangle on it with number 2 in the triangle. Plastic milk bottles use this plastic. You can also get tubing in HDPE, ie high density poly ethylene.

[@outie555]

+Harris Organic Wines - Western Australia thanks for the tip

[@Icebear54]

From my «earlier» experiences we started with hot water to clean thru the carbon and you are abel to feel with your fingers when to water is thru and alcohol (colder) is coming.

[@grahambate3384]

ok bunnings, u can buy clear pipe per metre, cob

[@IsbaranAkcayr]

According to a paper on activated carbon by Gert Strand, this tube should at least be 40 mm in diameter and 1.5 meters long for alcohol filtering, otherwise the liquid sticks to walls and/or gets through un/poor filtered.

[@outie555]

i will have to have a read of that one, as there are other variables in play such as the pressure exerted into the filter and the rate of flow

[@IsbaranAkcayr]

There you go mate: www.dropbox.com/s/858xw056aedd1r9/activated_book1.pdf?dl=0

[@outie555]

Thanks for providing the link, and it seems like Gert really knows how to filter. Reading into it for anyone who is interested, and I quote "Impeding it mechanically can also slow the rate of speed. This has to take place at the end of the pipe, never at the top, or you would get air in the pipe. You can apply more or denser filter papers, or build and attach a tap or similar device. A rubber bung with a length of tubing and an aquarium tap is one example. You must use food-grade materials with alcohol tolerance, which do not give off-flavors to the alcohol for the impeding process. " So having the tap to slow down the rate does have an effect on the MTZ and would still allow filtering to take place because it is slowed down reducing the amount of wall effect. But you are right if I made this again and used 40mm piping and made it 1m long in total it would increase the efficiency of the filtration exponentially. Thanks for the link, i hope it inspires someone (or myself one day) to make a tutorial on a filter which is the most efficient for the home distiller :) Keep brewing buddy :D

[@GetRealwithMike]

The white stuff in with the carbon is ion-exchange resin manufactured by ERODEX in the UK [phone] The screen you cut through at the top of the filter filters out particles, fine gravel. The carbon acts as an absorber of the hard micron particles. It's very porous and catches the stuff that provide poor tasting water. The resin is a ion-exchange reverse osmosis material. Nasty stuff that you don't want to be touching with your hands... The paper filter captures more sediment including activated carbon particles. On a side note, you have to "charge" the filter or it will absorb most or all of your alcohol. Charge it with alcohol, not water, or you'll have watered down alcohol. FYI-The ZERO filter has a thin foam filter in it too. Hope this helps.

[@outie555]

thanks for that comment, wow you really know your stuff! I have since moved away from this filter as it started to leak and i got a better purposed built one. the concept is still the same but using activated carbon graduals to filter it.

[@GetRealwithMike]

Thanks! I spent six months trying to perfect such a system. Learned many ways how not to make one. Then tore down a ZERO filter and tracked down what the other yellowish (yours is white) stuff was. The resin is what makes the system work. You can get buy it at pet stores for filtering aquarium water. It doesn't absorb the whole bottle. That means you only need enough carbon to grab the nasty impurities and the osmosis will do the rest. And you don't lose a bottle of vodka or whisky to the filter priming it. The hole on the bottom has to be small and if you can pressurize the alcohol on top, it pushes the liquor through better. 5 psi is plenty. Too much defeats the filter.

[@mbasawonga4662]

Can that remove the burning sensation

[@joergreinicke5945]

Why didn't you just buy the jug? You already had the filter for it. Dosen't it just cost 15 bucks or so?

[@jeffbrown265]

Why not just use the Brita filter you have???

[@outie555]

you certainly can use it, however, I made the filter so I could use granulated activated carbon (bought a bulk bag from eBay for 40 bucks).

[@ARCSTREAMS]

now that is too thin,they say it is better to have it at 40% if not at least close to that

[@grahambate3384]

do u know that u can just put a cup of activated carbon into 4to5 litres of spirit which is under 50% for week and comes out clean

[@outie555]

+Graham Bate yes that is true, but you have to wait a week so it isnt always practical, plus carefully tipping off the carbon or filtering it through a coffee filter

[@grahambate3384]

thx mate

[@ARCSTREAMS]

actually it is much better to wait and get a smooth silky shine compared to what you will get runing it this fast,,good things take time,,give it a try on a sample compared to a gravity fed sample and you will see the huge difference

[@ARCSTREAMS]

yep i add about a cup to 1 litre of shine for a few weeks and it comes out silky smooth,i think it does remove the bitter and harsh hot tastes from it

[@billbrown1255]

So going to try that!

[@nahtanojnamar]

How often would you have to change the coffee filter cause it would go Saturated, no? Same for the carbon... I read you can wash it and re-use it. Do you have any experience with that?

[@outie555]

Coffee filter gets changed after each batch, sometimes twice. They are cheap and inexpensive to buy a packet of 50-100. One cup of granulated activated carbon is good for filtering 8 litres of neutral spirit. I don't use this filter anymore as I upgraded to a proper one.

[@giancarlocipolla4416]

You can use the carbon only once, after 10 lt of alcohol you have to change the carbon.

[@grahambate3384]

where did u get pipes from mitre10?

[@KevinSanchez-fq9qz]

this is used for distilling vodka after the whole fermentation step? with sugar and the yeast , yes? and then you would use this and have vodka am i right? : /

[@outie555]

no you are in the right direction but completely incorrect. water+sugar+yeast= fermentation. once fermented it is then put in a still to get vodka. vodka then goes through filter to clean the taste up so it doesnt have off odours or taste

[@KevinSanchez-fq9qz]

Oh okay would you need to still it or distill it? Ive heard of people not having to distill it or is that poisonous?

[@outie555]

Kevin Sanchez So what happens when you get a big container of water and mix a load of sugar in it, then sprinkle in some yeast, is the yeast converts the sugar into alcohol. It will eventually make up a solution of about 20% alcohol after a week. you then get this and put it in a still which evaporates the alcohol and condenses it in another container. So you get 40% alcohol or more. This is your vodka, but it needs filtering to get rid of any sulfur smells (like rotten eggs or rubber). the carbon removes the smells and it tastes a lot smoother and cleaner.

[@KevinSanchez-fq9qz]

Oh okay , well i know the first part but how do i distill something without distillating or a still because theyre illegal where im at , or unless you know how i could find how to build one

[@KevinSanchez-fq9qz]

outie555 .

[@gabferrer5435]

How long and how wide should the tubing be? Please reply

[@outie555]

The wider the better. Have a look at the dimensions of professional ones to get an idea. If the total volume is a cup of granulated activated carbon then you're about right. I wouldn't go any narrower than mine, and make sure you use food grade plastic if you can.

[@gabferrer5435]

A cup of activated carbon is good for how many liters of vodka?

[@outie555]

Easily 8L maybe more. The slower it drips through the better.

[@lukedavidson7544]

Look at barely and hops video

[@PierreFromCanada]

where did you source your parts...?

[@outie555]

+Pierre LaFrance bunnings

[@JOGOonYouTube]

I thought we were going to see you drink it.

[@outie555]

MEhateSCUM i did later (off camera) and it worked great

[@RhondaGallagher]

All the wrong plastic 😂

[@outie555]

Yeah not the best, but still food grade at least

[@camronmcmanigal1065]

Lot of plastic to be filtering through

[@outie555]

+Camron Mcmanigal yeah this is a cheap setup