Stainless steel coal column
The history of purifying alcohol with charcoal goes back a long way. Back in 1785, the Russian chemist T.E. Lovitz was engaged in research on the interaction of alcohol with coals. In addition to coal, he experimented with food acids, vinegar, and honey. The best results were obtained when alcohol interacted with charcoal. All his theoretical developments and practical research formed the basis of traditional methods of making vodka
There is an opinion that the best charcoal for purifying alcohol comes from birch. This is not entirely true. Late 18th and 19th centuries best brands vodkas were purified with linden, alder, oak, and poplar charcoal. Many distilleries owned by nobles and merchants used beech and alder charcoal in the preparation of vodka. But at present it is produced mainly from birch, as the most accessible and cheapest material. Even the pharmacy ones are mostly birch.
This suggests that at home you can use any charcoal, except pharmaceutical grade. A lot is added to it during manufacturing. various additives, such as starch and talc. These impurities, when vodka passes through the filter, react with alcohol, and not only worsen its taste, but can also form some undesirable compounds that are very toxic to the body and negatively affect hangover syndrome.
Birch charcoal is the most popular
By the way, hangover syndrome occurs not only with excessive consumption of vodka and moonshine. In most cases, its appearance depends on the quality of the drink.
Coal column arrangement
Early models of industrial coal columns ran on raw coal - ordinary charcoal, which was used to ignite samovars and cook food. Such coal is rich in various resins, which deteriorate its quality; with prolonged interaction with alcohol, they reacted and significantly worsened its organoleptic properties.
The first models of coal columns were produced in the form of huge copper cylinders, with a diameter of 70 centimeters and a height of 4 meters. All sizes were selected experimentally and have been preserved almost to our time. The difference is that the early modifications of the cylinders, which used raw coal, were mounted in the form of serial batteries of 4-5 columns, in which the water-alcohol mixture was kept for a certain time.
The transit time through the entire battery was about 24 hours. During this time, the vodka was not only purified, but also almost completely changed its taste. When coal interacted with vodka, active redox processes occurred, it was enriched with microelements, and new components appeared in the form of food acids, for example, acetic acid. But part of the alcohol did not have time to completely oxidize, and acetaldehyde remained in it - an intermediate element of the process.
How to make a coal column with your own hands
The invention of passing vodka through a column under pressure made it possible to improve quality. This technology began to be used in the 30s of the last century. This allowed not only to obtain large quantity raw materials per unit of time, but reduce the size of the column. The residence time of the raw material in the column ranged from 30 minutes to 1 hour. After numerous studies, this time is considered optimal for completely purifying vodka, changing taste and quality without the formation of substances harmful to health, such as acetaldehyde.
This became possible thanks to the invention of the carbon activation process. It consists of treatment with superheated water steam, as a result of which all resins and foreign compounds are washed out, and the number of pores and their size becomes larger. In self-made columns, they should be used exclusively Activated carbon made from birch or coconut, so there is no need to worry about chemical contamination of moonshine.
At home, pressure testing is not used. A do-it-yourself coal column for purifying moonshine is built on the principle of gravity flow under the pressure of gravity. It is a vertical pipe made of copper or stainless steel with a diameter of 5-10 centimeters and a height of more than half a meter. An outlet pipe is installed at the bottom of the column, which is connected to the intake tank with a silicone hose. The top is open. To install the column vertically, three or four legs are welded or screwed onto studs at the bottom.
If you don’t have a suitable pipe at hand, and for some reason it’s difficult to buy one, then you can use a large glass funnel with a cone capacity of about 3 liters. These are sold in stores and on laboratory glassware websites. A stainless steel strainer with small cells is installed at the bottom of the cone to prevent the coal from being washed out and spilled out.
The video will help you get acquainted with the coal column in detail:
Principle of operation
The column works like this: first, activated carbon is poured up to half the height of the column. Then moonshine is poured to the top, and the column is closed with a lid. It should not be closed too tightly so that the alcohol does not evaporate, but air can flow inside. As the liquid moves downward, a vacuum occurs, and if the lid is sealed, the cleaning process may stop.
Column productivity is up to 1 liter of moonshine per hour. The device of the specified sizes contains up to 2 liters of drink, which is optimal quantity- the coal column cannot operate for more than 2 hours. The pores become clogged with impurities and filtration stops. The functionality of the column is restored after 8–10 hours.
On one backfill of high-quality coal, which can be bought on the Internet, a do-it-yourself column can clean up to 30 liters of moonshine, after which the coal should be replaced. You can only use wood or coconut, specially made for filtering alcohol-containing liquids. Bone charcoal, or, even worse, charcoal from gas masks or industrial filters, should never be used.
You often see on the Internet homemade coal columns made from PET bottles. You absolutely cannot do this. Polyethylene interacts with alcohol, and instead of purified vodka, you will get a toxic chemical mixture. It is also not recommended to filter “heads” and “tails” on the column. They quickly clog the pores of the carbon bed and the filter becomes useless.
To achieve the desired effect, moonshine should be passed through the column twice.
If conditions permit, you can make coal for home brewing with your own hands. . It is enough to prepare fruit or birch firewood, make a fire, and let it burn out well. When the firewood turns into pieces of red heat, they are closed in a metal container with a lid and left to cool completely. After this, the ash is removed, and the remaining pieces of coal are ground to a fraction of 4-6mm, sifted, and placed in a filter housing or a homemade coal column.
You can buy material for cleaning the drink online. Ideally this is:
- Birch activated carbon brand BAU-A;
- Coconut activated carbon BAU-LV.
The latter is used and specially designed for industrial alcohol purification.
History of moonshine purification
At all times, moonshine has been a popular drink in our country. And even now, well and lovingly distilled, purified, infused with herbs, coffee beans, red pepper, the drink will give a head start to factory products.
Even during the time of King Pea, people were looking for ways to improve the quality and taste of moonshine. For this we used:
- Cow's milk (1 glass per 3 liters of product);
- Potassium permanganate, which precipitates harmful oils.
They knew then about the ability charcoal refine the drink. And at the end of the 8th century, the Russian chemist T.E. Lovitz, M.V. Lomonosov's successor, made an important discovery for science - the adsorption of dissolved substances by charcoal.
Thus, purifying moonshine using charcoal has a scientific basis, and the effectiveness of the method has been tested by time.
Hard liquor purification device
Some “experienced” distillers know about the properties of coal, but purify the product by pouring a certain amount of adsorbent into a container and shaking it. The effect is insignificant, and it also takes time for subsequent filtration.
To thoroughly clean moonshine from harmful substances, it must be driven through a thick layer of adsorbent. This is the principle that a coal column operates on.
Equipment for cleaning the product is sold in stores, but their cost is high. In our country, where every second man is a Kulibin or left-handed, you can make a reliable filter using improvised means. For this you will need plastic bottle, cotton pad (tampon) or coffee filters, 3-5 liter glass jar.
If you are serious about making moonshine, it is better to buy, find, and get a piece of stainless steel pipe for the column body. Weld the legs to it, the internal filling is similar to the version with a plastic bottle.
Bottle design
You can make your own coal column for cleaning moonshine in the following way: cut off the bottom part 2-3 centimeters high from a 2- or 3-liter plastic container. Several holes are drilled in the screw cap.
A cotton pad is inserted into the neck and the lid is screwed on. The bottle is turned over and inserted into three liter jar and fill 1/3 with charcoal. The coal column is filled with moonshine, almost to the very top.
Some pressure is created, the moonshine passes through the coal, and harmful oils are retained by its grains. Over time, dust washed out of the coal clogs the cotton wool. In this case, the coal is removed from the column, the wool is replaced, and the coal is returned to the column.
In this way, you can filter the moonshine several times. At the same time, replacing cotton wool and coal before each run is not superfluous, and the final product only benefits from this.
Water filter option
If a small batch of product is intended for filtering and purifying oils, purification of moonshine through a homemade coal column can be simplified.
In a regular household water filter with a jug, cut off with a hacksaw top part cartridge. The contents are thrown away, since this coal contains water softening additives in the form of small granules, alcohol will dissolve them and they will end up in the final drink.
A cotton pad is placed at the bottom, new coal is poured in layers 2-3 cm high to the top of the cartridge and compacted thoroughly. Another cotton pad is placed on top to prevent the coal from floating up, after which the filter is inserted into the jug, and the process of cleaning the drink can begin.
Metal column
You can make a metal coal column with your own hands if you have welding skills. The operating principle of a stainless steel column is the same as that of a plastic column.
Only the drink, according to experts, is purified better in such a device. This is motivated by the fact that moonshine is still an aggressive substance, and polyethylene, no matter how durable it is, still emits harmful substances.
Re-distillation
You need to filter “raw” moonshine 10-15 days before use or before re-distillation, if such is planned.
Before re-distillation, the degree of the product is reduced - diluted with rain, melt or spring water to the desired degree. The diluted alcohol is then passed through a homemade column twice.
Conclusion
Using charcoal is a generally accepted, harmless, time-tested, highly effective method. The best option for this is carbon filtration columns, which you can buy in a store or make yourself.
Experienced distillers use activated carbon more often than other substances to purify moonshine. Special brands BAU and KAU are approved for the alcoholic beverage industry, which means they are quite effective and harmless if the cleaning technology is followed. There are two main principles for purifying moonshine with coal: infusion and passing through a column filled with coal. Factory-produced coal columns are not cheap, and not everyone can afford such an additional “body kit”. However, our man is able to find a replacement for any design, and an analogue coal column It’s quite easy to create with your own hands. Sooner or later, it will be useful to everyone who once decided (we recommend choosing a device with a distillation column of the brand or with a steam steamer of the brand).
How to make a coal column with your own hands
To make a carbon cleaning system you will need:
- Activated carbon. It is best to use the “target” product of the BAU-A, BAU-LV, KAU-A brands, since barbecue and hookah coals, as well as activated pharmaceutical charcoal, contain impurities that will end up in the moonshine. Coal particles should be 1-4 mm in size; if the existing coal is larger, it must be crushed. This can be done by placing the coal in a thick bag and walking it flat with a hammer.
- Plastic bottle with a volume of 1.5-2 liters with a lid.
- Clean pharmaceutical cotton wool.
- Glass receiver jar.
A do-it-yourself coal column for cleaning moonshine is made as follows:
- Carefully cut off the bottom of the plastic bottle and make several holes in it at an equal distance from each other. It is most convenient to burn through plastic with a calcined metal knitting needle or nail.
- Make a hole in the bottle cap with a diameter of up to 5 mm. Screw the cap onto the bottle.
- Place the bottle in glass jar neck down, it is important that the bottle does not stand on the bottom of the jar so that the moonshine can drain freely.
- Pour the prepared and dust-washed coal into the bottle (a third of the volume), press it with the bottom of the bottle (otherwise the coal will float throughout the entire volume of the moonshine being cleaned.
- Fill the entire volume of the “column” with distillate.
- Moonshine can flow into the receiving container (glass jar) black if there is still coal dust on the coal. This is the norm.
- If the stream of liquid at the outlet has become very thin or has disappeared, the “column” must be shaken several times, holding the outlet hole with your finger. If this does not help, you can carefully unscrew the cap and clean the hole.
- Drive a portion of the distillate through the column two or three times (no need to change the coal).
- Remove the spent carbon, rinse the bottle, fill the neck of the bottle with cotton wool, and screw on the cap. Pass the moonshine through the resulting cotton filter after cleaning on a coal column. The cotton wool will collect coal dust particles. It is best to cover the inlet of the bottle with something to prevent the evaporation of alcohol.
- When the cotton filter is clogged, pour the remaining unfiltered moonshine back into the container from which it was poured, replace the cotton wool and continue filtering.
Drinking moonshine purified in this way can be immediately tasted, and raw moonshine can be distilled. If assessed in this way, then the data obtained in practice testify in favor of the method. The main thing is not to store moonshine in plastic container and do not leave it in the column for a long time (for example, interrupting the distillation). When plastic and coal come into prolonged contact with alcohol, they begin to interact with it to form toxic compounds.
Clear homemade alcohol A coal column for purifying moonshine will help remove harmful impurities. There is activated carbon - infusion and flow cleaning.
In the first case, a certain amount of activated charcoal is added to the container with alcohol.
The drink settles for several days, and after sediment has formed, it is filtered through a dense layer of cotton wool and gauze. The method is not bad, but the result does not satisfy everyone.
Sometimes charcoal for household or aquarium filters, for barbecues, gas masks, or pharmaceutical charcoal in packages is used for cleaning. The absorbent from the first aid kit is not very suitable for cleaning, because the talc and starch present in the tablets do not have the best effect on the quality of the alcohol.
And charcoals for barbecues and sorbents for filters contain harmful impurities and during filtration, moonshine is most likely saturated with carcinogens (polycyclic hydrocarbons).
The second method is possible if there is special device, the so-called coal column. The factory device can be ordered in specialized stores, although it is not cheap. A big plus of the purchased device is the flask made of high-strength and environmentally friendly stainless steel, which does not come into contact with alcohol and does not affect the taste and quality of the finished product.
3 options for making a homemade carbon filter
You can make such a column at home, using quite accessible materials:
And although plastic is not the best option for containing alcoholic beverages, a short-term filtration process through such a device special harm will not bring a drink. Craftsmen offer 3 options for a homemade coal column.
Option one is the simplest
The bottom of a 2-liter plastic bottle is cut off and several holes are made in it with a hot knitting needle or an awl. 3-4 small holes or one larger one are also made in the cap, and screwed tightly onto the neck of the bottle. A layer of cotton wool or a coffee filter is placed inside.
Plastic bottle - the cheapest way
Charcoal (birch or coconut) needs to be crushed. To do this, wrap it in a canvas bag or thick fabric and break it with a rolling pin (you can also use a hammer). Coal dust and crumbs are poured into the flask from a bottle to 1/3 of the volume, and large pieces removed for re-grinding.
The coal layer is pressed down with a cut and inverted bottom with holes.
A manufactured charcoal column for cleaning moonshine with your own hands is installed on the jar with the neck down, the free volume of the flask is filled with alcohol, which needs to be cleaned. The top of the structure is covered with a saucer to prevent alcohol vapors from escaping.
Option two is reliable
For the second method you will need 2 bottles of 2 liters. With one bottle, proceed in the same way as in the first option, with the difference that the bottom will no longer be needed. The crushed coal is poured into a bag made of thick cotton fabric (you can simply wrap it in a piece of fabric). A layer of cotton wool is pushed to the neck of the bottle, and a coal bundle is placed on top. 
You also need to cut off the bottom of the second bottle and unscrew the cap (they will no longer be needed). A bottle without a lid is inserted with the neck down into the first container, pressing down on the bundle of coal.
Moonshine is poured into it when the finished structure is already installed on a glass jar.
The top of the flask is covered with a saucer, protecting the fusel from weathering.
Option three - from a household filter
Take a regular water filter (with a jug), carefully cut the cartridge upward using a hacksaw so that the place where it fits into the jug remains undamaged. All filter media is discarded. Place a cotton pad at the very bottom and pour 2-3 cm of coal dust, compacting it with a rolling pin.
The filter needs to be sealed well
This is repeated until the very top of the cartridge and the coal is covered with cotton wool on top so that it does not float up during the process. Seal well and insert the filter back into the jug. The coal column for cleaning moonshine with your own hands is ready - you can start filtration.
How does the process of filtration and purification of moonshine occur?
You can filter fusel milk either before re-distillation or after finished product 10 - 20 days before use. If another distillation of alcohol is planned, and there is a desire or need to clean the moonshine from fusel oils and other harmful impurities, you must first reduce the strength of the product. To do this, it is diluted with spring or melt water to the desired degree. For more information about filtration and purification of moonshine, watch this video:
After this, the homemade column is filled with diluted alcohol and wait until all the liquid seeps through the filter (if necessary, change the cotton wool at the neck several times). Filtration is repeated twice. The fact that the raw material turns black is not at all scary - it will be as clean as a tear after distillation.
If the “fire water” is intended to be filtered before use, there is no need to dilute it (if desired, this can be done after filtration).
To further purify moonshine from impurities and fusel oils, you can combine 2 filtration methods - flow and infusion. To do this, pass fusel through a coal column 2 - 3 times, and add a little more coal powder to the resulting product (40 g of coal per 1 liter of liquid).
After the alcohol and charcoal have been infused for 2-3 days, and a thick sediment has formed at the bottom of the container, you can begin to rectify the drink. For cleaning, the same design that was made for charcoal filtration is quite suitable. It needs to be freed from coal residues (by the way, coal dust can be dried and used one more time) and washed thoroughly. About itself effective way cleaning, watch this video:
Throw away cotton wool, filters or cotton pads, and take clean ones instead. The neck of the bottle is filled with a cotton seal, the cap with holes is screwed on until it stops and the bottle is placed neck down on three liter jar. The entire free volume of the bottle is filled cloudy moonshine and cover with a saucer to avoid evaporation of alcohol.
When the cotton seal becomes clogged with dust and stops passing alcohol, it needs to be replaced.
To do this, the uncleaned drink is poured back into the container, the cotton wool or filter is replaced with a clean one, and cleaning continues. You can drink your product immediately after cleaning, or you can dilute it to the desired strength and let it brew for a couple of days.
Beginning moonshiners filter their product by adding some carbon to the moonshine jar (infusion method). Their more advanced colleagues know that flow-through cleaning works better, but requires a special device - a carbon column. The cost of factory-made devices is high, but you can make something similar at home from available materials: a plastic bottle, coal, a glass jar and cotton wool. The proposed technology combines two filtration methods - flow and infusion, which guarantees a high degree of purification.
1. Coal preparation. To clean moonshine, you need birch or coconut charcoal without impurities. The BAU-A and BAU-LV brands are ideal - activated birch charcoal, developed specifically for the alcoholic beverage industry. These brands are sold online, buying them is not a problem.
Charcoal for barbecues, from aquarium and household filters for water purification, and activated charcoal from a pharmacy are also suitable. Pharmaceutical charcoal is the worst option, since it almost always contains third-party substances - talc and starch.
Activated carbon should not contain any other impurities, otherwise filtration will negatively affect the quality of moonshine!
Coal is often sold in lumps, which is not very good for cleaning moonshine. The larger the contact area, the better the filtration. First, the coal needs to be crushed with a hammer, after placing the pieces in a bag, for example, from a sugar container. The grind should be as fine as possible. It is better to do grinding outdoors so that the resulting coal dust does not pollute the room.
After crushing, the coal is sifted through a colander or a sieve with large mesh. You will get three fractions: powder, small and large pieces that are not completely broken, which are returned back to the bag. Only used for filtering small pieces and powder.
2. Manufacturing of coal column. The most affordable vessel of the required length and diameter is a plastic bottle. The bottom of a two or three liter bottle is cut off, then 5-6 holes are drilled (burnt) in it at an equal distance from each other. The bottom is needed to press the coal to the bottom, otherwise it will float throughout the bottle. One large diameter hole is drilled in the lid through which filtered moonshine will flow.
With prolonged contact with alcohol, plastic releases harmful substances, so instead of a bottle it is better to use another container - a glass jar or a metal cylinder; the design principle does not change. Filtration does not last long and is therefore safe, but under no circumstances store vodka (alcohol, moonshine) in a plastic container.
3. Assembly of the structure. At the bottom there is a two or three liter glass jar into which purified moonshine flows. The cap is screwed onto the neck of the bottle, and the bottle itself is lowered into the jar upside down.
Pieces of coal are poured into the bottle on top - a little more than a third of a two-liter bottle in height, and covered with the bottom. If you add little coal, the filtration efficiency will drop; if you add more coal, the coal will absorb some of the alcohol, the product will be of high quality, but the strength will drop by a couple of degrees.
4. Filtration. The entire remaining volume of the bottle is filled with moonshine to create sufficient pressure. The moonshine passes through the coal column and ends up in the jar. The output is black due to coal dust particles, this is normal, the color is removed in the next step.
The black color of moonshine is removed in the next step Gradually, the hole in the lid becomes clogged with coal dust, which reduces the flow. If the hole is completely clogged, shake the bottle and gently squeeze it a couple of times. IN as a last resort, unscrew the cap and clean it by squeezing the neck hole with your finger.
Moonshine is passed through this homemade carbon filter 2-3 times. Then add coal powder into it at the rate of 30-50 grams per liter, mix, seal tightly and leave for 1-2 days. The coal, which has absorbed the maximum possible amount of harmful impurities, settles to the bottom of the can. This is a sign of readiness for cleaning.
5. Cleaning. Makes moonshine transparent. The bottle, which was the basis of the coal column, is washed away from dust particles. The neck is filled with cotton wool and screwed on with a lid. The assembled structure is inserted into a glass jar. The column is filled with cloudy moonshine. It is advisable to cover the bottle with something on top to prevent the alcohol from evaporating.
Cotton wool removes the black color, moonshine becomes transparent Pure moonshine flows into the jar. But after a while the cotton filter will become clogged. In this case, the unfiltered moonshine is poured back into the jar (from which it was taken), the cotton wool is changed, the column is assembled and the tank is again filled with unpurified moonshine. The cotton wool is replaced several times.
Immediately after cleaning, the moonshine is ready for use.
