Activated Carbon aka Charcoal Filter

CothermanDistilling

I wanna see how something that makes it through 32 plates can be cloudy! oh, nevermind, it was whiskey that was cloudy... I dunno, I never filtered my whiskey, I have on that was hazy, but settles really slowly.... I think vodka may benefit from carbon 'filtering'..... especially for me as a new craft distiller, we will see... I will do whatever it takes to please the missus... if it makes her happy, it can go in the bottle..

Sunshine

One of the "young wild" distillers, that do their own thing - which means also unfiltered whisky.

Lloyd

@CothermanDistilling said: I wanna see how something that makes it through 32 plates can be cloudy! oh, nevermind, it was whiskey that was cloudy... I dunno, I never filtered my whiskey, I have on that was hazy, but settles really slowly.... I think vodka may benefit from carbon 'filtering'..... especially for me as a new craft distiller, we will see... I will do whatever it takes to please the missus... if it makes her happy, it can go in the bottle..

@CothermanDistilling is so very insightful, as usual. Off the still, the distillate cannot help but to be crystal clear and no matter the number of plates it will ALWAYS be CRYSTAL CLEAR.
Add aging on oak or dubious cut water and we get imperfections. Oils in the distillate that louche is also a flaw to some (OK, almost EVERYONE that buys liquor). If it louches then you need a good story upfront on the bottle or customers will complain and quite loudly.

If you are selling quality liquor in the US or other major markets then the bottle is either 100% sparkling clear or you had better have a REALLY good story.

No-one in the US is used to decanting liquor off the bottle lees. If you want them to do that then it means you need to educate them.

In a land of nearly 100% crystal clear booze, even when colored by charred oak, you had better have a really good story as to why your booze looks dirty.

Like I said, @CothermanDistilling is spot on. A cloudy spirit is either an extensive consumer education or an apology. Both are distractions from producing great product.
A cloudy, dirty product is not something a craft distillery wants in the new world, even if Europe is experimenting with it.

If my booze was cloudy, hazy, oily, had lots of crap in it including too much heads and tails then I would fix it. But if I want to win awards in EU then I guess I'd leave all the crap in?

CothermanDistilling

Vanilla Bean Vodka @ Corsair Distillery

from many years ago... they said they carbon filtered after adding beans, which makes no sense... I have it, it is cloudy with sediment and is yummy..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TUQSD0EMY4