Activated carbon is widely used to clean up fluids (both gases and liquid) by adsorbing (not absorbing) unwanted chemicals into microscopic pores which it contains. It is, for example, widely used in the water treatment industry, especially for removing organic chemicals. Your home water filter may possibly contain some.Has anyone ever used activated charcoal/carbon?
I'm about to add some to a sloe gin kit as per the instructions but I'm not exactly sure what it does!
ACTIVATED CARBON (CHARCOAL)
Derived from burnt animal or plant matter, carbon fining is often used as a last resort to remove off-odours and colour. It is best used in conjunction with 50 mg/l ascorbic acid, as otherwise it may provoke oxidation. Often used at low doses for final pressings.
http://www.bcawa.ca/winemaking/fining.htmCarbon (activated charcoal) is used to remove colour - decolorizing carbon, and to remove off-odours such as oxidation - deodorizing carbon, and is usually used in conjunction with PVPP as oxidized white wines generally show a brown tinge. Use at the rate of 0.025 to 0.6 grams per litre. It is best to make lab tests before adding to the entire batch, as too much carbon will strip the wine of both flavour and colour. Since carbon is a very fine powder, it may be desirable to use bentonite also in order to compact the sediment.
@Ianm you're right it's a 'prohibition' kit with turbo yeast etc. I can't really see the benefit of using the charcoal...I'm pretty sure finings would do just as good a job, but after a solid month of fermenting I thought I'd better follow the instructions! It advised I add it with the stabiliser then shake for a few days...but I degassed first then added it just to be on the safe side. Cloudy white to jet black instantly!
The only reason I can think for using it in this situation is perhaps the yeast will start give produce some off flavours later in the fermentation when the alcohol content is too high for the yeasts liking, which wouldn't be removed from finings alone.
@Ianm you're right it's a 'prohibition' kit with turbo yeast etc. I can't really see the benefit of using the charcoal...I'm pretty sure finings would do just as good a job, but after a solid month of fermenting I thought I'd better follow the instructions! It advised I add it with the stabiliser then shake for a few days...but I degassed first then added it just to be on the safe side. Cloudy white to jet black instantly!
The only reason I can think for using it in this situation is perhaps the yeast will start give produce some off flavours later in the fermentation when the alcohol content is too high for the yeasts liking, which wouldn't be removed from finings alone.
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