Tag: molasses

Liquid Activated Carbon The Cold Theory

Using Liquid Activated Carbon – continued


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Testing the Cold Theory

So I am back to update with a little more info on the dreaded liquid carbon in the beer fermentation. The bird had a theory that the liquid activated carbon would drop out of the beer if it got cold. So he went on to testing the cold theory.

Before adding in the clearing / fining agent the bird said he took out a gallon of the beer and put it in the freezer until frozen. He then put it in ice box until thawed.  He was hoping that this would drop out yeast and carbon so his beer could be distilled into fine whiskey.

Actually the Hooch Bird distills moonshine since he does his thing in the woods at night . The Hooch Bird says the best shine is made under the light of the moon in a pure copper still. He uses a thumper sometimes. Here is a good article on building one and some information Thumper in case you think you need one

This dropped a thick layer of carbon and yeast , generally called “trub” along with yeast nutrients to the bottom about half inch thick but the wash was still a gray color. So he poured it back in the fermenting bucket.


The Decision to Add the Fining Agent

Then part A of the clearing agent was added into the beer fermentation. It was allowed to sit over night so it would get warm enough for part B to do it’s job. Then he added in part B and waited to see if the yeast and the activated carbon would drop out of the beer.

The next day the beer looked a little cleaner how ever the fermentation had started back up. It had been hindered by either the charcoal, the molasses or perhaps just some bad yeast. Hard to say but the beer was low alcohol and very sweet. This sugar content may have contributed to the charcoal not dropping out when set out in the cold.

The bird had decided to allow the beer to sit for another week or so and see if the small fermentation would finish up . This would allow for more alcohol and perhaps a better flavor.

Hooch Bird’s sweet hydrometer

Hooch Bird will check his hydrometer for this I think just to make sure it is as low as possible.


Wow a week has almost went by already


Anyway the bird told me that fermentation had continued albeit quite small. The alcohol content was rising but he was not sure if it would ever make it to the almost zero sugar content he likes.

The bird likes to take his fermentations all the way down. This he says gives him maximum alcohol volume. Then he back sweetens the whiskey after distillation. This works out well and makes for some very tasty moonshine.

The bird also runs his distillation slowly for high proof but keeps a good quantity of the tails for flavor. He has his own ideas of how to make cuts and the “norm” is not his idea of how things should be done.

The bird said he ran out of hooch and had to fly on over to the local liquor store for some swill and after he drinks a bottle of that he will get back to work on his batch of whiskey. Oh, he said ” Don’t call it corn whiskey. It is “sweet feed whiskey” . You can get his recipe Sweet Feed Shine

Says he ain’t no damn corn shine slurpin hillbilly. 

The bird gets a tude when he has to drink from the liquor store.

Anyway to move ahead a little, he decided it was time to rack that wash. It looked pretty good but never did ferment down much. It was only at 1.050. He does not know what it started at but was about 18 Lbs sugar and 6 1/2 gallons water. He said he did not measure just poured a bunch in.

So now he has what would amount to a weak sweet beer . He said he would go ahead and run it as it was not going to be a recoverable operation as far as fermentation goes.
The bird has cheap electricity from solar panels so he can afford to run a batch that does not yield much alcohol. He also has well and thus a cheap source of ice cold water.
He also has a sweet bird house. Some birds just have it made in the shade.

Hooch Bird's Sweet House

Well off to take care of my other projects again. Will tell  you how this turned out next time.

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