Using activated carbon

[redhotitfc]

Hey all,

I made a wash and after stabilising and adding activated carbon the liquid went black. I added finings the next day and after 3 days now not much has changed. It's still very black and not cleared much.

Any ideas guys?

 

[mabrungard]

Was that Granular Activated Carbon or Powdered Activated Carbon? If it was GAC, did you prewash the carbon to remove the carbon dust (PAC) before adding it to your beer?

You may have to filter it out.

 

[redhotitfc]

It was Liquid Activated Carbon by alcotec. Got it off eBay.

 

[mabrungard]

Then it must be powdered activated carbon that is suspended in water. You may need to filter it.

 

[mm707]

To filter the wash I use granulated charcoal in a 2 inch plastic waste pipe, put a mesh over the end and pour in about a metre of charcoal granules ( that's about 70% of a 1.7l bag ) . Assuming your pipe is about 2 metres then you can pour in about 1 litre of wash at a time. Do this three times to get triple filtered wash with no smell or colour and a good taste.
I have mine set up with the pipe attached to a small fermenting bucket so I can pour in about a gallon at a time and catch the filtered stuff in a demi john.
With new charcoal granules I also run about a gallon of water through once to get rid of any powdery residue.