1st Attempt At Filtering With Problems

[juzz1981]

Hi All,

Just purchased a filter kit from Craftbrewer and hooked up using the gravity method.
Problem being that the input line is bubble free but the outlet is about 50% air/bubbles, not only did it take about 1hr to filter a fairly clear beer but has now probably resulted in oxidation

All fittings appeared to be tight.

I will ring Ross tomorrow but thought id check here on the forum also..

 

[razz]

Most likely air that was trapped inside the filter housing. You can purge you keg with CO2 and bleed out through the relief valve, but you need to do that sooner rather than later. One hour is a long time so maybe lift the fermenter higher for more head pressure, the air in the housing may also cause less flow through the filter hence longer filtering time. When you use the purge button on top of the housing you need to make sure all of the air is purged and beer flows out. I put a valve after the outlet and keep it closed until the housing is purged of air.

 

[MattC]

A few questions...

1. did you soak the filter cartridge in sanitising solution first? if so for how long?
2. did you run sanitising solution through the filter mechanism?
3. did you purge the filter with CO2 before filtering the beer?
4. did you bleed the air or CO2 out of the filter as you filled it full of beer prior to connecting the out tube to the serving keg?

If you say the filter seems air tight but the outlet tube is 50% bubbles then its possible that you may not have done #4 above.

If its slow then you may have done # 1 for too long and the cartridge is waterlogged.

# 3 should ensure against oxidation and # 2 is to ensure against infection.

Cheers

 

[Georgedgerton]

Yep, If you have beer in and beer + air out than you have to think where that air has come from?

 

[BjornJ]

Hi all,
hope I'm not high-jacking this thread, but would you guys who use the filters mind giving some more detailed steps in how to use the filter setup?

I also have a filter and want to use it to gravity filter beer, no keg or CO2 tank to run CO2 through the filter.
I was thinking to soak it in sanitiser for a while, the whole housing and filter, then run tap water through it to flush it out.
Then connect it to the fermenter tap, but by the sound of it there is a good chance the beer outline will then mix beer and air bubbles?

Am I supposed to let the filter housing fill with beer and keep using the bleed valve until beer comes out of it before letting beer get out and into the bottling bucket?

Adding a valve to the out-line sounds like a great idea as well.

Again, not trying to take focus off the air bubble question, just thinking that if someone wouldn't mind putting some instructions together maybe that will help both this poster and others like me so we don't do the same

thanks
Bjorn

 

[skippy]

It should take you about 15 minutes to filter 19L 'clean beer', longer than that (and with bubbles in filter out) means catridge is blocked (providing the beer that you are filtering is sufficiently higher than the corny you re going into to allow adequate head pressure for the system to work.

I place my fermentor (after racking following primary fermentation, cooling to ~ 4 C, then adding PVPP, and conditioning ~ 24 hours, then racking once more - immediately before filtering), about 1 meter above the corny, with the filtering unit connected to the fermentor tap, inline to the corny liquid out poppet.

Whenever i get 'breakout' the filter catridge has been blocked commpletely with yeast, i stop everything, shut it all down and pull the filter unit apart and clean the cartridge - before starting again.

No dramas.

 

[skippy]

and another thing, everyone seems paranoid about O2 ingress whilst filtering, for f@@@s sake your 'home brewers'if you dont have a jacketed conical fermentor (that can hold bars worth of pressure) who gives a rats. The beer is'nt going to sit on a shelf in a supermarket 1000km away 5 months after it has been made (or is?).

 

[Stuffa]

Maybe the bubbles were from C02 coming out of solution not air. This happened to me when filtering a lager that was at 1c and had a high saturation of C02.

 

[juzz1981]

Hi guys,thanks for all the replies, I did sanitize with iodophors for probably 15 minutes with the filter being saturated.
I didn't purge with co2 and the head space was about 1m from corny to fermented, I had a small amount of air that wasn't purged out but I inverted the filter so I thought that would elliminate the air from heading out the beer outlet.

What I might do today is connect up the filter and run water through it to see if air bubbles are still a problem...... Could have been co2 bubbles but the beer had been sitting for over 2 weeks so I would have thought it would be rather flat by then.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

and another thing, everyone seems paranoid about O2 ingress whilst filtering, for f@@@s sake your 'home brewers'if you dont have a jacketed conical fermentor (that can hold bars worth of pressure) who gives a rats. The beer is'nt going to sit on a shelf in a supermarket 1000km away 5 months after it has been made (or is?).

Maybe because you can taste oxidation in kegged and filtered beer within days if the issue is bad enough... Like it would be with a severe air leak between filter and keg as described. Maybe not in every beer, but certainly in some.

And maybe you drink your beer more quickly than me, but i've got 2 kegs in my bar that are over six months old, and despite me being as careful as I possibly can to avoid oxidation, both of them are starting to show signs of oxidation, if I hadn't been so careful, they would have been stuffed months ago.

Avoiding oxygen is always good and never bad, so if that's the advice you give you know it's always good advice, no matter what the habits of the person you are talking to.

 

[sav]

There are alot of good answers in this post in my experience in filtering I was in the same boat as you for a year of gravity air in the out line to the keg ,I don't think there is enough flow or pressure from the filter and it takes to long.

My process now is keg to keg with co2 Its faster better and the beer lines a free of air bubbles every time,This is what I do I am not saying I am wright but I was pulling my hair out about the air and the time it took to filter 2 kegs.I never had any problems with oxidization don't stress.

sav

 

[argon]

Just to add to this... one of the easiest ways to purge CO2 from your filter is to use the starsan from your newly cleaned and sanitised corny.

What i do is, after cleaning the keg usually with hot PBW or Napisan, give it a rinse then add a couple of litres of starsan mixture. Seal up the keg, shake like buggery, turn up side down and let some come out both posts and PRV. Leave for 10mins or so for contact time. Connect filter to beer out post then connect gas to gas in on keg. Then discharge the starsan solution through the filter. This sanitises the keg and filter as well as purging O2 from each. Once this is complete i disconnect the filter, open the PRV to let the C02 pressure out of the keg.

Then i gravity filter from primary through purged and sanitised filter into purged and sanitised keg, through the beer out tube, with the PRV open.

Fully cleaned, sanitised and purged system... easy peasy

 

[skippy]

Maybe because you can taste oxidation in kegged and filtered beer within days if the issue is bad enough... Like it would be with a severe air leak between filter and keg as described. Maybe not in every beer, but certainly in some.

And maybe you drink your beer more quickly than me, but i've got 2 kegs in my bar that are over six months old, and despite me being as careful as I possibly can to avoid oxidation, both of them are starting to show signs of oxidation, if I hadn't been so careful, they would have been stuffed months ago.

Avoiding oxygen is always good and never bad, so if that's the advice you give you know it's always good advice, no matter what the habits of the person you are talking to.

of course O2 and beer dont mix, as you said and you definately would notice stalling/oxidation etc in bottled and kegged beer quickly if ingress was heavy. I drink a keg in about 2 weeks so i never have had a bad problem with O2 - wish i could let some sit longer

 

[Brewme]

of course O2 and beer dont mix, as you said and you definately would notice stalling/oxidation etc in bottled and kegged beer quickly if ingress was heavy. I drink a keg in about 2 weeks so i never have had a bad problem with O2 - wish i could let some sit longer

Problem easily solved. Get more kegs. Xmas is just around the corner. Treat yourself.

I only have 8 at the moment but am aiming at having a baker's dozen before too long.

Cheers

 

[Brewme]

Just to add to this... one of the easiest ways to purge CO2 from your filter is to use the starsan from your newly cleaned and sanitised corny.

What i do is, after cleaning the keg usually with hot PBW or Napisan, give it a rinse then add a couple of litres of starsan mixture. Seal up the keg, shake like buggery, turn up side down and let some come out both posts and PRV. Leave for 10mins or so for contact time. Connect filter to beer out post then connect gas to gas in on keg. Then discharge the starsan solution through the filter. This sanitises the keg and filter as well as purging O2 from each. Once this is complete i disconnect the filter, open the PRV to let the C02 pressure out of the keg.

Then i gravity filter from primary through purged and sanitised filter into purged and sanitised keg, through the beer out tube, with the PRV open.

Fully cleaned, sanitised and purged system... easy peasy

I know that my filter cartridge holds a fair amount of liquid when saturated. How much StarSan are you pumping into your keg with the beer?

Just a thought :huh:

Cheers

 

[dicko]

Hi All,

Just purchased a filter kit from Craftbrewer and hooked up using the gravity method.
Problem being that the input line is bubble free but the outlet is about 50% air/bubbles, not only did it take about 1hr to filter a fairly clear beer but has now probably resulted in oxidation

All fittings appeared to be tight.

I will ring Ross tomorrow but thought id check here on the forum also..

Hi juzz

Most of the comments so far have not noticed that you are using the gravity method.

OK so lets assume that you are filtering from the fermenter.
First up there may be dissolved C02 remaining in the brew from the fermentation.
2ND, the yeast and trub that comes from the fermenter to the filter will cause you grief with speed of run off.
In other words your filter will block up in quick time!!

I filter most of my beers when kegging and I always rack to a cube and let the beer settle under refridgeration before I start to filter to the keg.

I have the tap of the cube of unfiltered beer approx 900mm (600mm would be fine) above the inlet of the filter and I have the outlet of the filter directly connected to the "beer out" connection of the corny keg by a qd fitting and suitable tube.

I start the beer running from the cube toward the filter assembly with the qd DISCONNECTED from the keg and at the same time purge or bleed ALL OF THE BUBBLES from the bleed valve on top of the filter.

When the beer is flowing without bubbles from the bleeder valve then push the qd onto the "out" post of the keg.

Let the keg fill to the required level, chill and gas as required.

You may need to make use of an existing shelf or make something to suit but you will find your filter will last a lot longer if you dont force the beer through it with C02

I hope this helps you,

Cheers

 

[juzz1981]

Hi juzz

Most of the comments so far have not noticed that you are using the gravity method.

OK so lets assume that you are filtering from the fermenter.
First up there may be dissolved C02 remaining in the brew from the fermentation.
2ND, the yeast and trub that comes from the fermenter to the filter will cause you grief with speed of run off.
In other words your filter will block up in quick time!!

I filter most of my beers when kegging and I always rack to a cube and let the beer settle under refridgeration before I start to filter to the keg.

I have the tap of the cube of unfiltered beer approx 900mm (600mm would be fine) above the inlet of the filter and I have the outlet of the filter directly connected to the "beer out" connection of the corny keg by a qd fitting and suitable tube.

I start the beer running from the cube toward the filter assembly with the qd DISCONNECTED from the keg and at the same time purge or bleed ALL OF THE BUBBLES from the bleed valve on top of the filter.

When the beer is flowing without bubbles from the bleeder valve then push the qd onto the "out" post of the keg.

Let the keg fill to the required level, chill and gas as required.

You may need to make use of an existing shelf or make something to suit but you will find your filter will last a lot longer if you dont force the beer through it with C02

I hope this helps you,

Cheers

Thanks all for the great help,
I will give it a few cracks using gravity but if it becomes a PITA then I will just have to purchase some more kegs and force filter with Co2.. Only thing I was concerned about was how much Co2 this would effectively (waste)?

Thanks all

 

[milob40]

Thanks all for the great help,
I will give it a few cracks using gravity but if it becomes a PITA then I will just have to purchase some more kegs and force filter with Co2.. Only thing I was concerned about was how much Co2 this would effectively (waste)?

Thanks all

easiest way ist filter keg to keg with 2 liquid disconnects, open the relief valve on the receiving keg and use about 15psi to push it through,
it uses about 1/3 more gas but a big co2 rental cylinder "f" is only 12 bucks dearer to fill (more than twice the size of a vt).
takes about 4 minutes but don't leave unattended or you'll be aerating your brew with co2 when the keg finishes filtering.

 

[argon]

To the op... I'm gravity filtering right now and I'm noticing there's quite a few big bubbles ginig through to the keg. I know that I've fully purged the system with co2 and it's sealed. Don't know what it could be other than co2 coming out of solution.

Never really took notice before... Hmmf... Got me beat what it could be.

 

[skippy]

Problem easily solved. Get more kegs. Xmas is just around the corner. Treat yourself.

I only have 8 at the moment but am aiming at having a baker's dozen before too long.

Cheers

got 10!