Filtering Air With Cigarette Filters

[sosman]

I was wondering whether cigarette filters you can buy loose would be suitable for filtering air for aquarium pump.

No idea what particle size they are supposed to filter out.

 

[big d]

no idea sos but dont a lot of aquarium pumps have small filter pads on the base where the air is drawn into.in my more serious fish keeping days the pumps i had came with these small filters.

cheers
big d

 

[sosman]

Yeah mine does too but I guess it is just a bit of felt - not sure how "small" it filters.

 

[big d]

give it ago sos.dont know how you will find out the filtering ability?is there anything written on ciggie packs about the filter? eg tar filtering or something.
micron size etc?

 

[Darren]

One altermative is to bubble the air through a metabisulphate solution. This can be set-up with a couple of coffee jars. Bubble for about 10 minutes to sterilise the tubing etc. This should remove most of the sulphur smell and sanitise the water/system.
Any bugs entering the the sysyem after this should be caught in the solution.
I have not done this myself but have seen someone who does.
He is able to use the same yeast cake for 1 year. He makes the best homebrew I ever tried/judged.

 

[pint of lager]

Have no idea about cigarrette filters, but you could give it a go. The problem is, how do we quantify if it is a success or failure? How do we measure the results?

Have heard about bubbling air through a sanitising solution, but am unsure how effective it would be. The particles you are trying to filter out/kill are very small, much much smaller than the diameter of the bubbles. Also, contact time is important too when killing bacteria. I would suggest, if going down this path, that filtering through a jar of cotton wool, soaked in santizing solution and squeezed out, may work too.

 

[Darren]

Have heard about bubbling air through a sanitising solution, but am unsure how effective it would be. The particles you are trying to filter out/kill are very small, much much smaller than the diameter of the bubbles. Also, contact time is important too when killing bacteria. I

Hey P.O.L.,
There is no need to kill the bacteria. They are simply captured in the fluid phase.
An airlock works on the same principle. Must work well as this guy uses the same yeast, same fermenter, no cleaning between batches, and the beer is clean, clean, clean.
chhers
Darren

 

[AndrewQLD]

Sosman

I am definately no expert but if ciggy papers don't filter out smoke I don't see how they coul filter out bacteria???

 

[deebee]

No matter how you aerate, you are mixing air and whatever it contains into your wort. I generally drop through a tube from one ferm to another or pour from one ferm into another. Apart from trying to breathe in the other direction and keeping thumbs out of the tops of fermenters, I can't control what else, apart from air, gets mixed with the brew. This technique is probably less than ideal and some bacteria must get in, but not enough to significantly affect the beer.

Why then must you filter the air that you force into the wort when you use an air pump? I suppose the more bacteria you can exclude in the aeration process the better so that justifies it, but unless you use bottled oxygen (maybe even then?), you are going to get some bacteria in your beer from aeration.

If anything, some wet cotton wool as suggested in howtobrew should be enough -- it will catch most dust and maybe some spores and bacteria. I also like the idea of the air bubbling through some solution or other.

Does anyone just pump air in without a filter?

 

[Batz]

Yes I pump without any filter

I really can not see a real problem , your yeast should be healthy enough to over come a few wild spores , after all when we make a brew there is a lot of air all around the place

And what about the water? Don't you think there maybe a few wild yeast spores and other nasties in there? maybe you need to boil and filter that as well??

Batz h34r:


PS
OMG! What about the hops ! how we gunna sanitize them?

 

[Tony M]

I have one of those filters used in drip watering circuits. I pack with cotton wool and spray with betadine soln. well, I do sometimes but occasionally forget. Seems to make no difference.

 

[Darren]

I really can not see a real problem , your yeast should be healthy enough to over come a few wild spores , after all when we make a brew there is a lot of air all around the place

And what about the water? Don't you think there maybe a few wild yeast spores and other nasties in there? maybe you need to boil and filter that as well??

Batz h34r:


PS
OMG! What about the hops ! how we gunna sanitize them?

Batz,
Spoilage orgamisms are more of a concern if you are lagering. They can keep chewing at temps that the yeast have well and truely stopped.

I always do full wort boil including the hops.

The reason you don't need to boil your water is that it is chlorinated. Spoilage organisms donot like chlorine.

cheers
Darren

 

[Batz]

Never had a problem , even using rain water , I do heaps of lagering

And chlorine is destroyed by boiling , like all we AG people do

What ever

Batz h34r:

 

[Darren]

And chlorine is destroyed by boiling , like all we AG people do

Batz
If you boiled your water you destroyed the chlorine and the spoilage organisms.
To suggest you should pump non-filtered air through a beer with no ill-effects is providing mis-information. FWIW, pouring wort from fermenter to fermenter to airate is also bad sanitary practice likely to cause problems. Sometimes you can get away with these things, sometimes they come back to bite you. Sanitary complacency is the brewers worst enemy.
Having said all that I have judged quite a few beers in competitions and some people do enter infected beers. My guess is they thought they were good!
cheers
Darren

 

[sosman]

Does anyone just pump air in without a filter?

I currently pump air without filtering. Actually the pump has a little fibre thingy which I guess is some kind of filter but it looks pretty course.

I am not too paranoid about it but if ciggy filters were fine enough I am sure I could just wedge them into some BEVA tube and it would add buggerall to the cost and stuffing around.

 

[pint of lager]

I currently pump unfiltered air through a plastic airstone into my wort.

Many moons ago, when the batch size was 23 litres, would run the wort from one fermenter to another. Worked for me. Then, upgraded to 45 litre batch size, then to an air pump.

As part of the ongoing upgrade of brewgear, I now have a shiney new ss diffusion device (sidestepping the oxymoron of a ss stone) and a 0.2 micron air filter.

Some people stop at kit and kilo, some people go ag, some people keep going the extra yards and airate with bottled O2.

I will never be able to reduce the contact of wort to unfiltered air to zero, but can minimize it as much as possible.

 

[Batz]

Batz
If you boiled your water you destroyed the chlorine and the spoilage organisms.

Don't allow your wort to cool before pitching Darren?

How do you keep all those nasties out?


I believe I make a fairly good beer my friend

Batz h34r:

 

[Darren]

Don't allow your wort to cool before pitching Darren?

How do you keep all those nasties out?


I believe I make a fairly good beer my friend

Batz h34r:

Batz,
I cool my wort as quickly as possible. Not sure which nasties you are on about!
I'm sure you do make a good beer. My suggestions are to help yourself and others make better beer.
cheers
Darren