Was it difficult to connect the smaller diameter beer lines to the filter inlet and outlet which is probably meant for a diameter closer to a garden hose? Can you talk specifically about the fittings you used to make the jump up so that I can replicate your hard work and ingenuity?

Also, is 5 micron enough to strip out the yeast?

The filter is a G.E. Model GXWH20F.
The inner diameter of the filter's in/out threaded pipe connector is acutally a 3/4 inch.
So to connect this up to a 1/4 inch hose ( same size as the ball lock quick disconnects) i stepped it down with little nylon connectors, each going down in size.

I got the connectors from Ace hardware because HomeDepot didn't have what I needed, and if they did, as usual there was nobody in sight to help me find it. Ace always has people who meet you at the door and will all but take over your project for you. Anyhow, enough of my home depot rant.

The first connector is 3/4 x 1/2 and screws in perfectly to the filter housing.(I no longer have the little baggie for the connector, but I think the part# on this is PL-2112) - I'm sure any 3/4 x 1/2 will do.

Next the the 1/2 x 3/8 screws into the above (WATTS Part# PL-1172)

3rd is a 3/8 x 1/4 elbowed hose barb (WATTS Part# PL-237)

The 5 micron that came with the housing unit is a bit big of a filter, but I wasn't just going to just throw it away without seeing what it would do. The results are documented in the photos above.

The beer did need a bit of cold conditioning to drop out what was left. Still, at 5 micron, the results were impressive enough to see what a smaller micron will do. Next time I will go with a 2 micron. I think that will give me the results that I'm looking for without stripping the beer of too much.

The thing that impressed me was what it did to the flavor. Maybe its only my preconceived prejudice, but I feel like what the filter did remove has aged the beer by weeks.
It tastes much more "refined" than the 5 gallons of the unfiltered in another keg. Maybe from the proteins that were removed?

Cheers,
KrOtChRoTT

Thanks. Assuming I don't get destroyed by Gustav, I hope to replicate what you've done, keeping flexible on the filters I will use.

Also, do you think 5 lbs. of pressure on the CO2 would be enough to push the beer through the filter, and if so, would that possibly improve your filtering ability?

5 lbs of CO2 would be enough to push it through. In fact, it would probably be better. The filter doesn't give much resistance.

Personally, I like to get as many usages out of something as I can. Here are a couple that the filter housing can probably be used for besides just filtering the beer.

1) Since this unit is now equipped for 1/4 inch tubing, it is very easy to convert to a Randall when its not being used as a filter. Just connect it to a party tap!

2) Another interesting usage would be to hook your boil kettle to a pump, and maybe use the filter as a hopback on the way to the fermenters! Of course the wort would have to be chilled first or the housing would probably warp or crack, but it might be a worthy experiment to try! I remember seeing the filter could take 125 psi. I'll have to look at the housing unit to see if it offers any insight into temperatures.

Cheers guys,
KrOtChRoTT
www.krotchrott.com

Couple questions.

You talked about flavor in general. Any difference in hop character (bitterness, flavor/aroma) pre- and post-filter?

Did you purge air from the filter with CO2 prior to filtration? If so, how?

I didn't discern any difference in hop flavor/bitterness, however, I think that might change the lower down in filter size that you go.

Purging the system was easy, I used the two kegs hooked up with the filter in between.... the one that was to receive the beer from the filter(closest pictured) did not have a lid on, the other (furthest pictured)was empty at purge time and did have the lid on. I hooked up the gas to the Furthest keg and turned the gas on on. It was that easy. I could hear gas hissing through the dip tube on the keg closest pictured that was to receive the filtered beer.

Hope that helped,
KrOtChRoTT
www.krotchrott.com

You can filter from fermentor to keg simply via gravity. Thats using a 10inch filter housing and a 1 micron abs filter cartridge. Quite a few people here in Oz are doing it just that way. A bit harder for you American types seeing as you mostly tend to insist on using carboys as fermentors - but I have filtered out of a carboy via a syphon line.

Connections are much much easier if you purchase a few John Guest style push fit fittings. Standard beer line simply pushes into them and slips out again

Here's a gravity filtering set-up almost identical to mine


Diamond bright beer from a 1 micron filter.

I sometimes still filter from keg to keg under C02 pressure if I want to cc the beer for a while and I need to free up a fermentor. But mostly its gravity straight out of the primary

Thirsty

The beer I did was straight from the primary fermenter. The only reason I used 2 kegs was because I thought I would need pressure to move it through the filter. Apparently, the above shows me that gravity may be enough which is nice because it gives one less thing to clean and saves on CO2.

Thanks thirsty,
KrOtChRoTT
[email protected]

This is cool man! I have one of these that I bought to make into a randall (another project I haven't gotten around to). I guess I can use it for dual purpose!

So, have you had a chance to try out the 2 micron filter?

I have the exact same filter. I fill my empty keg with to the top with no-rinse sanitizer (iodophor) and run the entire volume from the keg through the filter. This does two things for me: it sanitizes every part that will be in contact with the beer and it does a 100% o2 flush from the keg. When I am ready to filter the beer, I run the beer through the filter and then onto the ground until the filter looks like it is full of beer. I then switch it over to the beer keg.

I was shocked to see that my local home brew ship had filters in the 1, 0.5 and 0.1 range that cost $55 to $75 each! I found a guy on eBay who sells 10" filters for about $1.50 each after shipping if you buy it by the case. You just need to tell him the size you want when you order them. He has sizes from 20 to 1 micron at the $1.50 price.

The next things I would like to try are:

1. Getting a pressure gauge for the filtered beer keg so that I could regulate the filtration speed better.

2. I want to set up a second filter in series so that I can do 5 and then a 1 micron filtration. I hope that this will take some of the burden off of the 1 micron cartridge and extend its life a little. I will be filtering 20 gallon at a time and I don't want to slime the filter and need to open the housings in the middle of a filtration. I am in the process of opening a brewery and am playing with shelf life and visual appeal for my packaging vs flavor and mouth feel.

Krotch, I'll send you a 1 micron cartridge from the case I have ordered if you will pay for the shipping. They should be in this week.

KC-Dave

I just set up one of these this weekend. Thanks for the post!

The 5 micron fiter I used, Culligan brand, didn't do as much as I thought it would. The kegs were cold conditioned for a week and were still slightly cloudy. Went very well and I used the cartridge with a carbon filter for my brewing water today. Thanks KrOtCh!

Thank you for the filter offer KC-Dave!! Since you have the same filter housing, I would also like the name of your Ebay supplier. I'll probably order a case of the 1's from him. Send me an email at [email protected]

If all goes well, me and a buddy are going to go insane with this filter next week.
We plan to brew a 3xIPA hop monster in which every single step of the brew gets hop infused through the filter. I'm still developing the recipe but how does this sound for crazy?
1) Cold strike water runs thru the filter which will be packed full of hops. Heat up the strike water then transfer to the mashtun.
2) Once conversion is complete, the mashtun gets drained thru the filter still full of hops into the boil kettle.
3) Brew the beer, then run the wort thru the cleaned and sanitized filter filled with all new hops on the way to the fermenters.
4) Dry hop the beer after primary fermentation for 5-7 days.
5) Finally kegging day, taste and smell the beer to see if it is over the top enough. If not...
6) Randall it on the way to the kegs!
OH YEAH!!!

This looks easy and effective. But I wonder, any idea about how long a filter lasts? how many batches? can you rinse yeast gunk out of them ok? Ive only used these types of filters for my whole house filter,but I use the carbon ones to catch the chlorine.

Krotch that setup worked like a charm.
Bought the GE filtration setup at HD for about $18 (they didn't have the clear bodied model).
Picked up the necessary brass fittings ($17) and a few quick connects from the homebrew shop.
I went back, hooked it up, ran sanitizer through it, put in one of the spun poly 5 micron filters ($ and purged it out w/C02.
I then ran my Blackened Brutal Bitter through it and was absolutely amazed at what was left behind in the filter. The beer was left clean and bright and that filter was a nasty brown mess.
Can't wait to use this on one of my lighter beers!

Naut

KC-Dave, I worked in a small brewpub in Sacramento, and that is exactly the filtration system they had set up. We would run in line, a 5 micron, and then a 2 micron. For really gunky beers, we even had a 20 (or 10...) micron that could go in line before the 5. Worked like a charm.

Krotch - How much did this config run you? I looked up the model filter you used and HD has it for $38. Maybe it would be cheaper somewhere else (Amazon maybe). But B3 sells something similar with the hoses and keg hookups for $39. I have to assume the filters are different sizes, right?

Anyway, I have an IPA I just kegged that could benefit from a filtering. I think it will probably get drank before it gets filtered, but the next one I do will probably be filtered. Just trying to do it on the cheap.

anyone seen or tried the plate filter models? The pads in those look much cheaper than these prefilter inserts (I use these for my water on my well).

Would the 5m filter leave enough yeast to allow the beer to carb naturally?
I wold really like to filter some of the haze out of my beer.

Tim

Gents,

This is a great thread. My thought is to use a corse 10micron filter to filter hop trub and cold breat out before I ferment. My comment is, at the very end of the filtering, could you turn the housing upside down, and almost empty the housing of wort? The inlet and outlet are at the top, so this would save precious wort, would it not?

My other comment was that someone posted that they clean their filter with Iodophor, anything sanitied with this shoudl be dried to get the iodide to go away, so woudl this not leave a trace of the orange nasty in your freshly filtered beer?

NiTro in MN

dogfish head uses a filter to hop up a fresh beer going into the glass from the keg...and yes it does feel like it rips the enamel off your teeth haha


http://www.dogfish.com/company/tangents/randall-the-enamel-animal.htm