Thinking of starting to filter Belgians

[eoconnor101]

Our English and Cali ale strains drop brite in 24 hours....we've had a Belgian blonde sitting cloudy for almost two weeks in brite after 72 hours in knock down. Thinking of not only clearing up this batch but future Belgian strains as well. The stubborn beer in question was kettle fined cooled rapidly cold crashed 72h, and racked on top of isinglass.

Would this model be suitable for a 7 bbl brewhouse?

http://morebeerpro.com/view_product/9626/101786/Wine_Plate_Filter_W__Noryl_Plates_20x20_-_40_Plates

Was thinking of running 10 micron sheets.

[dick murton]

I realise you may not want to, from an ethical(?) point of view, i.e. minimal additions of any sort, but have you tried isinglass finings? Unfortunately, if the yeast is, as it appers, non flocculent, it may not work very well. Generally finings works to some extent even on supposedly non flocculent yeast, but you may need to fine, allow to settle, and refine to get reasonably bright.

I assume that you have got it down to minus 1 deg C or so, certainly not more than zero (C).

I can't comment much on filter sizing as I simply don't have much experience of non KG rough filtration, i.e. filtration using sheet / depth filters only. However, in theory, this should only take about an hour and a half to filter, though I bet it takes considerably more unless you get the beer much clearer before filtration. If the beer is as mucky as stuff I have been forced to double fine then you will have problems with virtually any filter system, simply because of the loading.

Don't forget that you need to allow for water flushes to deoxygenate, for hot water / steam for sterilisation, plus any permissible chemicals for cleaning the filter, and time to do all of this, plus probably, some losses due to dilution when topping and tailing the water flooded filter.

Based on my very limited experience, much of it, I admit, gleaned from this site, I would have a look at Pall (and a few other suppliers) lenticular filters in stainless housings.

As for clarity - 10 micron will remove most yeasts, but may leave a fair bit of protein haze to pass through. But you may consider that acceptable. However, I suspect that if you want to continue using sheet filtration only, you will need the 10 micron to start with to get rid of the yeast and other large suspended solids, and then use a finer one to polish it up. Again, I would suggest cartridge / lenticularr filters are more flexible in this respect.


Now for the barrage of "No, the filter is fine" from others. But perhaps a bit of food for thought.

But I would seriously try and reduce the loading prefiltration, no matter what filter system you go for, as it will make any filtration easier.

Cheers

[Matt Dog]

Dick missed the last part where you say you rack onto isinglass. His advice is always spot on however. I would try a heavier dose of isinglass or biofine. Though I have had a couple beers that no finings would touch. That filter would probably work although if you have any ideas of expansion it would be wise to consider a 40x40. The initial expense is probably quite a bit more but the nice thing about plate and frames is you only need to use as many plates as you need per beer. Lenticulars are a nice design but if you are not using them very often I might not go that route as the replaceable filter modules are quite a bit more expensive because they are meant to be back-flushed and used several times. A few people here have complained about foul odors after letting them set for several days between filters. The plus side of lenticulars seems to be easier setup and no leakage. With a plate and frame you would use new pads every time so you may have better piece of mind but more leakage. 10 microns would be a good place to start. I see that filter also has what looks like a divider plate option so you could run coarse pads up front with a final pass through some tighter pads. As a disclaimer I have not used a Lenticular yet but we are trialing one in march so I have looked into them quite a bit.

[kai]

Our English and Cali ale strains drop brite in 24 hours....we've had a Belgian blonde sitting cloudy for almost two weeks in brite after 72 hours in knock down. Thinking of not only clearing up this batch but future Belgian strains as well. The stubborn beer in question was kettle fined cooled rapidly cold crashed 72h, and racked on top of isinglass.

Would this model be suitable for a 7 bbl brewhouse?

http://morebeerpro.com/view_product/9626/101786/Wine_Plate_Filter_W__Noryl_Plates_20x20_-_40_Plates

Was thinking of running 10 micron sheets.

Is it yeast or chill haze that is the predominant cause of your problem? Have you had a peek at the Belgian under a microscope?

And what yeast strain was it, if I may ask?

I know I'm not helping from a practical aspect, but I am curious as to identifying the source of your problem.

[Jim Russell]

sizing

Normally for rough clarification use 1 - 1.5 gpm per sq meter. 40x40 pad = 0.16 * .96 (edge sealing)= 0.154 gpm/ per pad (40x40)

To handle the "dirt" ( yeast, etc) we would most likely add more area to handle this and would look to double or even triple the area.

10 micron should work great, as it was noted there will be a slight haze

A good pad shouldnt leak at all or at least minimally, try the mineral free sheets for best results. Of course if there is significant deflection in the filter top to bottom you might not be able to get a good seal no matter shat type of pads.

hope this helps, or is a good start!

Jim Russell