centrafuge

[Laughing Dog]

Is anyone using a centrafuge? What is your opinion on its effectiveness and are there any alternatives?
We have a very aggressively dry hopped beer and it keeps plugging up the filter plates, no matter what we do to try and get the hops out before moving to a brite tank it makes a mess of the plates. I think my cellar guys are going to kill me if I dont find a solution soon!!!

Fred Colby
Laughing Dog Brewing

[beertje46]

How about an in-line hop strainer prior to the filter?

[Bham Brewer]

Are you dry hopping with whole hops or pellets?

[Laughing Dog]

we use pellets and have tried an inline strainer it plugs up to fast. I have tried bagging the hops but at 5 pounds to the BBL in a 15 bbl fermenter its a bit much for bagging plus we dont get the flavor as well when we pitch them loose . I have tried dumping them but prior to filtering but still have a huge mess on my hand and lost way to much of the beer in the proccess

Fred

[James Murray]

i don't know if you have access to an extra plate filter, but if you can get one hook it up with coarse filter pads prior to running into your normal filter. We dry hop with about 70 lbs in a 50 BBL batch and yeild roughly 42-45 bbl after its all said and done. We are filtering the batch in about an hour. The first filter is all gnared with hops, but with a smaller amount of plates it is easier to clean. Its a good job for a keg washer or assistant to man.
-Word

[Enkidu]

Have you put any thought into filtering with a DE filter prior to your sheet filter? While a centrifuge can be intriguing, they are a lot more involved than most people realize (both time and money).

[MikeJordan]

What's the settling time of your beer after adding the dry-hops and how long is the beer cold? I ask because...You mentioned adding them just prior to filtering on one occasion. Also...Do you have a racking arm?

A centrifuge will help but at your size it's most likely not feasible ($$) and you should be able to find a cost effective solution.

MJ

[jason.koehler]

I know you said you tried bagging, but you might try using more than one mesh bag for dry hopping in your fermenter / secondardy.

Using multiple bags as opposed to one increases the amount of beer in the tank you've got in contact with hops. At the rate you are hopping, the hops in the middle of that packed bag likely aren't getting much contact with the beer. More, smaller bags should fix this problem. You might need to adjust your hopping rate, but the time saved in labor and replacement filters is likely well worth it...

Other than that, are you racking from the bottom of the cone?

[Laughing Dog]

Well when I got the price on a centrifuge I about fell over today !!!!! we actually let this beer set about 2 weeks during dry hopping, after fermentation is almost complete we start with dry hop additions every 3 -4 days and then a week to settle out at 0 centigrade. I do not have a racking arm but this seems to be a good call as we pull off the racking port which is has about 1/2 bbl below it we move from one fermenter to another after the 1st hop addition to get off of the yeast cake and to harvest the yeast, oh BTW the first 2 hop additions are in bags ( 2 bags each time ) but they are the smallest at about 10Lb each then the biggest and last, goes loose into the fermenter this is the one that add the most flavor and aroma but causes the most issues I think I will try to find a racking arm or maybe a really big hop strainer.
BTW the beer starts at 23 plato ends at 6 plato
98 IBU , 7 LB of hops total to the BBL
we call it Devil Dog and it is a devil to make
thank you this has been an enlightening day


Fred Colby
Laughing Dog Brewing

[yelram4life]

How about a simple stand pipe in your conditioning tank???

[liammckenna]

Bag filter is the way to go. Can be washed in the washing machine and re-used. Come in all different sizes and mesh sizes. Even seen some with a mechanism which continually scrapes the bag to maximize throughput.

Pax.

Liam