de filtration problems

[farmerjoe]

hello all
first i want to thank you in advance for any help you may have.
The brewery i am working for recently uped production and one thing they have done to get the beer out the door faster is to shorten the time the beer spends in the FV ( from 3 weeks to 2). this is causing me major problems during filtration. we can not slow down the beer has to go out fast. so my biggest question is about fining agents and practical ways to apply them. ie what has the fasstest settling times and good clean ways to dose them into the beer. are FV are 50bbl conicals and i have been very dilagent with dropping yeast it is still blinding my beds almost emediatly.i need help and hope to start fining by next week. thanks again
bob

[BrewinLou]

Up your dosing rate, is the first thing that comes to mind. What type of filter are you using? What yeast are you using? The Velo we use filters two week beers very well.

[Ted Briggs]

fining

I had the adversity of 4 fermentors in a very busy brewpub, 2batches a week, so I know where you are comming from!
I had good success with a Zero-gel fining. It can be dosed inline right before filtration, although to get faster filtration I would dose the night before in-tank to allow some settling, then blow off before filtering.
I was able to filter 2 10bbl batches though a 40X40 w/22 sheets with 45-60 minute flow-though each and rarely had clogging. Great improvement from without finning.
You cant crop yeast for reuse after dosing the beer though, and getting the right dose is a matter of trial and error. I would start with min. recommended and go up with seperate amounts for each beer type. I saw no effect on head retention of pallet fullness though. Its also kind of expensive but you don't need allot so batch cost is minimal.
Benefits besides easy filters are increase in shelf life by removing non-flocculating proteins that can cause staling and also will lessen chill haze and increase beer clarity overall.

[dogfishqc]

Is Zero-gel a type of fining or a brand name?

[Alex T]

Hi,

Your problem is the same problem many breweries have had. A two week cycle time should be perfectly achievable - in lots of breweries that is actually a luxury!

The answer is to dose, dose, dose! Run the filter v. slow at the start with maximum dosing rate (consider adding more to dosing bowl than normal). Keep track of your earth dosage closely to ensure you don't over load the filter - I have seen this done a few times.

Also, I would get the tanks onto chill ASAP - suggest reach attenuation, leave a further 24hrs and just put to zero degrees. (if you aren't doing this already, that is) For an ale you should end up with approx 7 days for settling and yeasting off.

BTW - we have actually filtered 100HL tanks in 7days... can be done, but I'm not saying it's pretty!

Cheers,

Alex

[dick murton]

Assuming the beer has finished fermenting, i.e. is down to target gravity and had the diacetyl rest in less than 10 days, then there should be plenty of time to cool it down and get the yeast off, and generally get it in a suitable state for filtration by 14 days. The key to it is to get the yeast off at say 4 C, and then get it cold, down to minus 1 ideally and hold there for a couple of days minimum to allow the residual yeast and much of the protein to settle. Take the sludge off before you send it to the filter.

Re Zero gel - I think this is a slight mistype, or at least, I know it as Xerogel. It is a silica gel, useful for removing some of the proteins that cause haze. It also helps to settle any residual yeast into a compact sediment for removal prior to filtration.

If you need say 12 days for fermentation, then auxilliary and white finings may well help - the beer should drop bright in 24 hours if optimised correctly

As Alex says - 2 weeks is a luxury for many of the big brewers where "premium" simply means it has an extensively marketed name - but that is about all.

Cheers

[Trub-Man]

DE Filtration

You know what good clarity and poor clarity is, with respect to your beers. If running a beer with less than perfect clarity while DE filtering you have a valve which is your by-pass valve which re-circulates your beer while you change fermenters or brights.

We tend to leave this valve cracked when clarity is an issue. Our thinking/theory is you are diluting the turbidity or increasing the clarity by adding filtered beer back into the unfiltered beer. Flow rate goes down by 25% but you will get longer filter runs.

[bmxfrank]

Can you consider changing to a yeast that flocs out better without changing your flavor profile?