60 bbls with 40x40 plates

[ParishBrewingCo]

Anyone primary filtering (~2-5um) in the 60 bbl ballpark with a 40x40 filter? If so, how many plates are you using?

Andrew
Parish Brewing Co.

[lhall]

That would be tough. We used to use a 40x40 with 19 pads, and it would only do about 20 bbls of well-flocc'd beer.

[ParishBrewingCo]

I was thinking about 40+ plates of medium to coarse micron size (2 to 5 um). What size micron were your pads for 20bbls?

Andrew
Parish Brewing Co.

[lhall]

I believe they were a nominal size of 7 microns.

If you can find a DE filter, your life will be much easier. The cost of the pads will add up quickly.

[James Murray]

I am filtering 80 BBL, 100 BBL, and 200 BBL batches through a 40x40 plate and frame. We have 51 plates in it and use pads rated 2-5 um. Our 200 BBL batches are kolsch beer and are filtered in about 4-6 hours. Crystal clear.

James Murray
Lead Brewer
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
San Diego, CA

[cpelz]

We run 50 bbl. (yield) batches of heavily dry hopped beers through 61 40 x 40 sheets of Seitz T-1000 pads (nominally 10.0 microns) without too much trouble. We also run similar sized batches of non-dry hopped beers through 49 sheets of Seitz K-800 (7-8 micron) pads. All of our beer is sold draft and most of it through our two restaurants.

At ~2-5 microns I imagine you'd want the beer pretty bright. Another route would be a diverter plate and two grades of pad. I haven't quantified it but we see a lot of edge loss through the sheets.

Sheet filtration was convenient when when we were smaller, but is not the choice I'd make now.

Clarke Pelz
Moose's Tooth Brewing Co.

[James Murray]

For our dry-hopped beers we use 2 plate and frame 40x40 filters. The first filter is set up with 31 plates and we use pads rated for 6-10 um. This then feeds directly into our other plate and frame with 51 pads rated for 2-5 um. I am filtering 200 BBL batches of IPA with roughly 240 lbs of dry-hop in the fermentation tank in about 4 hours on a good day (more like 6 hours on those not-so-good days). We also use gelatin on the dry-hop beers to help drop the hops out.

James Murray
Lead Brewer
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
San Diego, CA

[ParishBrewingCo]

Awesome, this is just the reassurance I needed. I know the cost of the pads is more expensive. I have experience using plate/frame/pads and will use it just to be sure the beer doesn't get screwed up after we spend all this time and money on expanding.

James, do ya'll bottle after filtering with that size or do you do more to the beer (sterile filter or pasteurize)? We will likely try to bottle with only this 2-5 um filtration.

Thanks guys.

Andrew
Parish Brewing Co.

[James Murray]

Yes we bottle both 22 oz. and 12 oz. post filtration. We of course have to force carbonate in the BBT prior to kegging/bottling. We have pretty stable shelf-life. We have done many experiments with different lengths of time/ heat/ sun exposure and get about 90-120 days of proper beer under piss poor conditions.

James Murray
Lead Brewer
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
San Diego, CA

[ParishBrewingCo]

Thanks James.

[tonyf125]

Plate and Frame filtration for bottles

I had posted this same question on another thread but I felt it would apply here as well.

We are looking into getting a plate and frame filter (40x40). Originally we were thinking this option because we were not planning on bottling. Through discussions, our bottling plans have been pushed ahead and now we are questioning whether a plate and frame filter is the right option for us (with $ in mind). From talking to a filter guy, he said we could get by with a larger size plate and frame filter and doing a 2 stage filtration (coarse then fine with a diverter plate). We would then probably use some finings or clarifiers to help clear the beer for bottling as well.

We have a 30 bbl fermenters and brite tanks. We need to know what we want for a flow rate to help size the filter that we would need. Does anyone have a suggestion on this? We would like to be able to filter in less than a couple hours if that is possible.

Do a lot of people filter bottled beer with their plate and frame or do they run a DE filter and plate and frame? I would appreciate the help.

Thanks,
Tony