Sterile filtration

[BelgianBrewer]

Having a wide experience with both flash and tunnel, I am wondering about sterile filtration as an alternative. Any advice, guidelines, manufacturers, ... Comments on filter pads, membrane filters, what happens after the filter, ...

Just shoot. I am willing to listen and extend my knowledge

Any ideas, experiences,... are welcome!!!

BelgianBrewer

https://www.sbmbrew.com

[einhorn]

the problem is...

...as far as I know, the problem is with the bottle, not the beverage (be it beer, water or juice, or ?). This includes the sterile environment you must create between rinser/washer and the filling station. The problem may continue with capping, a problem you don't have with tunnels.

[James Murray]

Filtration

Well we are using a Spadoni KAPPA 40 cm. filter press and it works excellently...little bit of labor involved, but we are filtering 100 bbl in around an hour (maybe an hour and a half if we have to back flush). We are using Carlson 40 cm. XE9OH pads on our Kolsch, Amber, and Helles without any problems. Although, when filtering our IPA or Double IPA we have found that using 2 filters (one smaller filter with more course pads and our normal filter with the Carlson pads) has to be done in order to have clear beer without any hop reminance. As far as sterilization goes, we use all clean hoses and run 10 minutes of cold water through the filter to soak the pads and then run 178 degree water through it for 15 minutes to pasteurize the hoses and filter...we are also using a pump to get the beer to flow from FV to BBT. When the filter clogs we simply backflush it with cold water, then run 178 degree water fowards through the filter for 15 more minutes...this has been more than sufficient. Hope this is helpful and good luck!

James Murray
Brewer
Ballast Point Brewing Co.
San Diego, CA

[jipjanneke]

We had a 40x40cm Padovan sheet filter, and we used Cuno Pacific Zeta+ pads in it. The manufacturer recommended using increasingly fine grades of pads, from Grade 10 to Grade 40 to finally Grade 70 (i.e. three filter runs). We were adding honey post-fermentation to the beer, so needed sterility to prevent massive explosions!

He said that the beer would more or less have been sterile after the Grade 40, but the Grade 70 was to be sure.

Before each run we set in the pads, wet them down with a hose as we installed them, ran 90oC (194oF) water through them until the exit temperature was greater than 80oC (176oF), and then shut all the valves and let the whole unit 'bake'. Not that we did, but best practice advice is to bake any equipment at above 176oC for 30 minutes minimum to guarantee sterilization. Just lock it in, and let it sit.

Following this procedure, I checked several samples of the beer before bottliing under a microscope for life, and there was none (just the odd beer stone crystal!). We then added the honey, bottled, and I placed several bottles in an incubator to see if any would blow up, and they never did. The batch has subsequently not blown up, either, so the procedure was tested and shown to work.

I've attached his listing as to what is what - hope this all helps. The only problem might be loss of fine flavour and aroma, which might be a price to be paid for sterility in this way.

Your supplier of filter medium should be able to guide you, too.

[Laughing Dog]

Sterile Filtration

We use a della toffala 40cm plate and frame filter with Seitz 300k filter pads followed by a 20 inch membrane trap filter then a four filter .45u membrane setup for all of our bottled beers. This is done from a crashed fermenter to our brite tanks, all brite tanks are caustic washed, and then hot (195 degree) oxine washed for 20 minutes prior to use. All of our C02 to the tanks is run through a sterile filter.

When we bottle all the hoses get a 45 minute hot oxine rinse then drained and hooked up to the bottler that has been also oxine rinsed (with cold oxine), all bottles go through a sanitizer rinse. After all this ( which may seem like overkill) I have incubated bottles and have found virtually nothing in them but good beer. Up until I added the sterile membrane filters in I would have an occasional issue. I have not noticed a flavor or aroma loss and my distributors now love that they can warm stack out (I don’t, I think all beer should be kept cool).
This is just my 2 cents worth but sterile filtration is much cheaper than a pasteurizer and in my opinion and I stress this is my opinion much better for your beer.
If anyone would like pictures of our setupp I will gladly post them.

Fred Colby
Owner
Brewer
Janitor
And general all around flunky
Laughing Dog Brewing

[BelgianBrewer]

Reposting

Is there anyone else that could share their experience on this?

Thanks

BelgianBrewer

https://www.sbmbrew.com

[crassbrauer]

Nothing groundbreaking. From my experience, as a happy medium between tunnel pasteurization and sterile filtration, many go with flash pasteurization. This isn't as harmful to the flavor stability of the beer as tunnel pasteurizing and doesn't tend to take any body away from the beer, as sterile filtration can do. Sterile filtration is also not 100 % sure, due to changes in pressure, tears in the membraine, etc., as numerous tests on sterile filtered beer have shown. But how often that's the case, I don't know. I'm happy to see that it seems to be working in the examples given above.

[steveg]

To sterile filter you can use a Pall filter. I think that they are not cheap, and the cartridges for the filter are expensive.

You have to already have filtered the beer and then transfer through the Pall filter, so it is an extra filtration step. You are not going to get truly sterile filtered beer otherwise. I've done the micro work on this to prove it!