Homebrew mash filter system

So one of brewing systems available for commerical breweries is a mash filter system. The mash filter replaces the lauter tun which decreases brew time batch to batch. Other advantages are you recover more wort, use less grain, and use less water. Essentially it's like a grown up version of brew in a bag that homebrewers use.

This got me thinking. Why can't I essentially do brew in a bag and rig up some type of setup to put a plunger on top of my mash bag once conversion is complete. You can then use a electric ram, manual jack (high lift or bottle) or some other way to squeeze the wort out into a wort receiver (bucket, additional kettle, or....). From the wort receiver you pump through a filter that is more coarse than fine to remove the remainder of small husk and dust pieces. Then you just boil and brew as normal. Of course because of the decreased water need, and increased extract water would need to be added to the kettle.

I just need to figure out a nice bag size and find a filter good enough to pump through. I tend to do minimum 15lb mashes and up to 32lbs with my 52 quart cooler. Obviously bag sizes can vary.

Also a quick statement about squeezing the grains. I know people on here say not to squeeze grain or at least used to advise against it. Tannin extraction is pH dependent and squeezing the grain is exactly how the professional systems work. So doing it at our level isn't going to do anything bad.

Here's what I'm thinking of to replace a traditional vorlauf to clarify the wort.

http://www.brewershardware.com/FILTER1.html

http://www.glaciertanks.com/TriClamp_Strainers-TriClamp_Strainer_1.html

Also in case no one knows what a mash filter is....

http://www.iddeas.com/documents/HEBSPresentation_000.pdf

I personally don't see you getting the benefit from such a system at a small scale. Are you using a separate lauter tun now? It sounds like you are just making a way to squeeze the grains in your mash tun.

If you are putting your grains in a bag, it the filter necessary?

Forgive me if I'm not fully understanding the befits of the system, it just sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

Basically what i'd be doing is combining the mash tun with the mash filter and there really isn't a lauter tun. The lauter tun in a mash filter system is replaced by the mash filter. The post biab filter is to remove the other bits of crap that would make it out of the bag depending on the knit size of the bag. The benefit is time. Currently my lauter takes 45min-1hr. This would take 5 minutes. The only additional cost would be the post mash filter if I needed one. I already have all the other necessary equipment just haven't built a small frame to support/utilize the ram or jack.

Sounds like a lot of overkill for a minute amount of savings per batch. Just do straight up brew in a bag or batch sparging. Both of those methods take very little time to drain the liquid to the BK for the loss of a little bit of brewhouse efficiency. This might cost you a $1 in extra grain to adjust your recipes. Nothing big for the homebrewer...but to the commercial brewer these little inefficiencies are important. Thus the edge that fly sparging gets in the commercial setting. If you want to add that complexity, go for it and report back how effective it turns out. But my $0.02 are its not netting you much.

I also looked at the presentation and its just a plate and frame filter. The extra squeeze is not primarily for extraction efficiency, but to reduce the liquid content of the solids so that the solids are dry enough to handle. The slurry is pumped through until the solids pack the filter. Then the pump is stopped, the bladders inflated, and the cake is dried through squeezing. The primary driver is the pumping filtration step itself, not the squeeze.

If I were into this hobby for the time savings and efficiency I wouldn't be homebrewing. I get free beer at work but I still like making it at home too. The reason I'd consider doing something like this is an ability to brew high gravity beers with no real need to sparge because you can wring all the wort out. Sure there will still be extract left but not much. The other reason is with my grists hitting 30lbs dry I don't want to be holding the bag and I don't want to have to set up a tripod just to brew. A small frame that sits above whatever mash vessel I end up using is more compact when using it in the method I am talking about. I was just thinking that this would be a cool way to get the efficiency I get with "fly sparging" and minimal additional cost. Sure it's only a few $ for me but and I could adjust recipes for the lack of efficiency but I think it'd streamline the process for me. I've done batch sparging in the beginning and it wasn't much faster than fly sparging. If I did two batch sparges that is. You have to revorluf the mash again which in order to clear it up properly takes 10-20 min after restirring the mash. Plus the 30-40 min sparge (I use high wheat/rye proportions in many mashes) run which is fast enough to not stick the mash.

I figure it'd take me 3-4 min to squeeze the wort out of the mash and then another minute or two to pump through a small filter into the kettle. I don't know how that's not faster than batch sparging (by a lot). When I brew I typically do 2 brews in a day now because of time and that hour or more of savings would be significant. So instead of being done at 6pm I could be done at 4pm.

Like I said...give it a go! Sounds like a technique not used on the homebrewing front, so you can be the pioneer. Just make sure to report back on your results and let us know how it goes. Maybe you'll start the next big trend. I would suggest taking a very simple recipe that you love and brew well. Record everything making it normally (efficiency, times, gravities, etc.). Then with the new setup, make it again and record all the same information. Do that a couple times for some level of repeatability and then we can see how it does and what might be given up for the savings in time. I'm very curious...good luck!

The easy way to test it is to let it drain naturally until it's just trickling out, then employ your extraction method and measure how much more wort you got out of it. Boom, instant efficiency gain measurement. I know a lot of people who BIAB figure out ways to lift the bag and suspend it out of the pot to drip. If you had a pulley system or winch that picked up the bag, you could run that hoist through a metal ring and apply hanging weight to the ring Or you can mount the ring so supports hold it in place from above and just use the winch power to apply pressure. Another way if you're willing to drain out of the mashing vessel is to gravity drain, then put a bucket on top of the grain bed and fill it with water.

You should look into getting/making a de-watering screw press...it's basically the same concept but simpler design. Screw in shell compacts solids but releases liquids through slits in the shell. Check it out, haven't heard of any homebrewers using one yet

smokinghole said:

So one of brewing systems available for commerical breweries is a mash filter system. The mash filter replaces the lauter tun which decreases brew time batch to batch. Other advantages are you recover more wort, use less grain, and use less water. Essentially it's like a grown up version of brew in a bag that homebrewers use.

This got me thinking. Why can't I essentially do brew in a bag and rig up some type of setup to put a plunger on top of my mash bag once conversion is complete. You can then use a electric ram, manual jack (high lift or bottle) or some other way to squeeze the wort out into a wort receiver (bucket, additional kettle, or....). From the wort receiver you pump through a filter that is more coarse than fine to remove the remainder of small husk and dust pieces. Then you just boil and brew as normal. Of course because of the decreased water need, and increased extract water would need to be added to the kettle.

Here's what I'm thinking of to replace a traditional vorlauf to clarify the wort.

http://www.brewershardware.com/FILTER1.html

http://www.glaciertanks.com/TriClamp_Strainers-TriClamp_Strainer_1.html

Click to expand...

I have ben reading about Meura Company's process and wondered the same thing... Can I make a similar product for my home brewery? Did you ever do it? How did it work? Thanks!

Sounds like a tremendous effort and expense to save 50 cents worth of grain.

I just let the bag drain with gravity, while suspended above the kettle, after 30 minutes there is not much wort left to recover.