Water filter build

So I built a water filter. Instead of using the seven dollar shutoff with the adapter and quick disconnect, I found a simple shutoff at walmart in the garden section for $4. All I needed was the adapter from the threads on the filter and then this piece. Saved me a bit of money!


Untitled by milesvdustin, on Flickr

The cheap valve worked amazingly well today during brew day.

I have the exact same thing, and yes, the ball valve/adapter combo is great. I have another on the end of my hose so I can hook it up to my CFC at the end of the brew, and throttle supply water.

I also like that you can buy micron filters to drop in, and once you sanitize it, it becomes a beer filter, provided you push with CO2.

What sort of filters and adapters are needed to filter beer?

The filter is a standard 10" element; you can find them at Amazon, eBay, etc. Ensure you DO NOT get carbon filters - while great for drinking or brewing water, it's not so great for finished beer.

As to the adapters, you need two kegs (or at least one and a bucket or carboy, but watch for aeration), and associated fittings. Gravity does not provide enough force to push beer through a 5 micron or smaller filter. You use the keg and CO2 to put a few psi on it, and force it through.

You can pick up barb adapters for ball or pin lock kegs at your friendly LHBS, or internet mega-stores if not available locally. They're about $7.

In addition, most sites I've looked at recommend a two-stage filter setup, one 3-5 micron, and one 0.5-1 micron. At 0.5 microns, you're removing the majority of the yeast, and almost all haze causing proteins. At 1 micron, yeast remains, and you don't get as much haze out.

at <1 micron, you are stripping hop oils from the beer. acutally, you start doing that at below 5 microns (plus the fact that any absorbant filter removes some regardless of the size, just by virtue of being absorbant). yeast cells are 20+ microns, yeast flocs are 100+ microns, and hop particles/lees/trub is/are normally 50-500 microns. there is no need for a sub-5 micron filter for finished beer.