Wine filters and brewers yeast intolerance

Hi all

Firstly, can I just point out that I'm not home brewing (at the moment, anyway - I used to make beer and I've been considering making wine) but thought you experts may be able to help

I've been doing some research regarding wines and 'brewers yeast' intolerances; there's no definite answers out there it seems.

I don't have a serious intolerance; it was merely flagged up on an intolerance blood test (and there's debate surrounding the validity of these, but that's a separate discussion) and I'm trying to avoid everything that was flagged up for the next few months.

But I'm missing my red wine!!

My research has suggested that most of the yeast will have been 'used up' in commercial wines (not home made) and that white wines are usually (but not always) 'sterile filtered' and therefore likely to contain less yeast.

It may even be that there's so little yeast remaining that it will have no real effect, and the intolerance blood test picked up the brewers yeast from the beer and cider that I've drank.

However, it would be nice to filter the wine a little more if possible.

Home made wine makers often filter wine using hoisery/tights or for a finer filter, coffee filters!

Would there be any use trying a coffee filter with a commercial bottle of red wine, or would the remaining yeast be so little/small that it wouldn't have any additional effect anyway?

I found an interesting article:

http://www.vintessential.com.au/resources/articles/lets-be-clear-about-filtration.html

So, how many µm does a coffee filter filter to?!?

Or is there a actually wine filter I can buy that would be effective with shop bought wine?

Thanks

Ross

There is a fair amount of yeast in beer compated to wine. Very very little yeast left in a bottle of wine. Less then the amount of wild yeast on fresh fruit and way less then what you will find in bread. Yeast is everywhere, in the air and on anything that is in contect with air.
If you just have a mild sensitivity to beer yeast you will probely be fine having a single glass of aged wine. Older wine has less live yeast then young wine.
I can't see a coffe filter being much good at filtering out yeast... They do make wine filters. Do a search on any wine supply shop and you will see your options.



Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll just try some good quality red wine and see how I get on. Cheers

You would need to use a sterile filter pad (0.5 microns) to remove yeast cells and that will remove almost every yeast cell. A coffee filter will not prevent a single cell from passing through.

Thanks.... I just did a quick google on ebay for "sterile filter pad" and found some, but it seems they are specifically for use with a filter pump. If I were to literally just place a filter over a jar and pour the wine through it, would that work? Or is the filter size so small that a pump is required to push it through?

Most commercial wines have been filtered or fines already. The amount of yeast, live or dead, inside a commercial bottle has to be extraordinarily low. As stayed above, you may get as much or more yeast of similar (or identical) species by eating fresh produce (or even cooked, if dead yeast is really an issue, too). If there is any yeast inside a commercial bottle, it's almost certainly dead, too.

If you are lacking confidence in the filtering of a commercial wine for some reason, you're only going to do better to use a filter that catches smaller particles than what was originally used by the winery. This means coffee filters and the like will do nothing but waste your money and time. You'll need to get something akin to a "sterile filter" setup, at .45 micron or smaller. And this will help only if the bottle you have had not already been sterile filtered - many wines already have.

And I know you said this is a separate question, but the question of why going through such a bother to begin with is certainly relevant. Is this an allergist, or doctor of some kind that is informed by evidence based medicine you're seeing, or someone else? It's worth asking, as there is so much quackery out there when it comes to diet, allergies, and food intolerances.

Sorry. Excuse the double post.

mrrossi said:

Thanks.... I just did a quick google on ebay for "sterile filter pad" and found some, but it seems they are specifically for use with a filter pump. If I were to literally just place a filter over a jar and pour the wine through it, would that work? Or is the filter size so small that a pump is required to push it through?

Click to expand...

You will ruin the wine by "pouring" it. it needs to be transferred by siphon, ideally in a closed system, that is why they have pumps to push the wine through the fine filter without aerating it.

Thanks again guys - I don't think I'll go to the hassle. It's not an allergy; it was merely flagged as an intolerance on a blood test I did. You're right about the "quackery" but I've been avoiding the other foods flagged (wheat, milk, eggs) and I have noticed that I'm not so bloated as I normally am.

But I've experimented with red wine and I'm happy to say that there's no bloating so far!

You know what... I think I'll pour myself a glass now