Adding Filtration to kegging process

[scarpozzi]

I just ordered a filtration system to integrate into my brew process. I'm a moderate home brewer with a 2 tap kegerator (coverted chest freezer).

What I want to do is find the least wasteful method for filtering the beer. I don't own a pump and am thinking I'll need to push the fermented beer through the filter using C02. Based on that new requirement, I want my 10lb C02 tank to last just as long as it does now.

What do you guys think about doing primary in a brew bucket, secondary in a sealed "dirty keg" , then putting the gas on the secondary to push the semi or fully carbonated beer to a "clean keg" after passing through the filter. Are there any posted methods of the best way to do this without wasting anymore C02 than I have to?

I'm thinking the clean keg will have to be depressurized for the process which might cause foaming....but I'm just trying to figure out the best way to end up with a squeaky clean lager on the other end.

Thanks

 

[wolfman_48442]

What you're describing is counter pressure transfer.
The destination keg pressure should match the source. Then a liquid to liquid jumper is used to transfer the beer. Normally either a spunding valve or blipping the pressure relief is used to keep the destination keg pressure just a bit lower to keep the transfer going. This works great, and causes very little foaming. A keg's worth of CO2 is lost.

However, someone on this board (I can't remember who) had mentioned that they set up a counter pressure siphon where once the flow is started and the siphon has started, the gas from the destination is hooked back up to the source (which has been disconnected from the CO2 bottle) to recycle the CO2. This sounds very interesting to me, but I have not personally tried it.

 

[scarpozzi]

The counter pressure siphon does sound interesting, but something about it sounds difficult....meaning, one keg would have to be at a higher pressure to get it started maybe? Not sure how it would all play out when you connect it back to the original keg....

Perhaps I should just invest in a march pump and call it a day.

 

[samc]

CO2 is not all that expensive. You don't need much pressure (2psi) to push 5 gallons through a filter. Not going to go through the process as many threads already exist.

You would not use a march pump for this process.

 

[JetSmooth]

I primary ferment in corny kegs (8-9 gallon batches in a 10 gallon corny) and don't generally do a seconday. Now that I have a Co2 tank, I plan on closed pressure transfer to a serving keg. Maybe I'll incorporate the filtering as well.

 

[scarpozzi]

I primary ferment in corny kegs (8-9 gallon batches in a 10 gallon corny) and don't generally do a seconday. Now that I have a Co2 tank, I plan on closed pressure transfer to a serving keg. Maybe I'll incorporate the filtering as well.

Nice. I'm looking at making a keggle if I can pickup a used/damaged keg from a local microbrew for under $50. If I can do that, I'll have capacity to do 10 gallon batches. I wan't aware they even made 10gallon corny kegs...I may look into that as my wife is getting tired of me having buckets & carboys all over the place that are too heavy for her to move.

 

[JetSmooth]

They do make them, but they're EXPENSIVE! I got two antique (look like they're from the '50s) root beer kegs from an HBT member. They don't have liquid out posts, only a cap on the threads, so I'm trying to find replacements so I can really to the pressure transfer. For now, I just use my autosiphon to move from the fermenter into the keg/bottling bucket.

 

[scarpozzi]

Wow...nice picture of them. I'm a huge A&W fan too.

I noticed they ran in the $250 range...which is pretty expensive considering. I'll probably see about getting the used Sanke kegs. A fellow homebrewer is wanting a total of 3 sankes to use for a keggle and 2 fermentation vessels... I just doubt I'll be doing more than 1 'big' batch at a time since I like my beer fresh.

Thanks for the info and the feedback.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Why filter at all? It takes goodies out of the beer...my.02

 

[wilserbrewer]

Why filter at all? It takes goodies out of the beer...my.02

Good question, w/ enough time, cold and even perhaps a little gelatin, clarity seems to come easy?

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Good question, w/ enough time, cold and even perhaps a little gelatin, clarity seems to come easy?

because with filtering you can go grain to glass in 15-18 days easy and have beer that looks like the commercial beers your buddies all drink, and tastes even better.

Trust me, when you're the guy that's expected to bring the keg to every party filtering makes a big difference. No having to explain "why is this murky?" to all the people who dont know... 10 gallons of my Blonde ale seems to last about 3-4 weeks...so filtering helps me keep it in stock without having a 3 month backlog of kegs just sitting there clearing.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

to the OP:

Check out this article, it helped me immensely when I first got into filtering:

http://knoxhomebrewer.com/index.php...tering&catid=40:reference-materials&Itemid=61

 

[beaksnbeer]

because with filtering you can go grain to glass in 15-18 days easy and have beer that looks like the commercial beers your buddies all drink, and tastes even better.

Trust me, when you're the guy that's expected to bring the keg to every party filtering makes a big difference. No having to explain "why is this murky?" to all the people who dont know... 10 gallons of my Blonde ale seems to last about 3-4 weeks...so filtering helps me keep it in stock without having a 3 month backlog of kegs just sitting there clearing.

WTF...cold crashing and proper techniques take me to clear crisp beer in 3-7 days NEVER 3 months to get a beer to clear. If your saying that you turning wort to (good) drinkable beer in 15-18 days I for one wouldn't be interested in Your bmc type beer anyway....................my.02

 

[Yooper]

WTF...cold crashing and proper techniques take me to clear crisp beer in 3-7 days NEVER 3 months to get a beer to clear. If your saying that you turning wort to (good) drinkable beer in 15-18 days I for one wouldn't be interested in Your bmc type beer anyway....................my.02

My wort goes to drinkable beer in 15-18 days, and most brewpubs also have a quick turnaround. I do not filter, though.

No need to be insulting because someone does things differently. This is a forum. We all can do things differently and not be wrong.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

WTF...cold crashing and proper techniques take me to clear crisp beer in 3-7 days NEVER 3 months to get a beer to clear. If your saying that you turning wort to (good) drinkable beer in 15-18 days I for one wouldn't be interested in Your bmc type beer anyway....................my.02

Man you called it. Clearly my beer is "bmc type beer" and inferior because I choose to filter.

Filtering is just another tool brewers have in their arsenal, some choose to use it, others dont...no big deal. I like my beers to look like the commercial examples of the style, and I really like to be able to transport my kegs with zero chance of stirring up sediment. Both are advantages to filtering that make it worth it for me.

P.S. I challenge you to drop a carboy that used Kolsch or Belgian Trappist type yeast brilliantly clear in 3-7 days!!