Because I have a bunch of ripped up axons, I don't ususally do long detailed post. (too large a data-set
) I was preparing this for another thread, but this seems a more appropriate place for it;
First, let me get this off my chest; The de-facto 300-mesh filter:
When I was a kid in the 70’s in my dads shop, we had 300 mesh bazooka screens in the varsol parts-washer, the kerosene tank, the used oil & tranny-fluid reservoir, various steam/pressure washing rigs… It was just a standard filter you could buy at any hardware store. Later in life I found the same filter in various food. chemical and other industries. I suspect that earlier home brewers adopted it because it was readily available and for the most part it ‘worked’ and so the first suppliers of homebrew gear simply stuck with it. I personally don’t like it. I feel they are too coarse and have too little surface area, though on the other hand while they let a lot of hop particles through, it’s nothing the de-facto pumps can’t handle and though they may slow under a heavy load, they rarely (but sometimes) plug. Plate chillers, while the most efficient (as long as you didn’t get a small one) are something you want to keep an abundance of particulate matter out of. Even a CFC can plug with too much ‘mud’. Those of us who use either are often inclined to use a kettle filter, be it a bazooka, a HopStopper or one of those wrap-around springs. Like a minority on here, I chose, dictated by circumstance, to make my own kettle filter. I started on the stove top, lifting a bare pot and pouring trough a sieve on a funnel, but owing to disability I had to move on. For me, an indoor electric rig was the clear path to take but; on a super tight budget. I chose to build a keggle based system and my ‘new-brewer’ naiveté didn’t fully consider the deep concave bottom which dictated my diptube draw from the very centre. There’s no way to do this without a kettle filter if you use an external flow-through chiller. Since 300 mesh let too much matter through for my liking, I went with 420-mesh and dramatically increased the surface area and shaped it such that the underside would never lay flat on the keggle and even when the top is buried in trub there would still be flow underneath. I also used a SS wire ‘frame’ inside it to prevent it from collapsing under the weight. Very simple design of mesh sewn with 304SS thread:
View attachment 863964
Anyway… I still have ergonomic issues with my rig and have long been planning my next rig, a BIAB system. I have no experience with flat-bottomed kettle that include fittings and such, so I’m experiencing uncertainty regarding kettle filtration. I should probably add here, that since my main goal was to not plug my chiller and my secondary goal was less trub in the fermenter; I also had positioned my pump with the inlet just under the bottom of the keggle and above the CFC, added a thermometer to the output followed by a 3-way valve that fed either the recirculation port or the output to FV and used one of those big Tri-Clamp inline filters, post chiller:
With 58° groundwater and an approx 33’ CFC, if not whirl pooling hops, I can drop from boiling to pitching temp with my cold-water valve only 1/3 open and my kettle and pump valves open all the way. My ‘pillow-filter’ has no problem keeping up.
But finally to the point: I'm questioning wether I actually
need a filter in my kettle. My next rig is based mainly on
@Bobby_M 's BIAB package (
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/biabpackagepremium.htm ..which I would buy rather than build, but I'm dirt-poor and in Canada) I've intentionally tagged Bobby because I've read his many many posts on here and have the deepest respect for his scientifically and empirically solid designs and I can't help to have noticed he seems to have a dislike of such filters but still many satisfied award-winning users of his rigs.
I have a couple rolls of 400-mesh SS, some firm SS wire for a shape-sustaining frame, and some 304SS-thread to make my next filter, but I'm wondering if I should bother? Do we actually need filters in flat bottomed kettles?
