Is a filter necessary in a dip tube?

[kohalajohn]

I have some of the standard dip tubes, picture below, and need to buy a few more.

I ferment and package in corny kegs.

Which is "best"? There are filter boxes to add, and FLOTit makes some nice ones, evidently.

But really, is a filter necessary? My simple system seems to work. And a filter is just another thing to clean.

 

[mac_1103]

Mine all have them, but the short answer is "no." There are even a couple of transfer scenarios where it could potentially be a negative. Lot's of people love the FLOTit 2 design.

 

[wdavis2003]

Go with the Flotit 2.0. You'll be happy you did

 

[Indian_villager]

It is completely conditional on your process. If you are dryhopping in keg or have fruit chunks you are going to want a screen. If you are racking dryhopped beers in without some sort of screen between the ferementer and keg, you'll want a screen. If you just have mostly clear beer and some yeast, you are good to go as is.

 

[Broken Crow]

Do you put a weight on the tube? I ferment in Fermonsters and Sankes and while you can easily predict a float ball binding up in a sanke on one of the ridges, it still happens in the smooth-sided Fermonster on occasion if left without a weight on the hose...Once I added the filter, it provided enough weight that it never stuck above the liquid. Note: not all available floats fit inside the mouth of a sanke, so I use a Flotit 2.0 in that. Weight aside though:

I ferment and package in corny kegs.

Does 'package' mean serve from the fermenter in a kegerator or keezer or bottle? In either event, I go with 'better safe than crud in my beer' and use a filter, but I bring it up because if you're transferring to a second keg for serving then the serving keg needn't even have a floating diptube as long as you're transfering clear beer.

 

[kohalajohn]

BC, I just ordered a FLOTit 2.0

I both ferment and package in corny kegs

But I have my answer. For what I do, I think I'll slowly migrate over to FLOTit.

Thanks, all

 

[Broken Crow]

package

?

 

[Bramling Cross]

I used to use the spherical floaters. Weighted and cut to the correct length they work pretty good. Unfortunately, I had one that kept pulling cloudy beer for much longer than usual and I couldn't figure out why. Eventually I realized that the float was unusually heavy. That's when the penny dropped: the braze(?) that connects both hemispheres of the float had leaked and filled with beer. Yuck! Fortunately, I already had a couple of Flotits in my kegs, so I just transitioned the rest of my kegs.

As for the filter screen, I find it invaluable when I use a keg as a dry hopping keg. You can throw a quarter pound of pellet hops at the Flotit 2.0 and it'll shrug them off. It's also useful for UK ales that require keg hops. I do not ferment in a keg, so I cannot remark on that topic. I do, however, think the Flotit 2.0 (while spendy) is a fair deal and it works out of the box without need for weights, you just have to cut the tube to the appropriate length. I've never had one hang up part way through the keg. They do their job and they do it well.

 

[kohalajohn]

?

The "package" means a corny. I ferment in a corny, then do a cold crash and a closed transfer to a second corny for serving. This second serving corny goes in a kegerator

 

[kohalajohn]

I used to use the spherical floaters. Weighted and cut to the correct length they work pretty good. Unfortunately, I had one that kept pulling cloudy beer for much longer than usual and I couldn't figure out why. Eventually I realized that the float was unusually heavy. That's when the penny dropped: the braze(?) that connects both hemispheres of the float had leaked and filled with beer. Yuck! Fortunately, I already had a couple of Flotits in my kegs, so I just transitioned the rest of my kegs.

As for the filter screen, I find it invaluable when I use a keg as a dry hopping keg. You can throw a quarter pound of pellet hops at the Flotit 2.0 and it'll shrug them off. It's also useful for UK ales that require keg hops. I do not ferment in a keg, so I cannot remark on that topic. I do, however, think the Flotit 2.0 (while spendy) is a fair deal and it works out of the box without need for weights, you just have to cut the tube to the appropriate length. I've never had one hang up part way through the keg. They do their job and they do it well.

BC, how do you determine the appropriate length to cut the FLOTit tube?

 

[Bramling Cross]

BC, how do you determine the appropriate length to cut the FLOTit tube?

You want the Flotit to rest on the bottom of the keg with a slight bow in the tubing, not a big arc. To do this, I install the Flotit's spear in the keg without the tubing attached. Next, I attach the float to the tubing and reach into the keg and hold the tubing against the spear while feeding out or taking in tubing until it looks about right. Holding the tubing in my hand at that point, I remove the tubing from the keg and cut it at that point, usually cutting it a bit on the long side. At this point you can stick the float with the attached tubing back into the keg and slip the tubing onto the spear. Finally, you confirm the length of your tube and trim a bit more off, if necesssary.

I'll post a picture to this thread when I tear down a keg. It might be a week or two before that happens.

 

[mac_1103]

You want the Flotit to rest on the bottom of the keg with a slight bow in the tubing, not a big arc.

People should follow this rule with all floating dip tubes, not just the FLOTit. Leaving extra tubing is just an invitation for the float to get hung up.

 

[kohalajohn]

Good to know. In the basic kegland one I have, I assumed it came in the correct length. I now see it is far too long.

Also, now that I know what a pain it is to connect the kegland tube, with your hand inside the keg and reaching up blindly, I am delighted to see the FLOATit solves that problem. Now I can disassemble and give it a proper clean.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Good to know. In the basic kegland one I have, I assumed it came in the correct length. I now see it is far too long.

Also, now that I know what a pain it is to connect the kegland tube, with your hand inside the keg and reaching up blindly, I am delighted to see the FLOATit solves that problem. Now I can disassemble and give it a proper clean.

The Floatit certainly isn't cheap, but it is a rare instance in which you actually get what you pay for.

 

[Climb]

@Bramling Cross : When you use a floating dip tube with a sanke, are you using the sanke spear? If so how do you connect the two? If you are not using the sanke spear, what’s your sanke setup? Has the sanke been modified? Pictures please!

 

[govner1]

I have the Clear Beer system in about half of my kegs (14) and dip tube filters on the rest. The Clear Beer systems are very reliable and you can add an additional filter if needed.

 

[Broken Crow]

@Bramling Cross : When you use a floating dip tube with a sanke, are you using the sanke spear? If so how do you connect the two? If you are not using the sanke spear, what’s your sanke setup? Has the sanke been modified? Pictures please!

1/ Sanke with NO spear
2/ either a steady hand with a blade to cut the ridge off of one side of a 2" TC gasket or; https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tc2gksingle.htm
3/ shortcut and just buy one of these: https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/sankeball.htm
3B/ build your own that has no PRV but does allow less-resticted blow-off: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...-fit-it-to-fermonster-sankey-whatever.704064/ NOTE: that thread has both a version for a Fermonster and one on a 2" TC for a sanke, but I made the thing to be a universal attachment that could be put on just about any fermenter.
Another note: Most of the available float balls do not fit through the lid of a sanke, but the Flotit does.
Oh...and I did cobble together a version that would work with a 2"TC hop-bong, but I haven't tried it;
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...uring-dry-hopping.733425/page-2#post-10393417

 

[Climb]

I was hoping that you were using the sanke spear and figured out an ingenious way to connect a floating dip tube to the spear. I don't have any pin lock or ball lock connectors or posts in my setup and want to stay away from them just to keep things simpler. I do everything with sanke kegs, sanke spears and D couplers. I have ptc connectors on the couplers that allow me to use EVAbarrier tubing.

 

[kohalajohn]

My FLOTit arrived and is set up.

Ticket closed

 

[wdavis2003]

My FLOTit arrived and is set up.

Ticket closed

I'm opening the ticket back up. Let us know the pros and cons after you use it a bit

 

[kohalajohn]

Update. I have been using it. Very happy with it.

In fact it solved a problem this morning. I was trying to do a closed transfer from fermenter to serving keg. Everything was set up right for it, but I could not get the syphon going.

Finally I took up the liquid post and pulled out the metal pipe. This keg had not yet been moved over to FLOTit. It still had the pipe running to the floor.

And the pipe was packed with trub and yeast.

I removed it, replaced it with a FLOTit and then it transferred just fine.

I am in the process of transferring all my kegs to FLOTit.

The only cons I can think of is the p;rice. But it's a fair price for what you get. Also at one point when I was washing out a keg, the filter slipped off the tube. But to be fair, I should have removed the whole dip tube before washing up and banging it around.

I suppose I could say that with the thin pipe the syphon flow was slow. But I'm always busy doing things, so that's not an issue for me. I prefer to have the thin pipe, so it slips through the keg opening from the top.

So yeah. Big fan.

As someone who came back to brewing from the eighties, I feel like Cap America, unthawed from ice and constantly amazed at this modern world. Floating dip tubes. Spunding valves. Refractometers. The Internet. Goodness, I don't know whether to clean a keg or wind my watch.

 

[wdavis2003]

Update. I have been using it. Very happy with it.

In fact it solved a problem this morning. I was trying to do a closed transfer from fermenter to serving keg. Everything was set up right for it, but I could not get the syphon going.

Finally I took up the liquid post and pulled out the metal pipe. This keg had not yet been moved over to FLOTit. It still had the pipe running to the floor.

And the pipe was packed with trub and yeast.

I removed it, replaced it with a FLOTit and then it transferred just fine.

I am in the process of transferring all my kegs to FLOTit.

The only cons I can think of is the p;rice. But it's a fair price for what you get. Also at one point when I was washing out a keg, the filter slipped off the tube. But to be fair, I should have removed the whole dip tube before washing up and banging it around.

I suppose I could say that with the thin pipe the syphon flow was slow. But I'm always busy doing things, so that's not an issue for me. I prefer to have the thin pipe, so it slips through the keg opening from the top.

So yeah. Big fan.

As someone who came back to brewing from the eighties, I feel like Cap America, unthawed from ice and constantly amazed at this modern world. Floating dip tubes. Spunding valves. Refractometers. The Internet. Goodness, I don't know whether to clean a keg or wind my watch.

This is exactly what I use it for. I have one Flotit 2.0 and I use it in the fermenter. Doesn't matter what's in the bottom of the fermenter it's never been clogged. All my server kegs I use the standard floating dip tube with the ball and/or filter.