Using Water Filters to Filter Beer

[Chugmaster]

I am looking to filter beer - not looking to debate its merits here.

Is there a difference between a 10" water filter housing and a 10" beer filter housing?

I've seen the systems at Midwest and Austin Homebrew and I'm wondering if a regular Home Depot water system will do the same thing.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

[twalte]

Subscribed and interested in possibility

I use the whole house filter (with the carbon insert) for my brewing water. Interested to see if it could be used to filter beer. I know that there are different micron levels, and you could put hops in the center of the filter during the transfer to add some dry hop to the transfer.

 

[cupido76]

I don't know anything about the designated beer filter systems you're refering to, but my home water filter always ends up having a fair amount of bubbles flowing in and around the filter housing when I'm running my water... I would be worried about oxidation under those conditions.

 

[Varmintman]

I suppose you could but how would you clean it after you used it. Seems like it would be a once use sort of deal

 

[Chugmaster]

The beer systems work on a keg to keg system pushed by co2.

If you purged the entire system, then there wouldn't be any oxygen.

Regadless, my only question is whether there's any difference between the Midwest/Austin "beer" plastic filter housing and the Home Depot "water" plastic housing.

 

[maf58d]

I have been using one I bought from home depot for most of my beers. I also bought a box of 100 filters from a filter store in Georgia fairly low cost. I keg and filter from keg to cleaned and co2 flushed keg, no oxygen in system to oxygenate. I often flush filter and housing with starzan from a keg I am sanitizing, purge with another sanitized and co2 flushed keg back into sanitizer filled keg, then I am ready to filter beer, usually 2 to 4 kegs at a time. After filtering, I throw away the filter, wash out the housing, then flush it out with starzan, and leave it with co2 pressure. ------Mark F.------

 

[Halbrust]

I think you'll have to contact the manufacturers for details. Getting actual part numbers from AHB or wherever and then searching the manufacturers website would be best/easiest.
I would not be surprised if you find the manufacturers call them water filters.

 

[Chugmaster]

Thanks maf58d for the info. If you're having success with the HD system, then I'm going to try that route instead of buying something for "beer."

Is yours a "whole house" system or an "under the tap" system?

 

[LandoLincoln]

Regardless, my only question is whether there's any difference between the Midwest/Austin "beer" plastic filter housing and the Home Depot "water" plastic housing.

Little to none. The beer filter kit my brew buddy bought (don't remember where he ordered it from) basically just came with two whole-house water filters plus hoses with fittings to get everything connected. We could have bought the parts from Home Depot ourselves. But it was nice that they went through the trouble of putting all of the hoses together for us. We paid for that convenience, of course.

 

[Chugmaster]

That's what I thought. Thanks for the first-hand knowledge.

 

[maf58d]

Yes, they are just finished out with hoses and connecters on the brew supply store offerings. I was using 2 filters in line but saw no real need for a primary one as the secondary one could handle it all. I use a whole house filter with the clear bowl, it is good to see when your filter is about stopped up. I bought filters from H2O distributors in Georgia, .05 micron nominal. It was not 100 filters, but 100 dollars to get free shipping, was 34, looked up invoice. ------ Mark F. ------