Pumping wine through a Vinbrite filter

[lancsfirepro]

I find filtering wine a bit time consuming but wasn't prepared to pay about £150 for a Buon Vino mini jet filter. I decided to try and add a pump to my Vinbrite filter and was pretty impressed with the results. Can pass 23 litres of wine through a Crystalbrite pad in under 8 minutes.
Hope someone finds this useful

 

[Chippy_Tea]

A great video :thumb:

The subject of filtering wine comes up here occasionally and one member always says filtering can strip out flavour having never been instructed to filter in any kit i have made i wonder if this is the case.

.

 

[lancsfirepro]

Don't think the filters are that fine to be honest. They just pull out the last bits of dead yeast and other small bits of crap in there. Taste-wise I'm not sure you'd tell the difference if you were careful to rack the wine properly, but I like it looking as clear and bright as possible. I carbonate it in pop bottles afterwards. :)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I like it looking as clear and bright as possible.

It certainly does the trick.

 

[suffolkbeer]

Never made wine so this might be a silly question.....

Is there any potential problems from oxidation of the wine? I know it’s a potential problem when racking beer and wondered if wine was the same?

 

[lancsfirepro]

I’ve made these kits for about 3-4 years, usually one a month. Never had a bad batch yet, they’re pretty robust.
I did a series of videos for a few friends who were interested in the kits and what gear they would need. They should play in a playlist. If you are interested, this is the first one

 

[LED_ZEP]

I've never filtered wine and I've yet to have one that hasn't turned out crystal clear given between 1 to 2 weeks. I did have one with a bit of a stubborn haze but even that cleared totally after about 4 weeks.

 

[lancsfirepro]

There’s clear... and there’s clear. I can tell the difference. If you’re happy as is, thats great. This was posted for those that use a vinbrite filter really.
4 weeks? Lol, i’d have dunk it by then and moved onto the next one.

 

[110ben]

Love the idea of a pump as i always filter my wine as i like it to be as clear as possible as well.
It also means i waste less at racking as a bit of sediment will get filtered out. I think the extra wine covers a lot of the cost of the pads though not all. Can i ask what make and model of pump you use please.

 

[lancsfirepro]

There’s a link to the ebay page under the video. These seem a pretty generic pump for homebrew use.
This is the label on it.

 

[BeerCat]

Great idea. Not a wine expert by any means but are you not oxidising the wine as it drips through the filter. Perhaps adding a tube would help. I avoid splashing my beer at all times apart from over myself. :)

 

[110ben]

Thanks lancsfirepro should be easy enough so will give it a go. One other quick question if you don't mind. Do you filter your wine twice using the vinbright green pads?

 

[lancsfirepro]

@BeerCat - Thats how the vinbrite is meant to be used. There’s no provision for fitting a tube on the underside, nothing mentioned in the instructions. Plus, I’ve been in contact with Harris Filters, the manufacturer about the pump and they’ve seen the video and not mentioned anything about another tube. As mentioned, I’ve never had an issue with oxidisation.

@110ben - No, I don’t use the prime pads (green). Wine from kits is usually clear after fining anyway. If you want a final polish then a crystalbrite pad is fine. The prime pad is for when your wine is a bit cloudy.

 

[110ben]

Thanks for your reply @lancsfirepro really informative. My only concern was whether the wine would be forced out of the housing between the blue bit and the white bit but it would be appear that all is good.
Will go ahead and order the bits. Thanks again

 

[lancsfirepro]

The white bit just clips onto the blue bit but that is after the filter so there is no pressure there. Any pressure is limited to the unfiltered side of the pad. Once its through the pad, the wine just flows out with gravity really.

 

[brumbrew]

I've still got grandads mk3.

Used only a few times. Mostly on root wines. Or mead.

 

[110ben]

@lancsfirepro Thanks for your help with this. Used for the first time today and really quick so saved loads of time. The only thing I did differently was to wire the pump via a 12v dimmer switch for ease of on and off.:UKflag:

 

[lancsfirepro]

Good stuff. Out of interest, does the dimmer actually alter the flow rate or are you just using it as a switch?

 

[110ben]

To be honest just used as a switch although i am pretty sure that the pitch of the motor changed. In theory should change the flow rate though. Here is a link to the one i used
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-24V-...290032&hash=item238f4fe315:g:UF0AAOSwroFZ06Fk

 

[lancsfirepro]

Cheap as chips. Glad it worked out for you.