What to use as filter before plate chiller

[supercooper]

I was just wondering what other folks use to filter trub or hop material prior to passig wort through a plate chiller. I currently use a false bottom on my kettle, with a stainless scourer beneath that covering the bottom outlet.
I still get small bits passing into the PC.
Would a small stainless strainer work?
Like this
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewit ... 0969815210

I think it may block too easily. I've read a post somewhere saying that theirs needed back flushing half way through chilling. Not good

Any ideas?

 

[Aleman]

I use a LARGE stainless strainer, I'm going to change to #40 mesh instead of #30 just to stop really fine particles (<.4mm) getting through

 

[Runwell-Steve]

I use one of them Y strainers. I just have a standard copper pipe hop filter in my boiler. It has never blocked up yet.

 

[markmark]

I have overlayed #40 mesh on the false bottom of my boiler.
There are several stainless screws which serve to keep the false bottom off the floor of the boiler. I made small holes in the mesh at the appropriate points and used the screws to keep the mesh in place.

 

[supercooper]

Thanks for the ideas. How big are the holes on the #30 and #40 mesh? The y strainer I've seen has 1mm mesh, which may be too large to stop the bits that might end up stuck inside the plate chiller.
I enquired about a proper pump protection strainer, with wire wedge basket, but cost was well over £200. There is a good one on an American site:
http://www.brewershardware.com/FILTER1.html
But again, it's too expensive.
The mesh is .5mm on the std american strainer, with additional mesh covers. That got me thinking that the #40 mesh might work. Just not sure how small the holes are?

 

[Aleman]

#30 mesh is just over 0.5mm and #40 mesh is just over 0.4mm . . . well on the mesh that I use it is

 

[Vossy1]

For the cheapest option overlay your existing manifold, if you don't have one make a hop stopper. Info on mesh sizes can be found here, most plate chillers recommend filtration to 0.5mm or less due to the gap between the plates. This is a copper manifold overlaid with mesh I use in my smaller 50ltr boiler

Another design from many years ago

 

[djcorbetto]

Could we not use something like an external water filter?

 

[Bridgewater Brewer]

I simply use a stainless steel pan scourer stuffed into some 22mm tube. Works great and is very cheap. I change scourer every brew. Cheap and simple.

 

[Vossy1]

Could we not use something like an external water filter?

I've done that too :lol: ,used it on this thread :thumb:
You can see the initial version I made on this pic, a 12" housing, I now use the 6" Pentek housing due to lower retention volume.

This is the interior, initially covered by tight material, now stainless mesh.

 

[31bb3]

I use a normal ss hop filter on my boiler then I have a small filter a bit like a tap washer with fine mesh in the centre only cost a couple of quid and fit directly onto the inlet side of the plate chiller then then held in by the hose connector works a treat in not slightly to efficient as it slows the run otf down a lot but it does stop any little particles getting into the chiller

 

[supercooper]

Lots of interesting ideas there. I am now more determined than ever to sort this one out.
I had the worst brewday ever today. I've been planning today's brew for weeks, my first lager. (Pilsner Urquell, so strictly speaking a Pilsner). The starter has been stepped up 3 times, and everything ready to go. At the last 15 mins, I started to recirculate through the plate chiller and hop rocket to sanitise everything, when the pump stopped pumping. Disaster. After several attempts to fix the problem, I worked out that it was being starved, so the only solution was to drain the whole kettle and take out the stainless scourer that i use under the false bottom to filter the worst trub before it gets into the hop rocket and plate chiller.
By the time is done that, the wort had sat hot for close to an hour.
I had to re boil it for 15 mins to sanitise everything again, and add more hops for flavour.
I probably added another 15 IBU to the planned 40.
I'll have to see how it turns out, but had to make a go of it, I wasn't going to throw it away. I lost 8 litres, and ended up with 38 in the fermenters.

I think the best idea is to overlay the false bottom with #40 mesh.

You learn from your mistakes, but I'd rather learn from a forum.
:grin:

 

[Fil]

im pretty sure the beer will both survive and be a grand pint.

hops themselves make a grand trub filter once given a 15-20 min period to settle over your filter.

perhaps it might be worth considering sanitising the pump and chiller independently from the kettle and beer, either with a small boiling water recirculation station (kettle element box n plumbing) or soaking in a santising no rinse solution such as starsan or videne. then you can allow the hops to settle and form the natural filterbed.

it also helps to open the drain valve slowley and not just closed to fully open in one, as that can help avoid a glut caused by a big initial suck.

good luck for the next batch

 

[supercooper]

im pretty sure the beer will both survive and be a grand pint.

hops themselves make a grand trub filter once given a 15-20 min period to settle over your filter.

perhaps it might be worth considering sanitising the pump and chiller independently from the kettle and beer, either with a small boiling water recirculation station (kettle element box n plumbing) or soaking in a santising no rinse solution such as starsan or videne. then you can allow the hops to settle and form the natural filterbed.

it also helps to open the drain valve slowley and not just closed to fully open in one, as that can help avoid a glut caused by a big initial suck.

good luck for the next batch

Fil, I like the idea of separate sanitation. I've been using star San for ages, and I sometimes do run the chiller and pipe work for 10 mins recirculating a star San solution.
I've just bought a mag coupled pump from mr lard , so I've been trying it out in lots of variations, and pumping boiling wort for 15 mins was one of the tests. But before I can fully test it, I need to sort out the filtration.
I drain the kettle from the bottom, so it's hard to filter out the trub. I like the idea of a fine mesh over my false bottom, this will give me a bigger surface area to use as a filter bed. The hops should help, sat above this and working as a course filter, adding flavour as an added bonus.
My false bottom is an oxo frying pan guard. If I could work out how to add a bleddy photo, I could show you, it sounds a bit Heath Robinson, but it's a really good idea I saw on a US forum.
I'll just have to see how the pilsner turns out. It might be amazing, but I'd never manage to repeat it!!! :pray: