Filtration gear pros and cons

[BarrelMonkey]

I think this a might be the year I invest in a filtration setup for my wine, and would be interested to hear opinions and feedback from those of you who have such systems. In general I can see myself filtering between 5-30 gal at a time. As I see it, my options are as follows:

- Integrated commercial cartridge filter (eg Enolmatic), can filter inline with bottling machine so fewer transfers. Downside: filters are expensive (but reusable?) and if they clog then the whole bottling operation is disrupted. (I don't have an Enolmatic bottling machine yet, but that's also on this year's winery wish list )

- Standalone (commercial) cartridge filter with (cheaper) 10” cartridges (eg Fermtech ‘Mini 2’. Supposed to filter up to 6 (1 filter) or 18 gal (2 filters) per run, which may be OK but is on the low end of what volume I might want to do in one go.

- Homemade cartridge filter (10” water filter housing with filter). Least expensive option, could maybe use my existing pump - but will require some fiddling and assembly. Not sure what the capacity of such a sytem would be, can anyone comment?

- Plate and frame filter (eg Buon Vino Super Jet, Fermtech ‘Super Colombo’). Higher capacity but is there more loss and air exposure with plate and frame?

Any other ideas welcome, of course!

 

[Rice_Guy]

* plate and frame filters have pads which do not filter exact. They will leak some particles above nominal cut off. ,,, Is sterile filtering important?
* cartridge filters can give absolute cut off at 0.45 micron. Sterile cartridges are expensive. Polysulfone should not be frozen for storage but can be stored in alcohol. Cartridges can be back flushed to clean.
* All filters will clog faster with a high delta P (pressure differential). ,,, Slowing filter rate increases potential yield. With fairly clean wine I can polish twenty gallons with a mini jet/ #3 pad. With turbid poorly settled wine I can clog at a gallon. ,,, I mostly filter contest wine and will run a white > a rose > a red without breaking down and changing pads. I can freeze pads for storage. Case price (200) for BonVino pads is about $.75, there is a lot of store markup.
* Plumbing a filter isn’t hard. ,,, all filters have a void volume. To minimize oxidation hoses and filters can be flushed with nitrogen. If this is a concern then also flush the product tank and put gas on the feed tank ullage.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

* plate and frame filters have pads which do not filter exact. They will leak some particles above nominal cut off. ,,, Is sterile filtering important?

I think even if I wanted to sterile filter, it's difficult to do as a home winemaker and kinda pointless unless you can also sterilize your bottling line... I'm viewing this more as a way to give some sparkle to (mostly) white wines that aren't completely clear after time, gravity and (maybe) fining agents have done their stuff...

 

[Jim Welch]

With all due respect Mr Barrel Monkey, I've ZERO experience in filtering but have to ask you why filter?
Are you having excessive sediment problems? I've only made wine from grapes and given time have no problem making clear wine w/o filtering or fining for that matter.

I know you are looking for filtering advice but you do solicit that "Any other ideas welcome"

 

[Jim Welch]

OK, I see

 

[BarrelMonkey]

With all due respect Mr Barrel Monkey, I've ZERO experience in filtering but have to ask you why filter?

LOL when I first drafted this post I had a final option which was basically what you say... just forget it and save time and money

 

[StimVino]

I have the Enolmatic tandem filter and bottling machine and like it. Downside (like you said) is the cost of the filters, which are about $90/ea. I make between 500-1000 bottles per year, so generally adds about $0.72 per bottle, if I replace all 4 filter sizes each year - which I typically dont. Generally speaking, i use the 5.0 or 1.0 micron for reds and 0.5 or 0.2 micron for fruit wines and whites. Most of the time I use it in conjunction with botteling as a last step. But, I also started doing filter racks to speed up the clearing process. Never had an issue until this year with pineapple. The pineapple appeared to have cleared in carboy with some sediment at the bottom. I was being lazy and tried to take it right to filter/bottle without racking one last time and ended up pulling sediment through the 0.5 micron filter, which can happen if you overload it and the filter pores clog. My pineapple label is now going to say ‘unfiltered’. I do reuse these filters (probably longer than I should) and I dont mix reds with whites. I also store them in open air on my wine rack shelf. I put one back in the box once and it got moldy after a few months. I always sterilize these with a Kmeta bath before using and let dry overnight.