# Filtering



## MedPretzel (Mar 21, 2005)

Just wanted to see what the consensus was.


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## AAASTINKIE (Mar 22, 2005)

_have a filter, but have not used it, but may on my welches._


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## masta (Mar 22, 2005)

I used a gravity type filter on a few batches when I first started and found it was more trouble that it was worth....now I let settle time do the work!


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## MedPretzel (Mar 22, 2005)

Really? You thought it was more trouble than it was worth? I've got a gravity filter, and yes, although it takes longer than a mini-jet, but if it's clear enough, it goes thru pretty quickly.


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## masta (Mar 22, 2005)

To put it is better words...I have seen no need to filter any of the wines I have made over the past 3 years when using a fining agent and a long enough settle time.*Edited by: masta *


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## Hippie (Mar 22, 2005)

Remember,Scott has only made kit wines, right?


Scott, with any filter, no need to even try until the wine finishes settling after at least one more racking after the stabilizing rack. Those babies clog real quick.


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## MedPretzel (Mar 22, 2005)

How right you are, Glenvall. I did one, just as a test, 1-gallon of a very murky apple wine. It turned out crystal clear afterwards. I was impressed, but it took forever. 


I can get 5-6 gallons through the gravity filter (if it's clear to say it's ready for bottling) within a half an hour. I can just let it run when I'm doing other wine stuff.


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## Hippie (Mar 22, 2005)

Thats not bad timing. It takes 5 gallons of clear wine 15 minutes to go through #2 minijet pads.


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## MedPretzel (Mar 22, 2005)

I'm pretty pleased with it. Unfortunately, though, there are not that many different types (grades?) of filter pads for the Harris filters. At least I haven't really found them.


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## Hippie (Mar 22, 2005)

Only 3 for the minijet, but hardly anyone uses the #1's or #3's. I always use the #1's first, then the #2, if at all.


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## MedPretzel (Mar 22, 2005)

Which is the finer filter, 1 or 2?


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## Hippie (Mar 22, 2005)

With the minijet, #2. They have the filters numbered according to the order they should be used. I don't know about other filters.


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## MedPretzel (Mar 23, 2005)

I see. Wait I think we're on to something here. Let me post in the appropriate header.


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## greenbean (Mar 23, 2005)

Never have and don't care to. I like to let time and gravity do it's thing.





Chris


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## Maui Joe (Mar 24, 2005)

I concur with Chris.


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## Berrywine (Mar 27, 2005)

Never filter my wine , unless ya'll consider straining thru cheesecloth filtering.




berry


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## Hippie (Mar 27, 2005)

Yes, that would be a coarse filtering.


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## Berrywine (Mar 27, 2005)

I guess I'll have to change my vote to yes then.






berry


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## Hippie (Mar 27, 2005)

Oh, what the heck, call it straining!


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## Maui Joe (Mar 28, 2005)

Well, you're right CW, according to "Webster's, _"strain" means_to filter, or remove by filtering. _"Filtering"_ means, a device used to separate matter from a fluid by means of a "filter."






I_ guessBerry and Ishould change our vote.



_


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## Berrywine (Mar 28, 2005)

Since I found straining bags I don't need cheesecloth anymore!







berry


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## Hippie (Mar 28, 2005)

You mean straining bags for coarse filtering, Berry?


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## Berrywine (Mar 28, 2005)

sinceI found bags to put my pulp in, I don't strain as much.


berry*Edited by: Berrywine *


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## PolishWineP (Apr 3, 2005)

Like Berry,Bert &amp; Idon't filter but use bags for our pulps and let the process handle the rest. One of our early fruit wines, rhubarb, we ended up with a lot of sediment in the bottles. But, that was our own, inexperienced, impatientfault. We didn't use time and process to allow the wine to clear enough before bottling.



But experience has brought clarity to our minds and wines.


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## Hippie (Apr 3, 2005)

Welcome Princess!


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## Maui Joe (Apr 3, 2005)

Aloha Princess, welcome aboard!


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## MedPretzel (Apr 4, 2005)

Hello there, princess!





My family-in-law comes from Silesia and they're some wicked wine makers. I was very "indisposed" at the end of one of their family parties, because the wine was so good. It was a cherry wine. There was also an apricot wine floating around, but somehow, I don't remember tasting it.


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## Berrywine (Apr 11, 2005)

Howdy there Princess,


patience is trulythe hardest thing to learn about this hobby. 


i bulk age all my wines now for at least 6 months, racking every month or so... they clear on their quite well on their own... except for that darn pear






berry


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## jshuey (Apr 18, 2005)

I would think it depends on what you're making. Many fruit (country) wines have an almost unavoidable haze that will require either a light filter or gentle fining if you wish them to look "brilliant" in the glass.


Kit wines, on the other hand, seldom if ever require any fining or filtration...they are balanced to enable most nasty stuff to fall out over time.


I never filter my wines from grapes, but I make only "big" reds and they stay in bulk aging for up to two years before going into a bottle, and then usually a year in the bottle after that.


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## ticktock (May 6, 2005)

Could you use coffee filters?


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## Hippie (May 6, 2005)

I have used coffee filters, but they are very slow to drain through most of the time, which leads to more exposure to air and ultimately oxidation.


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## Maui Joe (May 6, 2005)

I agree with CW as well. I tried them once and it really takes too much time. They would probably work if they were concealed within some airtight gizzmo but I feel that you would be constantly changing the filters if they should hold up under pressure at all.


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