Whole House Filters for Wine Making

[ibglowin]

I recently purchased a Whole House Filter setup for filtering my wines from a third party source since FVW doesn't sell them.

I ordered a 1 Micron filter for polishing my wine and was a little shocked at the $12.50 price.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I found an online source for the exact same filter for as low as $4.28 each if you set up an auto ship renewal with them. You can even do 1 filter every 6 mo or whatever.

Shipping was very reasonable as well.

PM me for more details. Here is a link to the Filters

 

[Runningwolf]

Mike that is good but if you had the Enolmatic, filters are $45-$60 and reusable over and over saving you money. Also I think certain filters would be easier to find also such as the .45 and .25 micron filters.

 

[ibglowin]

I was planning on trying to reuse these if possible. Maybe Rich will pipe in with some real world experience with these. They may have the smaller ones as well, I just wasn't interested in them ATM.

 

[Runningwolf]

I either store mine in a k-meta/citric acid solution in a 3" capsule I made out of pvc or store them dry on a long pegboard hook. I made the deadly mistake of putting it back in the original wrapping after letting it dry for a week. I went to use the next time and it was covered in mold. Very costly lesson.

 

[ibglowin]

I was thinking about trying to freeze one after using it. I need to have some back ups on hand though just in case!

 

[ibglowin]

I did do a "wet run" this weekend.

Dry run seemed to be pointless!

Ran 6 gallons of H2O transfer from carboy to carboy with filter in place.

Took less than 10 min. No leaks. Made a few tweaks and tightened things up a notch.

You need to shut off the pump as soon as it runs out of fluid otherwise your just sucking air right in and through your juice!

 

[Runningwolf]

I was thinking about trying to freeze one after using it. I need to have some back ups on hand though just in case!

...and create ice wine

 

[PeterZ]

How much wine do you lose trapped in the filter?

 

[Runningwolf]

I feel very little in the enolmatic. There is maybe a half a cup left in the filter housing and I always bottle that also in the last/test bottle. Peter, I honestly can't tell beyond that what is still in the filter but I know it is very minimal.

 

[ibglowin]

Agreed, although I haven't used it on wine yet, I could get the volume in the housing down to about a cup or slightly less.

That could be my left over glass for tasting for sure.

The filter material is a tightly spun polypropylene. PP is not really all that absorbent and when I was done I was actually amazed at just how light the filter was in comparison to one of the paper vinbrites after running a batch through it.

 

[grapeman]

If you are filtering good clear wine, you can do about 30 gallons before they start to slow down. The filter housing has a button on it that will allow the wine to drain the last little while to about empty. When you shut it down, the filter will drain out about a cup at the end like Mike says. I just bottle it with a funnel, it is clean wine.


To clean, I rinse it off inside and out and run a couple gallons of clean water through it. I then put about a cup of cleaning strength k-meta in the filter housing and put the filter in it. The fumes keep it clean until the next use. I then run some k-meta through the filter setup then some clean water to clear the lines out. Dump what is left in it and then start filtering.


The supply you list is the one I use also Mike - much cheaper and the identical filters as the more expensive ones. I don't see how the enolmatic could figure cheaper than this since you can get multiple uses out of each folter and they are 1/10 the cost of the enolmatic. It has been a good viable option for me to do a moderate amount of wine filtering. I keep 5,2,1 and .35 micron filters on hand.

 

[AlFulchino]

"How much wine do you lose trapped in the filter?"

none...you drink it

 

[Runningwolf]

Rich it sounds like you are doing the same thing as I'm doingmaintaining the filters. What I did not know was the fact that you could reuse the house filters. I thought you were doing large amounts of wine then tossing them. Thats good to hear.

 

[grapeman]

I tried to clean and store dry. It did not work. The filter got specs of mold growing on it. As long as you keep healthy S02 levels in the filter body, the filter stays clean. If I do a large batch (50 plus gallons at a time), the filter begins to slow down. If I have more to do within a couple days, it clean the filter, treat with k-meta and then reuse it for a few small batches. No sense on beating yourself up too much for the five buck cost of a new filter. It goes faster anyways when new.

 

[Runningwolf]

I wish mine was only specks of mold. Mine was covered. I now keep the filters totally submersed in solution of kmeta and citric acid.

 

[Randoneur]

I'm thinking about getting a filter setup for my next bottling. I've seen a lot of discussion about filter pore size and have a few questions. This might be a good option for me because I do all of my bottling in a few weeks time during the summer following harvest. I could buy one set of fresh filters each year.


Now for my questions?
Do you tandem filter at bottling or do you do progressive filtrations as you rack? If so, what pore sizes?
For fine filtering do you use different filter pore size for white vs. red?
0.43 for red???
0.2 for white???

 

[ibglowin]

I will let Rich or Dan answer that one. I plan on only "polishing" with 1 micron filters.
If you have multiple batches ready you can do them all (if same color, don't filter red, then white or you will end up with a few bottles of rose for sure!)

 

[Runningwolf]

My wine is clear and sediment free when I filter. With that being said I filter and bottle at the same time. I usually only use a 1 micron for both red and white and .45 for my ice wine.

 

[Runningwolf]

Dang Mike has quicker fingers then myself! Yes I agree with him on starting with your lighter wines first then going to the darker reds for obvious reasons. I open the canister in between wines and dump out what in the bottom of it (1/2-1 cup) and add the to a bottle with a funnel and then just start the next batch without rinsing the filter.

 

[grapeman]

I use the 1 micron filter most. So far I only have one filter body, but you can get two and put them in tandem going from say a 2 to a 1 or from a 1 to a .35 or .45 filter. It depends on the wine and if you want it sterile filtered or not.





Sorry for the quick answer although not timely. I have been to two funerals today (including Mom)for family and am wiped out.