First Filtration with Plate Filter

Kegging and Tasting

First Filtration with Plate Filter

After a week of staring at it, I finally got the nerve to filter my new IPA with the new 40x40 plate filter.  Well, since I never used a plate filter, I did a considerable amount of thinking and tweaking the week before.

Upon giving it a critical eye, I realized why I got such a good deal on it - it was totally homemade.  But that's ok.  The main parts that needed to be sound were the plates - which they were - all but one of the endplates.

First, I didn't need to filter with all 25 plates, so I needed to modify it down to about 3-4 as I was only doing a half barrel.  Second, one of the endplates was rigged - it wasn't appropriately sealed.  I was warned this was a source of leakage.  I attempted to seal it up with silicon.  There was also a spigot on the drain end that leaked.

It DID end up filtering FAST.  We did lose about 2 gallons via leakage but now that I know what I'm dealing with, I'm confident that I can fix them.

I do have to thank my wife.  Without her, I never would have filtered.  I kept upping the pressure on the fermentor and nothing would come out of the filter...then she asks, "Why is that valve closed?"  #$^#%&.  I opened it and it came out fast.  As it should.  All-in-all, it was a success.  It filtered 'mostly clear' though I knew the Pall pads that came with it were a little coarse.  I just wanted a reference point.