cmuench
Well-Known Member
Your find of a filter housing seems very good. The body looks very similar to the one I used but the cap looks a little less beefy however I cant imagine how that would matter. When I was looking I could not find any 1/4 NPT ported housing with a release valve and that where clear, so very nice find.
All the literature I have seen suggest filter at 5 micron and then optionally at 1 micron which is called a finishing filter. I am unware of any links I posted advocating for only using 1 micron filters. Both instructions manuals I posted follow the 5 then 1 micron system. Depending on style and most importantly the amount of sediment you suck of the bottom of your carboy you might be able to get away with just a 1 micron filter, particularly if you use a hop bag and do 5 gallon batches. The concern with going directly to a 1 micron filter is that the filter clogs to easily then you increase the pressure and the filter collapses. When the filter clogs pressure obviously builds up on the filters surface. Success with just a 1 micron filter will of course depend a great deal on the quality of the filter you use. The filter source I recommend are notably thicker then other filters I have seen and thus less likely to collapse.
If you just want to do a 1 stage system I suggest using a 5 micron filter. The 5 micron does the vast majority of the work. Here is a quick summery of the micron size differences
"The 5.0 micron filter gets rid of any sediment in your beer. The 1.0 micron filter gives you a brilliantly clear beer. And the 0.5 micron filter enables you to eliminate almost all chill haze from your brilliantly clear beer."
I filter 15 gal single pass through a 1 micron nominal (I believe this means it's close to 1 micron maybe bigger maybe smaller. Versus absolute which is what it says) pleated filter. I reuse the filter several times until it no longer looks clean.
I pressure ferment in a sankey. What I recommend doing is crash cooling for a couple of days to allow the yeast to settle out. Then pour off the first pint or two off the bottom which is all yeast. Then filter.
A 5 micron filter will not filter out yeast and my beer wasn't as clear as I wanted it.