Solid Separation

[John Henry]

Thank you for reviewing my post. I'm trying to find a way to separate solids from my mash before adding to a direct fire beer still to minimize the burn on the bottom of the still. If I had a washing machine type apparatus I could spin the wash and thereby remove the solids from the wash. Do you have any ideas on how to best do this and/ or current equipment out there to handle this sort of need?

[doubleD]

Thank you for reviewing my post. I'm trying to find a way to separate solids from my mash before adding to a direct fire beer still to minimize the burn on the bottom of the still. If I had a washing machine type apparatus I could spin the wash and thereby remove the solids from the wash. Do you have any ideas on how to best do this and/ or current equipment out there to handle this sort of need?

you can buy a solids separator through vendome. talk to rob sherman. we use one with a sparger. the separator is very effective. the sparger is weak. you will need a pump to push everything through.

[DrewKulsveen]

There's a couple of ways you could do this without straining the mash.

The hard way--Get a wooden paddle and stir the mash until it heats up enough to start agitating itself.

The easy way--buy an agitator that will stir the solids for you. If your still doesn't have a blind flange where it can mount to you can either have someone add one or buy a clamp on style agitator that will mount to the manway.

For straining the mash you could put a mesh screen in the bottom of your fermenter where liquid could travel through but not the solids and pump out of the bottom of your fermenter. If you chose this route you may have to get a paddle to move the solids around when they start to inhibit the liquid flow so that the liquid can pass through.

[Denver Distiller]

What kind of solids are we talking about?

[porter]

What kind of solids are we talking about?

Also, what quantity of wash are you handling?

[Spirits Review]

One admittedly exotic method I know to remove solids is a centrifuge.

The Boys at Frederic Brewing got one at an industrial auction from a pharmaceutical company fairly cheap (and yes this was a high speed and volume job). You could dial it up or down from absolutely clear to whatever level you liked ( semi turbid for example a wheat beer). They loved that thing and it worked well for them.

[Max Action]

One admittedly exotic method I know to remove solids is a centrifuge.

I believe that's the washing machine apparatus the original poster was inquiring about. I'm looking at a couple used models, but they're in the $10-15K range. And that's with no warranty or customer service of any sort.

[SteveH]

Thank you for reviewing my post. I'm trying to find a way to separate solids from my mash before adding to a direct fire beer still to minimize the burn on the bottom of the still. If I had a washing machine type apparatus I could spin the wash and thereby remove the solids from the wash. Do you have any ideas on how to best do this and/ or current equipment out there to handle this sort of need?

Hey John,

There are many ways to separate the solids but the easiest, most efficient is a mash tun. You can use this tank to convert your mash, then run off to your fermenter. The tank has a false bottom which will separate the solids and it has a door on the side to rake out the solids after you have completed the runoff. Once the grain has converted the solids have no more to add to your product, they are just taking up space.

I am an equipment manufacture and have been making tuns and kettles for quite some time now, so give a call if you would like to discuss this in more detail. Steve Hambly 503-407-8514

[jwymore]

Sorry to bring back an old thread but is anyone using a wine press to separate out solids?