Straining Wash, what to use?

[biggmann]

I would like to strain my wash through something to make sure I get all the impurities out, I have seen mesh screens that fit over 5 gallon buckets but what micron size works best?

[shadylane]

I haven't a clue what the micron size of these bags are
But they work pretty good for squeezing the juice out of fermented corn mash
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-2-Pa ... on/1008387" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
For washes I'd recommend just letting the wash settle and racking it.

[greggn]

I'm not sure what you mean by "all impurities" but I use 600 micron strainers. I find them to be a reasonable compromise between filtering and speed.

[Bombo80]

I use the paint strainer bags as a final filter.

But when I have strained my all corn mash (cornmeal) I first use a larger opening fabric to keep back most of the big stuff. I actually went to a fabric store and got some polyester mosquito netting, and made a couple strainer bags to fit in my 7 gallon fermenters.

After I strain through that netting, I then pour the wash through one of the paint strainer bags. I also dump the leftover grains into the other paint strainer bag, and squeeze the grains in my fruit press. Or as many here use a mop bucket and wringer, to squeeze the leftover grains. The liquid I get off the fruit press I dump through the other bag as another filter, and because I have it in a bucket with a spigot and a hose going into my carboy. No need for a funnel.

Even after all that, I usually let it settle for a couple days. There will still be some stuff that settles out. But I have run the wash right after this filtering and squeezing process, and have not had any problems in the boiler (all electric).

Good Luck

[fizzix]

You're singing my tune, Bombo.
Auto-syphon as much liquid as you can, biggmann, then squeeze away.
The grain I toss out is damp at worst:

[jonnys_spirit]

I use the paint strainer bags too for AG mashes. Roll up the sleeves and start squeezing with the mop bucket strainer. I then rack into carboys and let the sediment settle for two weeks. One day i’ll have a stripping thumper and can strip on-grain.

Best luck
-jb

[Twisted Brick]

One day i’ll have a stripping thumper and can strip on-grain.

-jb

Can't agree with you more on this. Hand-squeezing is the least glamorous job in the shed.

[Desvio]

I adopted something I did working in a winery pressing grapes after fermentation where I line my fruit press with jersey material and pour through that, once it's full of grain I fold the fabric over the top and press it slowly. In the end I wind up with a solid cake of pressed grains, and let the liquid settle before siphoning off into the boiler.

There may be better ways, but it just made sense to use the equipment I already have.

[Setsumi]

I do cornmeal mash. I filter it with geotextile fabric as described by ga flatwoods in his thread on grain pressing. I drape the material in a bucket so it can handle about 15lt of grain and leave overnight, by that time it is quite dry.

link to the thread viewtopic.php?f=83&t=58545

[Bombo80]

Well, I am all for easy these days.

No boil, all corn mashes for whiskey, corn and grains for bourbon. All using ground cornmeal.

Filtering hasn't been too bad. But if I could dump into a bucket lined with this stuff, and not have to do any squeezing, PLUS

I will just convert one of my 7 gallon fermenters for this purpose. I need to get a couple new ones for brewing anyway.

Great Idea !!!

[Setsumi]

Well, I am all for easy these days.

No boil, all corn mashes for whiskey, corn and grains for bourbon. All using ground cornmeal.

Filtering hasn't been too bad. But if I could dump into a bucket lined with this stuff, and not have to do any squeezing, PLUS

I will just convert one of my 7 gallon fermenters for this purpose. I need to get a couple new ones for brewing anyway.

Great Idea !!!

yes it works well for corn meal and pretty much hands off, though I do cut the meal with a spatchela a few times if I am around. where I live I buy the stuff as weed guard for gardens. get the one that is needle punched, there is a product that is not punched and I think it will not drain well. wash it first to get rid of colouring.

[Down_Home52]

I love this site. Ran my first ferment on the grain corn wash and my BIAB was way too fine. Worked pretty good with a barley wash but the corn was a different animal. Mop bucket and paint strainer next time. Should work great for squeezing muscadines too!!!!

[navan4]

Most of the time I rack, but when I need a faster option I will use a strainer similar to the one below, with a plastic milk bag holder the first half and the rest slowly pour it right through.

[Tummydoc]

You fellas have more time and energy than me. I hand squeezed 2 ferments and said heck with this. Tried 400 micron pail strainer but that's way too fine. Tried mop wringer with paint strainer bags once, what a mess and still slow. So I built a thumper from a spare 15g keg. I now rack liquid into my boiler (using a transfer pump), pour sediment into thumper and run it all. I can start a run 15 minutes after I begin emptying my brute fermenter. When the run is finished you have to pour the cornmeal slop out, but I just invert the keg on some bricks in the garden or street and let gravity do the work. Turkeys find the meal and it's gone in days.

[jonnys_spirit]

Squeezing the paint strainer bags works well for me. Takes me maybe an hour to process a 32g brute worth of fermented mash then I let it settle before stripping but have also run it cloudy. Roll up the sleeves and get a little messy. Another option is to just make more and forget about stripping. Corn is cheap but I haven’t done that yet.

-jonny

[J0hnni3]

If it helps, I do a 2 stage process. I use an old stainless food mill attached to a half inch drill to separate most of the grain from liquid, and then pass the remaining liquid through a 400 micron filter. The trick is to vibrate the filter ( got that from elsewhere in this forum). I put the pot on a homemade concrete shaker table. Here’s the link for the filters I use. https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item. ... &catid=456 that fit nicely on a stainless steel 55 gallon pot.

It works ok but I’m still trying to find ways to speed the process up. It took about 5 hours to process 200lbs of grain from a sticky rye ferment with that method. (Don’t worry about the size that implies.... I’m legal)

[cayars]

I just use a 10 gallon drink cooler with a false bottom. I let gravity do the work for me. That and a bit of sparging.
I prefer to ferment off grain so I do this before fermenting.

[still_stirrin]

I just use a 10 gallon drink cooler with a false bottom. I let gravity do the work for me. That and a bit of sparging.
I prefer to ferment off grain so I do this before fermenting.

I also camp on this side of the creek. Long time all grain brewer with plenty of tools...so this is my preferred method.

Plus, I don’t fret over the last few drops of fermented goodness potentially locked in the grain mass at the bottom of the fermenter....I just make more.

+1.
ss

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This is 10 gallons of corn, wheat, milo, oats, and malted barley ferment done and ready to rack to the boiler. No squeezing necessary.

[Hillbilly Popstar]

It occured to me not long ago, that the small bit of grain and yeast laden wash left at the bottom of your fermenter makes a great yeast bomb/starter for your next batch. This way nothing gets wasted.

[Hillbilly Popstar]

Also, I am not sure what you guys are doing different, but I dont see how you can mash corn and not get a stuck sparge.

I'm curious how fine your grinds are and what your conversion efficiency #s are?

[still_stirrin]

Also, I am not sure what you guys are doing different, but I dont see how you can mash corn and not get a stuck sparge.

I didn't claim that sparging is easy...it is full of challenge, without doubt. Lautering requires a good filter bed. I use a pump and recirculate to “set the bed”. Sometimes this requires extra stirring and a longer recirculation. But a good grate helps. And I even use a few of those paint strainer bags to hold the grains during the lautering cycle.

I'm curious how fine your grinds are and what your conversion efficiency #s are?

I have a great mill with a drive motor. The grind is adjustable too. I grind corn to a “corn meal”...much finer than cracked corn, but not all the way to corn flour. Similarly, I adjust it for the wheat berries to a meal instead of a flour. The wheat berries (unmalted) are hard and grind easier in the power mill.

Malted barley I crush in my roller mill (hand powered, although I could put a drill chuck on it). I mill it in the roller mill to keep the husks intact for the lautering assistance. And I use grocery store flaked oats, so no grind is necessary.

All in all, lautering is work and yes, some of the wort is lost in the wet grains. But, it is not fermented so I don’t fret over “lost alcohol”. I’ve calculated my brewhouse efficiency at 75-78%, from “bin to bottle”. Not too bad. And again....no squeezing required.
ss

[Bushman]

I also use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag. I put it over my 4” opening and hold it in place with a tri-clamp then I use a siphon to pump out of my fermenter to the boiler keeping the siphon off the bottom of the fermenter. I am all electric and have never had a problem.

[cayars]

I was grinding finer but tried just using the cracked corn as is right out of the tractor supply bag and hardly lost any efficiency when using the 10 gallon coolers as it holds the temps so well it give the corn plenty of time to convert. For rye I don't mill it but roll it. I lay down a towel, put thin layer of rye on it and then another towel and run over it a few times with a rolling pin (used for flour in the kitchen). Just enough to split the hulls. I mill my barley in a corona but keep the sizes on the bigger side.

Hardly any loss of efficiency but lautering is pretty easy this way as all the grains are larger. I normally ferment both the initial lauter and first sparge water. Then I sparge again and use this sugar water for the next batch. It will have 1 or 2% potential ABV. Grains are shot at that point and discarded.

Since I do this 10 gallons at a time I may need .5 pounds more corn then if I had grinded finer but at 50 pounds for $10 I don't worry about an extra half pound here or there if it makes lautering far easier!

[Hillbilly Popstar]

I used to lauter when I was brewing beer.
I had a 10 gallon igloo with a false bottom as well.
I got stuck sparges all the time. It was a nightmare.
I used all barley with a very coarse grind plus extra rice hulls. It was the filtered proteins that would collect on top and clog the sparge water up during lautering.
Hell, when I squeeze corn in a paint strainer bag, the mesh bag clogs with yeast and smaller corn particulate.
I cant imagine how anyone could sparge corn or oats.

[cayars]

The only time I've seen protein build up is when adding grains at the wrong temperature. Example adding wheat, rye, barley or oats at 170F+
I won't allow anything other than corn to see temps higher than 170F. Everything else goes in under 170F if not malted or at roughly 150F if malted.

I use no rice hulls or anything other than the grains themselves. When lautering it's not fast but rather slow to drain but since I don't do any work I don't care. My grains are not sticky, clumpy or anything that would be problematic to lautering.

For me it's not really any harder then doing a brew lauter except it takes longer.

[Hillbilly Popstar]

That's weird. Protein build up is the norm amongst beer brewers.
It's the exact reason you always take the first gallon or so and dump it carefully back over the grain bed without disturbing the grain bed.
Whenever I would do it, youd even see this ugly grey/brown funk collect over the top.
Everything I was reading at the time indicated this was normal.
So why would distilling be any different?

[cayars]

The reason I recirc the first part of the lauter is to settle the grain bed and to help the liquid clear as the bed acts as a filter which helps to remove the small particles giving you a clearer liquid. The lauter stage for me is nothing more than separating the liquid from the grains. Removing proteins is done in a different stage (for brewing).

Without the addition of hops I personally just don't have issues with proteins (in my process). But in brewing with hops I would bring this to a boil which would help with sterilization of the wort, releasing of hop flavors, bitterness and aroma compounds, stopping of enzymatic processes and precipitation of proteins. You would then be able to remove the excess proteins in the whirlpool.

I'm certainly no expert on brewing so take this with a grain of salt as it's just my opinion and personal experience. Maybe I'm just lucky with the process I use for both distilling and brewing. I'd love to hear from those who have extensive experience with this.

[Hillbilly Popstar]

Maybe it's not proteins.
If I recall correctly, I thought I had read somewhere that the grey/brown slimey funk that collect on top of the grain bed was proteins.

But it really makes no difference what it is. It can make for a stuck sparge in a heartbeat.

[cayars]

Do you rinse your grains before using them?

[Hillbilly Popstar]

I used to. I dont now.