Filtering cold brew (and other suggestions for brewing)

jkgreen

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Jul 25, 2017
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I don't see a forum dedicated to brewing coffee, so I am posting this here.

I have recently started making my own cold brew. I start with coarsely ground beans. I'm using Major Dickenson's blend from Peet's. I am adding just under 2 cups of coffee beans to 10 cups of water. This is combined in a large plastic container and set in the fridge for 24-48 hours. My problem has been filtering the brew. I have used a wire mesh sieve lined with cheese cloth, but this is still just a bit too porous as I end up with sediment at the bottom of my pitcher. I have also tried coffee filters, which are much cheaper, but the filter gets clogged and it takes a much longer time to filter my coffee this way.

Any suggestions?
 

Musicphan

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May 11, 2014
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IMO - The best/easiest way is to buy a nylon food grade bag. Simply place the coffee in the bag.. add a bit of water and stir to get the grinds wet).. place the bag in your container and fill with water. You can find them on amazon - just make sure to find a bag with a rating off 40-100 micron. The smaller the micron the less fines / but it also doesn't allow the water to flow through the bag very well. I sell bags as part of my cold brew kit that are 80 micron.. seems to do the trick and just leave minimal fine silt. Some people still run it through a coffee filter but I find it a bit of a waste of time. It certainly filters out a bit of particles but I don't notice a difference in taste.
 

jkgreen

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Yeah, this was a great way to go. Super easy and super fast. There was a little bit of sediment at the bottom of the container I used to "brew" my cold brew. But it was heavy enough to stay at the bottom when I transferred my coffee to a pitcher. Clean up was easy also. Thanks for the tip!!

IMO - The best/easiest way is to buy a nylon food grade bag. Simply place the coffee in the bag.. add a bit of water and stir to get the grinds wet).. place the bag in your container and fill with water. You can find them on amazon - just make sure to find a bag with a rating off 40-100 micron. The smaller the micron the less fines / but it also doesn't allow the water to flow through the bag very well. I sell bags as part of my cold brew kit that are 80 micron.. seems to do the trick and just leave minimal fine silt. Some people still run it through a coffee filter but I find it a bit of a waste of time. It certainly filters out a bit of particles but I don't notice a difference in taste.
 

chast

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Along with using a brew bag you can go one step further and install "The Clairifier" filter that Brewers use. Works great. JMO
 

Musicphan

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Along with using a brew bag you can go one step further and install "The Clairifier" filter that Brewers use. Works great. JMO

I may have to try one of these... for my keg'd product I filter through disposable filters but that adds up $$$... the stainless "Clarifier" would be worth the investment I think.
 

Musicphan

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Go get a Yama cold brew system and bypass all the messy steps .
makes great cold brew and then you can keg it and charge with Nitrogen gas and make it even better.

Make sure that's allowed by your health dept... they cracked down in our area. They now have to be used refrigerated to prevent bacteria growth.
 

chast

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Mike the filter works great. I plan on playing with beer starting next month and just ordered a Spike Conical fermentor. Using that also for cold brew I can fill my soda kegs Direct through the couplings with nitro. No contamination.
 

Musicphan

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Mike the filter works great. I plan on playing with beer starting next month and just ordered a Spike Conical fermentor. Using that also for cold brew I can fill my soda kegs Direct through the couplings with nitro. No contamination.

Is Spike shipping the fementor's yet? They looked rock solid. I went down the 'research path' about a month ago (I was going to expand into kitchen).. another reasonable priced option is the SS Brite Tank.
 

chast

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It was a toss up of Spike or SS Brew Tech. Both had some better options than the other. They were shipping the 10 gallon fermentor but I ordered a 15 with a few changes so I am waiting still to see what they will or won't do. If they won't do what I requested then I will jump to the SS Brew tech
 

Musicphan

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May 11, 2014
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It was a toss up of Spike or SS Brew Tech. Both had some better options than the other. They were shipping the 10 gallon fermentor but I ordered a 15 with a few changes so I am waiting still to see what they will or won't do. If they won't do what I requested then I will jump to the SS Brew tech

For the capacity your looking at... stick with Spike. I was looking at the 1 bbl brite tank from SS. I really liked how Spike uses all tri-clamps. And the ability to drop in a CIP ball for cleaning is handy! With the SS you have to buy an adapter plate from Stout. You can't be too clean/sanitary!
 

coffeevarekai

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Jul 19, 2018
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I don't see a forum dedicated to brewing coffee, so I am posting this here.

I have recently started making my own cold brew. I start with coarsely ground beans. I'm using Major Dickenson's blend from Peet's. I am adding just under 2 cups of coffee beans to 10 cups of water. This is combined in a large plastic container and set in the fridge for 24-48 hours. My problem has been filtering the brew. I have used a wire mesh sieve lined with cheese cloth, but this is still just a bit too porous as I end up with sediment at the bottom of my pitcher. I have also tried coffee filters, which are much cheaper, but the filter gets clogged and it takes a much longer time to filter my coffee this way.



Any suggestions?

I also employ the use of a "Coffee Sock", google it.
 
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