Homebrew Filtration

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Easy filtration with the Buon Vino Mini-Jet, an affordable filter system for the average homebrewer.

Originally Posted: August 7, 2021

Before and after filtration of an Ube Mead. — A batch of Ube Mead, before and after filtration.

Table of Contents

Intro

As a homebrewer progresses in their craft, their brews often improve in appearance as well as taste. A new homebrewer’s quest for a crystal-clear brew usually starts with letting time and natural settling do the trick. Later, a homebrewer might turn to using fining agents such as bentonite, Sparkolloid, or 2-part kieselsol/chitosan to speed up the process. However, even fining agents take time, and a homebrewer might begin looking for speedier alternatives, such as mechanical filtration.

Assembled Buon Vino Mini-Jet, minus the hoses. — The Buon Vino Mini-Jet system, minus the hoses. The black portion is the pump.

Disassembled Buon Vino Mini-Jet — The Mini-Jet, disassembled. There are three plastic filter plates and one metal clamp plate.

The Buon Vino Mini-Jet

The Buon Vino Mini-Jet is an affordable pump-driven plate filtration system, designed for ease of use for the average homebrewer. Its pump transfers your choice of brew through a maze-like channel system through three plastic plates, where particulate matter is stripped out by replaceable fibrous filter pads before depositing the liquid into a clean fermenter. It also sports a built-in drip pan that channels fallen liquid into the clean fermenter.

Buon Vino Mini-Jet #2 pads in their packaging. — A pack of #2 Polishing filtration pads. Each pack contains three pads, and you have to use all three pads each time. The directions also say not to mix pads during a single use.

Filtration pads come in three types: a #1 Course filtration pad (link), a #2 Polishing filtration pad (link), and a #3 Sterile pad (link). I’ve found that I use the #2 pads the most, followed by the #1 pads if a brew is still a bit cloudy. I rarely use the #3 pads, opting instead to use cheaper stabilizing agents like potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite (Campden).

The Buon Vino Mini-Jet costs roughly $150, and 10-packs of its replaceable filter pads cost roughly $25-30 (there are three pads per pack). While the Mini-Jet and its replaceable filtration pads cost more than most fining agents, the system is much faster and produces more consistent results.

Replacement Parts/Mods

Factory Parts

Most homebrewing tools such as siphons and pumps come with vinyl tubing as their default hose setup. The Mini-Jet is no different. It sports two lengths of 5/16” ID vinyl tubing to pump the brew from one fermenter to another; the “input” length of tubing goes in the unfiltered brew, and contains a metal rod that keeps the end straight, and a plastic assembly that I believe is supposed to help prevent clogs. The “output” length of tubing is just tubing that runs from the filtration plates to the clean fermenter.

There is also a medium length segment of ¼” ID vinyl tubing that runs from the drip pan to a clean fermenter, and a very short (~4”) length of ¼” ID vinyl tubing running from the pump to the filtration plate maze.

Silicone tubing soaking in sanitizer solution. — Silicone tubing is more flexible and therefore much easier than vinyl tubing to roll up and soak in a sink or a bucket full of sanitizer solution.

Replacement Parts

Just like I do with all of my autosiphons, I replace as much of the vinyl tubing as I can with silicone tubing. I’ve found that silicone tubing is much easier to roll up and soak in a sink, and it’s easier to get it on and off of things like autosiphons or pumps. In order to prevent clogs or a suction-vacuum on the “input” end, I’ve cut a few notches in the end of the silicone tubing to allow liquid to continually flow.

To do this, you’ll need a length of 5/16″ ID silicone tubing and a length of 1/4″ ID silicone tubing. I often buy a few 10- or 25-foot long rolls of 5/16″ and cut them to various lengths as needed.

Notches cut into the "in" portion of the Mini-Jet's tubing. — I cut some notches into the end of the “input” tubing, to prevent it from creating a suction vacuum against the glass of my fermenters.

The only portion of tubing on my Mini-Jet that I’ve kept in its original vinyl form is the short length of ¼” ID tubing that runs from the pump to the filtration plates. Replacing this with silicone just causes it to pop off under the pressure of the fluid, which causes it to spill everywhere.

A close-up of the assembled Buon Vino Mini-Jet — The short length of 1/4″ ID tubing between the pump and the filtration plates is the only portion of tubing that I didn’t replace with silicone. Vinyl’s rigidity prevents it from being blown off the pump by pressure.

Using the Mini-Jet

Like most homebrew equipment, the first step to successfully using the Mini-Jet is to keep it clean and sanitized. I always run some sanitizer solution through the pump unit before and after filtering a brew.

Running sanitizer through the Buon Vino Mini-Jet's pump. — Running some sanitizer through the pump before and after use will keep the pump nice and clean. I use the 1/4″ ID drip pan hose at the “out” end of the pump to make this easier.

A plastic filtration plate for the Buon Vino Mini-Jet — The threaded metal rods and the hooks on all the plates/pads are slightly offset. If the user puts any of them on backwards, it becomes obvious because the top edge will be slanted/misaligned compared to the main assembly.

Buon Vino Mini-Jet, fully set up and ready to begin filtering.

Make a bucket or sink-full of sanitizer solution and soak all of your tubing and plastic/metal filtration plates. My sink is the right size for me to stand the main assembly on its side to give it a nice soak without getting any of the electrical parts wet, so I also do this. Be careful not to knock it over into the solution.
If you haven’t already, take the main assembly out of the solution and run more sanitizer through the pump unit alone. I use the 5/16” ID input hose and the longer ¼” ID drip pan hose.
Assemble all the plates on the main assembly (without tightening the thumbscrews yet). The metal rods are slightly offset, so there’s only one correct way to assemble the plates and filtration pads on the main unit. The tops of all plates should be aligned.
1. Note: Don’t forget the metal clamp plate when reassembling the unit. I forgot it in the sink once, and when I tried to filter a mead it all just dripped through the bottom of the pads, unfiltered, into the drip pan, and caused a mess.
Add filtration pads between the plastic plates. Like the plastic plates, they should also only be able to go in one way and stay aligned with everything. The rough side of the pads should face you.
Assemble all your sanitized hoses:
1. Short ¼” ID vinyl hose between the pump output and the lower right filtration plate barb.
2. Long ¼” ID silicone tubing into clean fermenter.
3. Input 5/16” ID silicone tubing on pump input and into unfiltered liquid. If you added notches like I did, they should be at the bottom of the unfiltered fermenter.
4. Output 5/16” ID silicone tubing from top-left filtration plate barb into clean fermenter.
Once everything is situated, run the pump. It took me about 10 minutes to run a 6-gallon batch through, start to finish.
1. As the clean fermenter becomes full of filtered brew, you may notice the drip plate isn’t draining. Lift the ¼” drip pan hose so that the end is above the liquid, and it should drain.
Let your brew rest at least a day before bottling or running it through a finer filtration pad.

If the drip pan starts to fill up (left), you may need to pull the drip pan hose above the level of the liquid to get it to drain (right).

Before and after filtration with a #2 Pad. It’s obvious why they call this “polishing” or “brightening”.

This Beetroot Mead is still quite cloudy. This is a case where I should run it through a #1 Pad before running it through a #2 Pad, as all that haze could clog up a #2 Pad. In rare cases where haze clogs even a #1 Pad, it’s best to use a fining agent such as bentonite or Sparkolloid first (I found this out the hard way while making my Cabernet Sauvignon Pyment Mead).

Optional Add-On Unit

Buon Vino also sells a “Pre Screen Filter” that you can run your brew through before it gets to the pump. It’s useful if you’re worried there might be some remaining fruit pulp or something floating around in your brew that could clog the pump. I recommend getting one, but I’ve also found that I just use it a lot when siphoning a brew from primary to secondary, long before I decide whether I’m going to filter something or use fining agents. It’s a pretty nifty little tool.