Filtering Mead or Wine: Buon Vino Mini Jet unbiased review, tear-down, tips and tricks

[@bruderjr]

Wow, I've never had leaks, nor have I ever used wood clamps to tighten. I've found that tightening the hand wheels is enough to stop leaks. There is usually a few little drips into the drip tray, but never a continuous flow into the tray. I've had my mini jet for probably 20 years, with all the original equipment still working except new hoses every so often (and it was used when I bought it!). I get the hoses at a hardware store, making sure they are non toxic or food grade hosing. I also rack my wine a couple of times prior to filtering and make sure it has cleared itself. I look at the filtering process as a "polishing" step. I have never used any filter other than the #2 set. I also suggest you purchase a small bin with a lid to store it in, and never store it damp; let everything dry out fully. It will keep out dust and dirt and reduce your cleaning time prior to using. Cheers.

[@BroderGustaf]

Im looking to buy one of these filtering machines, and I gotta be honest, the video, talking about clamping etc was kind of discouraging me from buying one.. But you're saying that yours is working as intended which is hopeful. Good tips regarding storage! I have questions though; Do you bottle after filtering, as in, not killing any yeast with metabisulfate etc? Is filter #2 small enough to filter out yeast cells? Could you tell me a bit about your experience in regards to this? Thanks!

[@CideryFromScratch]

This video was very helpful! The tips and tricks are going to be life changing, thank you. We are planning to filter about 15 gallons through this machine in the near future! Thanks again!!

[@Anamericanhomestead]

I've used this and its worked pretty well for me on pads 1 2 and 3. I only cranked it down to hand tight and it worked ok. I didn't need any clamps. I found your video because I wanted to brush up on the filter because I'm running it again tomorrow for a 6 gallon carboy of wine I harvested the grapes from last year. Norton grapes...can't wait!

[@DointheMost]

Sounds great! Best wishes for a smooth filtering day!

[@conradwheeler68]

I have one of those and the above is all pretty accurate. I manage to crank it down enough to not need the clamps, but that would likely work better than me torqueing the crap out on those knobs. I use a 2 gallon primary bucket to soak and run the k-meta and citric water, basically the in and out into the same bucket and I just run it for a few minutes to flush the system. Then I save it to flush it out again when I'm done and finish with clean water. There are some 5 gallon black and yellow totes (about $6.00 from your local home improvement depot) that fit the filter system quite well for storage.

[@DointheMost]

GREAT tip on the totes, I'll have to check those out. Currently the thing has just been aimless migrating around my studio any time I need to use the space its occupying.

[@randyeruark9299]

Thank you for the very informative unbiased video. Good information, great tips.

[@57ashdot]

you can also use a 1 micron filter unit (typically used for water line inlets) to filter. And for catching the big stuff, I'd advise a two stage filtration system. We use a 100 micron cold brew coffee filter 'tube', works great.

[@andrewkerrivan8619]

Helpful video man, thanks. I just got one of these. I might try it out soon.

[@TheBruSho]

Really great walkthrough, interesting product. Seems like a lot of work but if clarity is a concern could be an "affordable" option!

[@DointheMost]

It's definitely a big time investment, and a lot of "checking the checklist" to make sure everything is hooked up right. Definitely not something I will use with regularity.

[@1bakerblue]

This was a very helpful video, Thank you for your honesty.

[@ladyfermenter-ThanksAPint]

Thanks for your honest assessment.

[@lukaswlu]

I use the Fermtech Mini 2 filter. $129 vs $199 on buon video. And the filters are $2.5 when you buy in 10 packs. vs $3.5 for BV. As far as micron goes #1 is 8 micron #2 is 2 micron and #3 is 0.8 micron. These are not absolute rating so there will be variance... like 1.5 - 2.5 micron.

[@jhonds7078]

nice video on the Boun Vino Mini Jet review! wondering if this only works for dry meads or if you can run a slighlty back sweeten mead through, do you know?

[@overthetopoperationsracing3199]

Thanks for the tips!

[@mikecostello8423]

very good review, I have one love it, but I never thought of the added clamps will try it next batch, Thank You

[@DointheMost]

Let me know how it goes!

[@jeremycorvialis4085]

Thanks for the review and walk-through! I've been eyeing one of these for sterile filtering to stabilize brews. Happily used your link to pick one up. :D

[@anthonysicily5768]

A great review, Liked, Saved & Subscribed Thank you I found your comments (and tips) incredibly useful

[@e10hssanamai]

Thanks for reviewing this! I've been meaning to get a pump and filter eventually, so I appreciate your insights.

[@DointheMost]

Glad it was helpful! I've been wanting to check this thing out for a while, glad to finally have one even though I may not use it often.

[@tylerstout1549]

do you have any experience with the Fermtech mini? the filters seem a bit more affordable? any familiarity with a simple gravity flow system like the Harris Vinbrite Mark III? they seem to have been around a while and well received

[@paulalarocca8315]

Clear, concise and helpful video. I've added a lot of tools to my brewing arsenal, but I don't think this is one I would! I have the All-in-One Wine pump that has many uses, including filtering if I want to go that route in the future and purchase the accessories to do so. Thanks for info and your presentation of it's pros/cons based on your personal experience. Many folks will benefit from it - good or bad for the pump!

[@DointheMost]

Glad you enjoyed it! I hoped to make it as nuts-and-bolts as possible. :)

[@anthonysicily5768]

How have you found the filtering? It looks like a standard $20 house filter, nowhere near as good. Have I misunderstood?

[@mike2disco]

DO NOT USE STARSAN to sanitise your machine! This can add a soapy taste to your wine or mead. Highly recommend using Potassium Metabisulfite as it acts as a disinfectant and a stabiliser for your wine. Also, there is no need to add clamps to this machine at all. You need to make sure that your wine is clean before you filter. Filtering is not cleaning your wine, it is polishing already clean wine. Filtering is like polishing your car after it is already clean... you can't polish a dirty car! If the pads get saturated with sediment the liquid has no where to go but out. If you're filtering products that tend to have heavier sediment then do use a #1 pad however clamping down on the pads is absolutely not necessary if you've taken the proper steps like racking (transferring) and/ or clarifying thoroughly. Otherwise, great video man keep up the good work! :)

[@benthomsen2220]

Starsan(the non rinse type) doesn't add soapy tastes. At most (in crazy high amounts) it will add acid.

[@Slamscape]

Have you tried a cream separator?

[@SirWussiePants]

I have one of these and I love it. I use mine for every wine batch (#2 pads for reds and #3 for whites). I dont get much in the way of leaks. I do have to tighten the bolts down as the filters get moist. Most of the videos I have seen where people get leaks is because they put the filters in facing the wrong way. Yours appeared to be in correctly. Not sure why you got leaks. Note: #3 pads are rated at .5 microns but there are 2 ratings - average (what home brewers use) and guaranteed. While .5 microns is a sterile filter (.45 is better) the home stuff is only AVERAGING .5 microns and some yeast MAY make it through. This is NOT a tool to use in place of sulfites/sorbate.

[@brianleabo6295]

Is this better then useing a check value? If one should ever have a need to replace the plastic bolts . Useing bolts and impact wrench well stop leaking

[@benjamindaniels1273]

Great video! Still been nervous to pop mine out. Gonna pick up some clamps before diving into it. I might try tossing a racking cane screen over the cane so I can rack through my oak/vanilla beans/cinnamon that I might have in secondary without having to rack and then filter. I wonder if using the level 3 filter would modify the flavor at all? Or comparing a bottle that's been filter and a bottle that hasn't been filtered after 6 months

[@voltronsupremeFood]

i have the mini, but knowni dont even use the pad system just the pump and a pentek filter. cheaper and easier and less messy. if the mini pump ever breaks i just need a small water pump and back in action.

[@jasonduggan2987]

Very nice video. Thank you. About how long would you say it takes to run through 5 gallons? Or was the time you mentioned including this and not just setup and takedown?

[@PNW-Piper]

From Manufacturers Site: The #1 Coarse Pads. (5 - 7 microns), The #2 Polishing Pads (1.5 - 2.5 microns), The #3 Sterile Pads (1 - .5 microns)

[@zenonkolacz3004]

What type of pump runs this device? Impeller or diaphragm?

[@d3f3ds2]

I really appreciate you doing a review on this. Was wondering about if one was right for my uses for a while now. What are your thoughts on running a starsan solution through on the rinse pass on the filters?

[@DointheMost]

A lot of liquid "sticks" in the filter pads, so I would have some minor concerns over it upping the ending acidity of the final brew. For mine, I used boiled and cooled tap water.

[@cheekysaver]

I got mine used. It came in a winemaking kit. $50, one mini jet, 2 carboys, a primary plastic fermenter, a bottle jet, a wine thief that looks like the auto siphon, a auto siphon. a wine making book, a wine test kit, a hydrometer, cleaning gear ect ect. (AND, it was $50 Canadian.) I watched for a couple months for that to come up. When it did... I jumped on it. I saw it... messaged the guy and was on the way. By the time I got there there were 3 in line for it. You can get it for cheap if you are fast.... and patient.

[@DointheMost]

Nice! Heck of a deal!

[@bruderjr]

Hey Toby... that was possibly the best deal I've ever heard of. Good going!

[@abdulrahmanmadouh4358]

Hi is possible to use fore beer?

[@redleader]

hi, i filter wines and i used to filter pharmaceuticals . Couple things....You stated "they" suggest presoaking the filter pads in...."sterile water". Where exactly did you get sterile water? Do you have a sweet and awesome autoclave? Second...the stuff...that is leaking is considered "effluent or filtrate...ie waste. I would just toss it.

[@macci7379]

My only recomendation is making six gallons if wine or saving some similar wine from a previua batch. What can happen ia you can lose anywhere from a 750ml to an entire gallon. Even if you had aged a year and rack. So if you brew 6 gallons ane filter into a 5 gallon then no issues with a lotof headspace in the carboy. If you have extra wine just drink it. Filterin1g causes loss of some wine so you need to have a reserve to top off the carboy.

[@brianleabo6295]

Ok would it be better to have a pump and a water filter to do this ? Less spill and cleaner and just as cheep or very little more . Then it you add check valve in line . The water filters would last longer . But you would have to switch flaver . And you be able to use in dirty brews

[@ChuckUnderFire]

This was an awesome video. I’ve been eyeballing this thing forever. But I’ve been looking at it for beer… I noticed you are very particular to say “wine or mead”… is that because beer is a bad idea here?

[@brianleabo6295]

If you Add hole around pump houeing well add life to pump

[@Hannibalking16]

wouldnt it just be easier to use a conical fermenter with a catch bulb?

[@josechavez5467]

Very informative ty

[@DointheMost]

Of course!

[@cathycudney393]

I use mine to transfer wine also

[@jeanieshort8429]

Cathy i do the same thing so i don't have to put the carboy on the floor.

[@richardhattin6097]

U missed an important point about the orientation ofvthe filters. They can go in backwards and cause all kinds of problems. Tough surface faces out in all 3 filters.

[@spikelove9533]

That's a pretty snazy filter system. I love gadgets but this is not for me. I could care less about clarity. Thanks for sharing your new toy with us it was a neat vid. If your handy I'm sure if your pump burns out you can replace it with a much better quality pump with a little modification. And if you put a inline one-way pressure switch you cold bottle with it 🤔 I'd have more fun modding the unit than actually uesing it lol.

[@HisVirusness]

This gave me nightmarish flashbacks to the first time I experienced water cooling on PC. But, hey; every product has its place.

[@DointheMost]

Ah, man, taking me back to my Radio Shack days when PC modding became cool and "The 'Shack" tried to keep up by having a corner dedicated to cheap kits for water cooling, lighted fans, etc. Ahh, the early 2000s.

[@HisVirusness]

@@DointheMost My favorite thing to buy from Radio Shack were those Velleman electronics kits. Nowadays, they barely even sell them in Micro Center.

[@tamtamb209]

Thanks for this great information. We're thinking of getting one because we have some country fruit wines that just won't quit fermenting even after multiple dosing w potassium sorbate, cold crashing, racking again and again so thinking of this to finally get rid of the yeast. We ferment dry then backsweeten with more of the good stuff (in this case, strawberry). Do you think this will filter out yeast before we backsweeten?

[@JordanBridgman]

Did you try the pre-filter they sell for this thing? ...And if not, would you want a free one? Cause I wound up with 2 after one got lost in the mail and showed up like two months after Amazon gave up on it and refunded me lol

[@DointheMost]

Haha, nice! I did not try it, but if it shows up in my PO Box I’ll give it a whirl. ;)

[@LcdoEduardoNeuman]

Great

[@DointheMost]

Thanks for watching!

[@veraradovic2422]

where to buy this pump ....

[@edvichot4707]

Why not use a Buchner filtration funnel with a vacuum Pump?, it will remove oxygen out of receiving flask before wine starts to fall in it. Large Micron filter sizes should be fast and preserve the flavor you want to keep.

[@senorjp21]

Hmm. A 5 gallon glass carboy imploding... You might get away with it!

[@Qingeaton]

I was thinking about one of these, and I still might, but the last video was by the vice president of the company, and he had clearly never used the product or even bothered to do a 1st take video run through. Comments were disabled, yet it had 180k views, so people are seeing it. lol

[@Aldrahill]

Super great walkthrough, love the progressing style, really great. Wouldn’t ever buy this though, I simply don’t give a shit about clarity in the slightest and I abhor unnecessary faff :P

[@DointheMost]

I hear that. I like clear brews because I have seen how friends react to murky ones. That said, time and fining agents can do the job. I do think for competition, it provides good peace of mind, but that's a small part of the homebrewing market.

[@anthonysicily5768]

Most of your potential customers will. Not many people like to buy cloudy white wine. But if you don’t sell, then its not important.

[@Lord_Nytmare]

This is fairly old, but for anyone wondering about the pads. Pad number 1, 5-6 microns Pad number 2, 2 microns Pad number 3, 0.5 microns Source: manufacturers youtube videos.

[@shawnabullock8181]

You have a typo. Pad 3 is 0.5 microns

[@Lord_Nytmare]

@@shawnabullock8181 yup, darned phone keyboards.

[@Nonama-w4x]

As you said: do you need to filter your homemade wine ? No !. For me flavor is more important then clarity.. Gravity will do it for you without cost !

[@simont.4176]

I'm way too lazy for this

[@jeanieshort8429]

your instructions are ridiculous i have the same machine and when you want to transfer your wine from the bucket you use the machine to transfer the wine to your carboy right on the table you buy the proper hose which has a steel wire in side the hose from your wine kit store then you transfer the wine to second carboy the same way .then when i am finished and ready to bottle the wine i place the bottles on the floor and fill each one. very simple method. the only reason your having leaks with the pads is you must not tighten the knobs fully from the start slowly tighten both nobs at the same time then it will work great for you. I had to figure how to transfer my wine in each step without putting the carboy on the floor so the machine works for both making the wine on your table and filtering it as well. I hope my comments are helpful cheers jeanie short

[@johndaily7286]

I absolutely HATE this filter. I worked in the paint industry for 10 years, filtering paint and solvents. I also worked in the aquarium industry for years, using many types of filters. This thing is so freaking dumb, and messy, and expensive, and unsanitary it isnt even funny. I only make basic meads, no extra ingredients or fruits, and I rack and clear first. Even with that, I was changing filters every 1 - 2 gallons on a 7 gallon batch. I gave it away....

[@rajug4798]

This brand never responds any email so bad.. lacking proffesional support

[@blade913]

What is "mostly clear"? Seems like an oxymoron to say.