HomebrewandBeer.com forum

Wooo Hooooo - Starting kegging, so get ready for some more dumb questions...

What would be the best time to add finings before transferring from fermenter to keg ?
(yes, brew has been secondary fermented).

Cheers,
Chris

My method so not the only way to do it.

Rack to secondary once fermentation is complete.

Chill to 0-1C.

When the beer is ready to keg (ie. it's had enough conditioning time) add gelatine. Wait 1-2 days. Add polyclar. Wait 1-2 days. Rack clear beer to keg.

Thanks Doc,

I just added finings (cheap packet from LHBS) and waited 2 days before transfer to keg.

Whats your reasoning for the 2 separate additions...

Gelatine and polyclar are oppositely charged and attract different molecules/particles.

Gelatine is positively charged and attracts yeast cells (negatively charged) causing them to coagulate and flocculate.

Polyclar is negatively charged and attracts proteins (positively charged) that cause chill haze causing them to coagulate and flocculate.

Adding them at the same time will limit their effectiveness.

You can buy gelatine from the supermarket in the baking section. Much cheaper than the single packets sold by the HBS.

awesome, thanks Doc,

drsmurto wrote: Add polyclar. Wait 1-2 days. Rack clear beer to keg.

Do you filter it Doc?

I have a filter and have used it twice.

I don't really need one after that schedule, I find my beers are bright if i use some patience but i will use it for beers like pilsners and kolsch.

Hey Doc,

How many kegs do you filter before having to replace your filter cartridge ?
Obviously presuming you used polycar etc.

and how do you clean your filter ?

I was thinking of wrapping the cartridge in a sanitised 'chux ezi wipe' sort of cloth, and throwing that out each time, it should extend the life of teh cartdidge quite a bit ?
Do you think this would help ?

also, if you still bottle the odd few, PM me your postal address

cheers,
chris

My last comment is now void as i discovered i wasn't using it correctly, i now get diamond bright beers out of the filter which are clearer than any beer that i have ever made.

After each use i give it a good rinse in hot water and then let it soak for a few days in napisan in the filter housing. Give it a good rinse with hot water and then shake it a few times to get rid of excess water and then leave to drain.

I've done 4 beers now and no need to replace it but as i mentioned i have been using gelatine/polyclar first and cold conditioning so very little is going into the filter.

Other local brewers have mentioned they are well over 20 batches in and still haven't replaced the filter.

PM sent

Thats cool,
sounds like the cartridges will cost less than a dollar a brew then if I use polyclar and clean the cartridge properly.

which comment is void ?

cheers,
Chris

drsmurto wrote:I have a filter and have used it twice.

I don't really need one after that schedule, I find my beers are bright if i use some patience but i will use it for beers like pilsners and kolsch.

This comment is void.

My beers were clear, not bright. Now that i worked out how to use my filter properly, they are bright.

What filtering also does is ensure that the beer in the keg is just that, only beer. No sludge that gets mixed up when i take the kegs to parties.

Hey drs, What type of filter are you using? I have recently been thinking about getting a filter.

I've got 1 of these - Link

ok Thanks.

Could you just filter the beer without worrying about finings & polyclar and still achieve a bright beer?

(I know the filter will block up quicker though)

matr wrote:ok Thanks.

Could you just filter the beer without worrying about finings & polyclar and still achieve a bright beer?

(I know the filter will block up quicker though)

As long as you dont have any chill haze then yes.

Will add that to improve the life of the filter, after giving it an external rinse off, place it in the filter housing so that the bottom seals and stick the garden hose in the top to back flush it for a while. I then do as Doc suggested and soak it in napisan for a few days and then let it air dry with no rinsing so as to avoid mould during storage. Once dry I store in a plastic bag and give it a rinse with water and then no rinse sanitiser before the next use.

As it's a bit of a chore to set up and clean, I filter three kegs at a time and by then the filter is blocked. I fill kegs from fermenter and then filter from keg to keg at 10psi. I can only cold chill one keg((with added gelatine)bar fridge)) and the other two warm. If I cold conditioned as Doc does in a cube first I could probably filter a lot more in one go as my process using the kegs ensures that the sediment on the bottom of the keg is bound to be sucked up into the filter. However, I do lose very little beer and have seen no evidence of chill haze. Additionally, there is an addedrisk of spreading an infection over three brews to one by filtering three in sequence. It's worked for me so far!

Hirns