Beer filtration

[drgood]

A few brewers on Grumpys.com.au are putting their brews through
pretty good filter systems.Have any of you guys/gals tried it at all.

[Dogger Dan]

I filter all my beer with a number 1 filter plate.

It works out just fine

Dogger

[thehipone]

I've never filtered my beer and still have come up with crystal clear brews, sometimes when I don't want to (hefeweizen). My housemate did filter his once and ended up oxidizing the living hell out of the batch, so I guess if you're going to do it use caution.

[yardglass]

my HBS sells filters that are used in wine making, approx 200mm diameter X 5mm thick.
has anyone had any experience with these ?

i'm thinking of making some sort of an in-line filter to use at racking time.
anyone done this ?

what's prompted this line of thought is the fact that i racked my 1st Partial Mash today and it had hell sediment.
i'm talking 50mm deep.

the filter i'm thinking could be a cylinder of some type with a few discs cut to shape and placed inside it with the racking hose to it and then from it to the secondary.

thoughts?

cheers
yard

[Mewshew]

I'm not sure if I want to filter my beer. Theres never a significant amount of sediment. What is the attraction to filtering? I quite like the idea of having a little sediment as it makes the beer seem a little more authentic (personal opinion ).

I just got a second fermenter so I might start racking soon, but even then I'm not sure if my brews warrant that kind of attention as the sediment is never a huge problem (and frankly I'd rather have 2 brews going than one brew that is racked )

Cheers,

- Mew

[Dogger Dan]

I used to, I don't anymore.

Dogger

[shazzam]

mewshew - just pick up a bucket fermenter to rack - I have 3 fermenters & one bulk primer (25l bucket with tap, lid etc) - sometimes used for Ginger beer (non alc) - the more fermenters the more time you save.
You won't look back (only at the beer you created & ) have managed to create 11 brews in one month.
It does reduce sediment but not as much as you think - I still have sediment in my bottles.

[General]

Mewshew,
You can still have two brews on the go.

Start brew (1) in primary.
Rack to secondary.
Start (2) in primary, (1) is in secondary.
Bottle (1), rack (2) to secondary.
Start (3) in primary, (2) is in secondary.
Continue.

This process is only limited by the number of botles/kegs you have.

[tyrone]

any probs with wheat following stout?

[50% Mogman]

Let the beer flow free.
Leave the yeasties be!

[Stangas]

i have actively tried to filter my beer, and as said before, makes very little difference in the outcome of the beer. Thats if the beers was made correctly to start with of course.

I only rack the beer into a secondary fermentor and then into the keg when a keg becomes available.. usually about 2 months wait.

[General]

Tyrone,

If that question was for me, I've personally never had a problem with any beer following another, as I don't use the method yet (limited by one keg and 60 stubbies currently myself, am making enquiries with ACI looking at getting 1200 stubbies made from scratch) and have only ever brewed Lagers/Ales, no porters, stouts, wheats, ciders etc.

It was an outline of a JIT (just in time) process that I have been developing.

Check out http://www.acipackaging.com/aciwww.nsf/

[Mewshew]

Cheers for the tip General, seems like that's what I'll be doing. Is racking it once enough to make a beer look like as clear as a commercial beer? How clear does it come out. So far all of mine (unracked) have come out far from transparent. Been getting shit from older relatives who reckon "someone's thrown dirt in the beer."

[bobbioli]

Its funny some beers come out clearer than others. I would never filter as it may take something good out. For some reason my Coopers brews have allways been as clear as you can get. Yeast doesn't seem to make a diff. I rack and leave in secondary for about 10 days then patience seems to be the way to go.

[General]

I have found that racking makes a remarkable difference in my beers, I got a secondary fermenter after my second batch, and have had crystal clear beers since.

I still get a very thin layer of sediment in the bottom of my stubbies, which if poured into a glass in one hit remains where it is, if drunk from the bottle disturbs a little bit to make it a little bit cloudy, and out of the keg I lager for a week, then gas up, and the sediment all comes out in the first two to three glasses, so the rest are crystal clear.

I will only not rack if I decide to do a double batch and use both as primaries, but in that case I'd be using finings to do the clearing for me. I think I'll be getting a third fermenter for that reason, so that I can do double batches, then rack one to the third, clean and rack the other to the now empty fermenter. But I digress.

I have never found the need to filter, and there for the hangover beast remains at bay. (yeast replenishes alcohol destroyed vitamin b stores, hence no dehydration, no hangover.)

[Stangas]

one trick i have learned for clarity of beer is to chill the wort immediately and as quickly to yeast pitching temperature after the boil.

It works... i dont know why.. but it works.

i have a big laundry sink, i put the boiling wort into the sink (still in the boiler).. i then use 2 bags of ice all around the boiler and top with cold water to get an ice slurry happening.. this will cool the wort in like 10-20 min.

[General]

Stangas,

sounds like your getting a cold-break, which removes proteins from the wort, try adding irish moss, this will speed up the effect.