Filtering Beer

[Thirsty Boy]

Same, by the looks of it. According to Ross you can gravity filter using the unit in about 20 minutes. Me I gelatine and polyclar in secondary/cold crash then keg.
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Won't be getting one.

Now pick your keg up, throw it in the car and take it to a mates place.... Then connect it up and serve clear beer immediately.

Or, if you are like me - regularly shift your keggerator around. I have to move mine backwards and forwards in order to get inside it. So if I fine my beer instead of filtering it... Then I am constantly pouring cloudy beer, even though it was clear the day before.

Different strokes....

besides, I think DrS is correct .. Every time someone shows me a beer a tells me how wonderfully clear it is, and how they don't understand why anyone would filter.... They show me a beer that is clear, but not quite diamond bright. I'm sure one of these days someone will hand me an unfiltered beer that is as clear as filtered ones... But it hasn't happened yet.

BTW - I have used both the Clarence water filter units and the craft brewer units. The Clarence ones are (or the ones I got were) made of a sort of paper. I had many an issue with these filters maily around getting the units to seal properly, and in the end the paper was not all that robust and I snagged one while cleaning and it tore rather easily, the other popped a seam while back flushing.

The craft brewer units on the other hand are a much tougher spun polyester. They look and are much more substantial, and they are tougher too. I also have no trouble at all getting them to seal well, the ends of the units are made of a different, softer plastic and are a different shape.

Haven't used a Beerbelly filter so can't comment. If they are the spun polyester units, then thats grand and I say go for it.. But if they are paper filters...well, my experience has been bad so I personally wouldn't go with one again.

TB

 

[raven19]

I use Beerbelly's filter (have not used any others) and have found it to work well thus far. Filtered 4 or 5 brews so far with no issues.

Just make sure the lid is screwed down tight - dont be concerned over sligt buckling of the filter cartridge as I was initially.

 

[banora brewer]

I was just speaking to Ross, i think i might go up tomorrow and get one of his.

 

[boobiedazzler]

Apart from cosmetic appearances, can somebody explain the issue with a non bright beer. Speaking of one that has been fined but not filtered. Has anyone taken a side by side taste test of the same batch to determine whether more yeast in suspension is detrimental to their target style, or is the haze & cloud concern towards protein particles, small as they may be but greater than 1 micron, providing nucleation points and asking for oxidisation problems in long term storage situations?

 

[dug]

Question would a 0.2 micron filter be a bad thing? ie would taking out ALL the yeast be detrimental to the beer?

 

[Thirsty Boy]

BD - mostly it comes down to cosmetics. In a similar way to a restaurant wanting the food to taste great AND look great too, because it enhances the dining experience, I think when a beer looks fantastic in a glass, it's clear, sparkles etc etc, it's just more attractive, and that enhances the drinking experience.

Thats only for comparing clear with very clear beers though.... I personally find beer that is actually hazy tastes worse. The malt and hop character is muted and in some cases (like kolsch) the suspended yeast, even in very small amounts has an actively offensive flavor.

I think the aging argument might be a nill all draw... Some yeast left in the beer will help protect against aging, but then again, too much haze (as you point out) can actually speed it up.

Dug - some people filter that finely, but there is no question that a 0.2 micron filter is going to strip significant colour and flavor out of your beer. I know that perhaps zwickel might disagree... But for me 0.2 microns is going a bit too far. Although.. You can see the difference between a 1 micron filtered beer and a 0.2 micron beer.

I think thats why 1 micron is the sized filter that most HBers settle on.... It's gives beautiful, bright beer, almost as clear as it could be.... But the effect on beer flavor is quite minimal and it actually leaves a small but significant amount of yeast in the beer, so in a limited way you retain the benefits of a "live" beer rather than the completely sterile product a 0.2 micron filter would give you.

 

[Zwickel]

Question would a 0.2 micron filter be a bad thing? ie would taking out ALL the yeast be detrimental to the beer?

Im using an 0.2m Pall filter to filter my beer. The beer that comes out is crystal clear. Yeast cells are at a size of 2 to 5 m, so theres no chance for them to get through.
Depending on the cloudiness of the beer to filter, I can get 60 to 100 litres through per session, until the filter is clogged.
Anyway, youd need a pump to press the beer through the filter, no other chance to get it through.

... I personally find beer that is actually hazy tastes worse. The malt and hop character is muted and in some cases (like kolsch) the suspended yeast, even in very small amounts has an actively offensive flavor.

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Dug - some people filter that finely, but there is no question that a 0.2 micron filter is going to strip significant colour and flavor out of your beer. I know that perhaps zwickel might disagree... But for me 0.2 microns is going a bit too far. Although.. You can see the difference between a 1 micron filtered beer and a 0.2 micron beer.

no colour change at all and the flavor change only in a postive way, although my wife loves the beer cloudy.

I think thats why 1 micron is the sized filter that most HBers settle on.... It's gives beautiful, bright beer, almost as clear as it could be.... But the effect on beer flavor is quite minimal and it actually leaves a small but significant amount of yeast in the beer, so in a limited way you retain the benefits of a "live" beer rather than the completely sterile product a 0.2 micron filter would give you.

Its more like a philosophy, my wife says, my cloudy beer tastes much better than the filtered one. I gotta say, the filtered one is the better one, tastes smoother, riper and anyway looks just beautiful

So finally we made an agreement, half of the batches (yes my wife drinks almost as much beer as I do) get filtered, other half not.

Cheers :icon_chickcheers: