Filtering a homemade beer before keggin

Hi,

I'd like to filter my beer before kegging, any suggestions? Someone had mentioned something about a #1 filter in some forums I had been reading but gave no more detail.

Thanks

Reply to
Joe Blow
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Everything that I have heard suggests that any form of filtering usually affects the flavour, have you tried using finings or let your beer cold condition for a couple of weeks before kegging?

Reply to
Spanky

No, I've had a few bad results with finings and various other things you put in the secondary. I think your idea of conditioning is good but sometimes I can't wait a couple of weeks. I guess what I'll have to do is try and get ahead of myself.

Another I was thinking is I let my beer carbonate in the Keg. If I remove all the sediment it may not carbonate. I'm using this:

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A small kegging system.

Reply to
Joe Blow

You can filter home brew before kegging, BUT, if you do then you have to force carbonate, instead of proming woth sugar and allowing it to carbonate naturally.

I have seen a couple of systems for small filtration of wine or beer, one is a mini plate and frame filter complete with a little pump, to push the beer through it. I have used it and it is a PITA. Alternately there is a filter housing that holds disposable pads, and the #1 is a filter pad rating, a measure of how tightly it filters. To filter with this housing, you ideally need two corny kegs, you rack the beer in to the first, pressurise with CO2 and use that pressure to push the beer through the filter into the second corny keg, I guess that you could also push it into the bottles you are using for your draft system.

Filtration is not a complete substitute for proper finning and conditioning. The filter will work a lot better and longer if you fine and condition the beer to remove a lot of the sediment first. If you don't it will most probably block the filter meaning you have to change out the pad. This wastes beer, posses a contamination risk, exposes the beer to oxygen.

Reply to
Elm

depends on the coarseness/fineness of the filter.. I've heard a course pad will leave enough yeast for traditional carbonation (#1 as opposed to #2). Otherwise you would have to add yeast and sugar, which kinda runs the whole no sediment thing.

i've used one of these

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with 6 pads and for lighter beers like pale ales and pilsners I was able to do about 92-140 litres depending on how well they have cleared already . Cooling the beer helps for clearing and the beer seems to filter more easily, plus then it's ready for force carbonation.

Of course if the beer isn't clear as little as 70 litres could plug it up no problem.

A local hb shop rents these

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for $4 a day plus the cost of pads and actually sells them for the same price listed on that website but in CAN funds. With it's tiny little filter i really doubt you could get more than one beer through. Especially since it's rated for doing a 23 batch of wine at a time (with the bigger version i've found i can do nearly twice the amount of wine as beer).

dark beers I really wouldn't bother, you risk removing flavour, it will clog the filter very quickly and really isn't necessary. Just let the beer clarify on it's own, when it's close toss it in a fridge it to settle out a bit more and rack off of the sediment.

one recomendation (if it is a paper filter): run water through first until it tastes clear and not like paper. Then start the beer, when the ouput goes from clear to beer, start filling your keg/carboy, then follow up with more water to get the last bit from the filters.

stephen

Reply to
stephen

I force carbonate my beer. I had thought about filtering in the past, I don't think about it now. I do 5 gallon batches and I have been very happy by adding 1 tablespoon of irish moss during the last 15 minutes of my boil. When I rack to secondary, I add Gelatin

1Tablespoon to 1 pint of water brought down from a boil to 150 degrees. I then Cooled the gelatin to 80 degrees and added half before racking add a fourth during racking and the rest after racking. I then put the secondary in the fridge for 2 to 5 days depending on how lazy I am. The beer is as clear as any beer I have bought comercial (microbrew) and has great flavor and head retention.

Don

Reply to
Mr Jones

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