Filtering beer

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FreshZ

FreshZ

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After my last batch foot a good deal of hop particles into the bottle, I want to start filtering my home brew. I bought some 5 gallon paint strainers. My plan was to put the filter bag into my bottling buckets and siphon into that. Pull out the bag (hopefully with hop gunk) and bottle.

I further plan on using these in transferring from pot into primary the same way.

Any problem with these? Is there any reason to not filter after boiling? Are there flavors still coming from the hops/grain pieces in primary? Any better way to filter?
 
When you do your boil do you just add your hops right to the boil? I got rid of alot of my aggravation with particles by using a muslin bag and dropping my hops in it and it drastically reduced my particles. At .49 cents a bag i grab 10 at a time
 
I put a paint strainer bag in my bottling bucket today ... it caught a lot of particals .... I was warned to be sure to keep the end of the hose below the beer though .... you could get a lot of oxygen into the beer if you didn't ..
 
I personally add hops directly to my boil I only use a bag when dry hoping. I know a lot of people on here will suggest not racking to a secondary unless adding additional favors. However it's is one reason I use my secondary by the time I have racked from boil to primary to secondary then a cold crash I have not had any particular matter issues. That's just how I do it though. The fun in brewing is finding your own style.
 
+1 on the cold crash mentioned by Fletcher21. Whirlpooling will take care of a lot of sediment from pot to primary, and coldcrashing (in primary or secondary) will drop out most of the rest of the sediment.
 
The key is to strain it all out when you're transferring from your kettle to fermenter. I use a stainless kitchen strainer. Bonus is it'll help add oxygen at the same time.

I used to use a hop bag, but I like the thought of the hops floating around the boil all willy-nilly rather than being stuck in a bag. My hops like to get out and party.
 
This seems like a dumb question, but if I filter before bottling, will enough yeast still get into the bottles to properly carb?
 
FreshZ said:
This seems like a dumb question, but if I filter before bottling, will enough yeast still get into the bottles to properly carb?
Click to expand...

Yeast are tiny. 100 billion in the Wyeast packs. I think they will slip through the strainer with ease. :)
 
FreshZ said:
After my last batch foot a good deal of hop particles into the bottle, I want to start filtering my home brew. I bought some 5 gallon paint strainers. My plan was to put the filter bag into my bottling buckets and siphon into that. Pull out the bag (hopefully with hop gunk) and bottle.

I further plan on using these in transferring from pot into primary the same way.

Any problem with these? Is there any reason to not filter after boiling? Are there flavors still coming from the hops/grain pieces in primary? Any better way to filter?
Click to expand...

When racking to your bottling bucket, it might be easier to put the paint strainer over your cane in the fv. That's what I do, but only if there was a dry hop. Otherwise everything is pretty compact at the bottom and doesn't need straining
 
Im with Fletcher, I know a lot of people condemn secondaries, but My beers are always quite clear, the extra rack, and a cold crash do wonders, never have any hop sediment that anyone can notice in the bottle, just a tiny layer of yeast. :)
 
HibsMax said:
Yeast are tiny. 100 billion in the Wyeast packs. I think they will slip through the strainer with ease. :)
Click to expand...

Yea, I figured this. Just thinking that maybe the yeast would cling to or be blocked by the hop and grain particles that are strained out. Not a problem huh? RDHAHB? That's what I though.
 
Just my two cents here. I don't use a hop bag and I still suck at vorlaufing so my wart is pretty "dirty", but I've discovered a method that gets me very clear beer (so clear that the guys at the homebrew club asked if I was filtering).

I have a fine-mesh screen I pour my wort though when dumping it into the carboy. It's a pretty decent one since I usually have to empty it out about half a dozen times before I manage to get it all in the carboy.

After primary fermentation I ALWAYS rack to a secondary. I have a metal siphon rod that has a cap on the end that helps to keep from sucking up the yeasties at the bottom. I try to keep the rod end about 2 inches below the surface too.

About 48 hours before I'm going to bottle/keg I cold crash the secondary for a good 2-3 days.

After moving the secondary out of the fridge I leave it sitting on the wedge for a good 30+ minutes to let anything I stirred up from moving it out of the fridge settle back down.

I use the same metal siphoning rod and cap to move the beer to the keg/bottling bucket.

The result is a strikingly clear beer. It's not nearly as much work as it sounds like typed out. All the steps are weeks apart.
 
GreenDragon said:
Just my two cents here. I don't use a hop bag and I still suck at vorlaufing so my wart is pretty "dirty", but I've discovered a method that gets me very clear beer (so clear that the guys at the homebrew club asked if I was filtering).

I have a fine-mesh screen I pour my wort though when dumping it into the carboy. It's a pretty decent one since I usually have to empty it out about half a dozen times before I manage to get it all in the carboy.

After primary fermentation I ALWAYS rack to a secondary. I have a metal siphon rod that has a cap on the end that helps to keep from sucking up the yeasties at the bottom. I try to keep the rod end about 2 inches below the surface too.

About 48 hours before I'm going to bottle/keg I cold crash the secondary for a good 2-3 days.

After moving the secondary out of the fridge I leave it sitting on the wedge for a good 30+ minutes to let anything I stirred up from moving it out of the fridge settle back down.

I use the same metal siphoning rod and cap to move the beer to the keg/bottling bucket.

The result is a strikingly clear beer. It's not nearly as much work as it sounds like typed out. All the steps are weeks apart.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that when you put beer in the fridge, it effectively halts any development. I did not realize this process can be reversed. You cold crash, make a tight yeast cake, bottle, and then condition and carb warm and the yeast do fine? The flavors continue to evolve?
 
FreshZ said:
I was under the impression that when you put beer in the fridge, it effectively halts any development. I did not realize this process can be reversed. You cold crash, make a tight yeast cake, bottle, and then condition and carb warm and the yeast do fine? The flavors continue to evolve?
Click to expand...

Yup. Yeast go to sleep, they don't die. Unless you cook them, then they're toast.

They will eat up all the sugar in the beer until it's gone or until they get too cold. When they warm up again or when you add more sugar they will come back and get back to work.
 
I found a fine mesh screen at a home goods store. The handle is long enough to span the fermenter, it filters the hops well. I filter it when I rack to primary. The rest will settle out after fermentation.
 

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