Do you filter your beer?

Do you filter your beer? How many times?

After mashing?
After boiling?
After fermentation, before bottling?

When and how many times?

Well, everyone filters their beer after mashing. It's inherent to the lautering process.

Most people also filter out their beer after boiling, in a similar manner, though some people also have an additional in-line filter.

I do all of the above.

There are also a few people who filter their beer after fermentation, whether its because they want clear beer, or their gut just can't handle the live yeast. But if you want to filter at this point, it pretty much requires a kegging setup.

Even filter media is "straining", just at a smaller (generally micron) scale

I am about to start filtering with a 1 micron in-line filter. I probably will have to move down to 0.5 micron to get the chill haze out of my light lagers but we'll see.

i use a canister/cartridge 1 micron filter after i cold crash and keg on most beers. I also use a small piece of nylon stocking over the return hose into the fermenter, and when siphoning from the fermenter into the keg. Dip the nylon in starsan to sanitize and zip tie over the end of the hose.

Only through my kidneys at the end of the process. Everything else I just let time and gravity take care of and my beer is extremely clear.

I have an inline .5 micron filter that I break out to put a nice crystal finish on my competition beers, aside from that my beers all get the Revvy treatment. Time and gravity to clear them nicely.

As mentioned above, lautering is a filtering process, so I do that. I also strain on the way into the fermenter. Not because I think it has a clearness or flavor issue. It makes yeast washing easier and the fermenter is easier to spray out with less trub in the bottom.

Otherwise, no filters for me.

Look!!!
I just tried this on my last batch, I filtered my beer after boiling it, this is what i got. I can't wait to see it after fermentation. I hope it's as clear as it is now. I read in another post that removing cold break could affect the reproductive phase of yeast but i'm planning to add enough yeast so that it doesn't affect the beer that much.

I will update this post with the results.

garae10 said:

Look!!!
I just tried this on my last batch, I filtered my beer after boiling it, this is what i got. I can't wait to see it after fermentation. I hope it's as clear as it is now. I read in another post that removing cold break could affect the reproductive phase of yeast but i'm planning to add enough yeast so that it doesn't affect the beer that much.

I will update this post with the results.

Click to expand...

Much of the flavor of beer comes from the yeast reproducing. Overpitching isn't a big deal on some beers, but it can really make some styles turn out less than great.

i like to filter post fermentation, pre-keg...its an extra step but the beers come out looking awesome.

I strain post boil. It does three things: makes my beer super clear, I get more beer due to less trub, and it does an amazing job of aerating the wort. All great things. : D

Hackinjeebs said:

I strain post boil. It does three things: makes my beer super clear, I get more beer due to less trub, and it does an amazing job of aerating the wort. All great things. : D

Click to expand...

What are you straining with?

+1 to rev i do exact same

I think most brewers strain/filter post-boil though, no? How else do they get rid of break material, hops, etc?

Granted, many people DO have a secondary in-line filter. My Blichmann HopRocket is able to function as such (as well as a hopback and randalizer), and I know that the tri-clamp trub filter available from Brewers Hardware has also become pretty damn popular lately.

I actually use a fine metal strainer. And just pour the wort through it into the bucket. Then top off if necessary. Saw an improvement in quality from doing this too.

No filtration for me. racking into a bottling bucket made a dramatic difference in the final product for me.

No have not filtered yet just siphon into bottling bucket being careful not to get any yeast cake then siphon into bottle and has never failed.

No filtering other than the grain bed in the mashing. I did transfer from one keg to another once (after the full keg had cold crashed) but I found out, at least for me it wasn't worth the effort. Now I usuall primary ferment for 3-4 weeks rack straight to a keg, give it a few days cold crashing and a 3-4 days pressure carbing. It works well for me. I also use whirlfloc. After a few week or two in a keg my ales have come out extremely clear for the most part and the ones I left in for 3 or 4 weeks were crystal clear. When I extract brewed they were cloudy but I think that was mainly due to my impatience, plus I use to litterally dump the whole brew pot into the fermenter.