cjmcfoot
Well-Known Member
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_360&products_id=1419
Do any of you use these and if you do what do you think?
Do any of you use these and if you do what do you think?
I agree there are some situations that may warrant it but by far the kinds of folks that ask about filtering are either impatient or trying to reduce sediment in bottle conditioned beers. I was certainly assuming that in THIS thread.
To understand where my bias comes from, there were 11 "no I don't need to filter" responses and one unique situation that benefited from it. I think if the OP said "I'm allergic to yeast, will filtering help me?" the responses would have been pointedly different.
I have been filtering all of my beers (especially the dry hopped ones) through a canister filter with a 3 micron element (nominal/cheap). It adds about $1.10 to each brew, but I have found it very worthwhile. Especially if you like to drag your kegs to parties, like I do. No worries about letting them settle. The first beer is ready to drink. I push from Corny to Corny with CO2 at about 5 psi through the filter. Recipient keg pre-purged. No worries about oxygenation.
Do you reuse the media for more than one batch or do you try to run a few beers through in one sitting? If not, where did you find $1.10 filter carts?
+1, this is the only time I filter a beer. If I go the the bother of making a nice, clear, delicate cream ale, I don't want the flavor ruined by yeast sludge getting drug back up when I cart the keg off to a party. Filtering is the only way to remove enough yeast that it won't cloud up when you move the keg turning into a hefe.
Cream ale and American lagers are the only styles I see the need to filter.. though maybe someday I will try making a crystal wheat which also must be filtered to remove the permanent chill haze.
BTW in case it isn't obvious... you need to de-gas the beer AND chill it in the keg before filtering. If you don't de-gas you will have severe foaming and end up with a keg of foam rather than a keg of beer. Chilling it for a week before filtering drops out enough of the yeast the filter won't clog.
philc - can you share which filter you use or share a link to one that is similar?
FiltersFast.com has quite a few filters under $5 that fit a standard 10" whole house housing. BrewMastersWarehouse sells a filter kit with the standard housing for keg-keg filtering. I use a 1 micron filter, it will remove almost all of the yeast but without stripping body. .5 micron will remove all yeast and bacteria but will also strip out long chain dextrins causing a decrease in SRM and body.
I also have a MiniJet filter I use to filter wines at bottling, but I found it oxidizes beer slightly. This isn't a problem for wine because you can add sulfite to the bucket right before filtering. (Well, I suppose you could use sulfites in your beer too, but I don't like the idea too much)
They came in a two pack at Ace Hardware for that price. I haven't purchased more for quite a while now, though, because I stocked up. Check your local hardware or home improvement store. I have had difficulty locating them on the websites, but they all carry them in store. Look for a 3 or 5 micron nominal filter. There are small and large filter housings, also. I don't know the exact dimensions, but for affordability you want the smaller of the two.
$1 each in a case of 50. http://cgi.ebay.com/Case-of-50-10-x...pliances_US?hash=item1e58b13890#ht_1671wt_807
I have been filtering all of my beers (especially the dry hopped ones) through a canister filter with a 3 micron element (nominal/cheap). It adds about $1.10 to each brew, but I have found it very worthwhile. Especially if you like to drag your kegs to parties, like I do. No worries about letting them settle. The first beer is ready to drink. I push from Corny to Corny with CO2 at about 5 psi through the filter. Recipient keg pre-purged. No worries about oxygenation.
I did a couple of before/after tests for how the filter affected the taste/color. The only difference I found is that the beers tasted a little cleaner and crisper, which I really like. I think that may be from the yeast removal.
So, contrary to most of the posts here, I love filtering my beer!
Unless your beer is already carbed to say 2.5 volumes via 12 psi or something. If so, you want to pressurize BOTH kegs to 12psi, then vent the "to" keg just enough to make it flow. It's the only way you're going to keep it carbed.
I guess I should back up a little, this is the primary reason I OP'd and started this thread. I have been asked by my place of employment to brew some seasonal winter brew for our brewfest. This requires me to transport my kegs and kegerator but I was worried about stirring up the sediment during transport.
So Phill you just transfer between two cornies under about 5psi with the filter in between? Interesting, I like it, perhaps I will give it a go, and see what happens.
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