Who uses a filtration system? (looking for some testimony)

I love my beer. I hate the fact that I can't achieve a clear beer in my kegs. Seems the only time the beer runs clear is when I'm down to my last 3-4 pints.

I brew fast (10-gallon batches) and consume fast so the idea of leaving my beers 3, 4 or 5 weeks to clear naturally isn't so appealing. I generally brew wits and pale ales so these are not real big beers either.

Who here uses a filtration system and can you give me the ABC's of the equipment setup?

Ironically, when I bottled, my bottles cleared up nicely.

Help me get a clear beer again....please...

For my really light colored brews I use gelatin 2 days prior to kegging a/o bottling, but I don't filter.

I have a filtration system based on a household water filter. Just a filter housing and two hoses. Inlet has a liquid connector and the outlet a gas. (some people use liquid-liquid to reduce splashing) Mostly I use 2 micron filters. I use it on less than 10% of my batches, but when I need to clarify a brew, it does the job. I chill both kegs, purge the target kegs with CO2, and hookup the filter. I use about 5 psi to push the beer through, venting the target when the flow slows down.

When the keg blows, I invert the filter to get the last quart or so into the target keg.

homebrewer_99 said:

For my really light colored brews I use gelatin 2 days prior to kegging a/o bottling, but I don't filter.

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Do you do this in a secondary? Ever put gelatin in a keg?

I put gelatin in the primary a few days after fermentation ends and keg it after the bulk of the yeast settles out, 2-3 days. I'm pulling perfectly clear pints.

david_42 said:

I have a filtration system based on a household water filter. Just a filter housing and two hoses. Inlet has a liquid connector and the outlet a gas. (some people use liquid-liquid to reduce splashing) Mostly I use 2 micron filters. I use it on less than 10% of my batches, but when I need to clarify a brew, it does the job. I chill both kegs, purge the target kegs with CO2, and hookup the filter. I use about 5 psi to push the beer through, venting the target when the flow slows down.

When the keg blows, I invert the filter to get the last quart or so into the target keg.

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Thanks David. I saw this setup at Midwest Supplies. Sounds similar to your rig.

homebrewer_99 said:

For my really light colored brews I use gelatin 2 days prior to kegging a/o bottling, but I don't filter.

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HB, what kind of gelatin? Can it be purchased at a grocery strore?

I use 2 water filter housing inline. There's a cheap spun poly 1 micron nominal (not an absolute) and a .5 polyproylene accordion (ribbon?) style ($40) absolute filter.

I back flush with HOT water, then dump both into a strong solution of Oxyclean till I'm ready to filter again. On filter day I back flush then soak in a solution of metabisulphite then back flush that for a few minutes. Then filter.

The oxy clean will bleach them clear and back flushing will get rid of the broke down stuff that didn't come out with the original back flush.

It's really simple..honest!

For sanity sake, buy a bunch of hose type quick disconnects. This will make life much easier.

I replace the cheap 1 micron every once in a while but I have had the expensive .5 (or is it .3?) for over a year and it is still working good. The key is to back flush that one with hot water after you filter. Cold just doesn't cut it. I was getting lazy and just back flushing with cold and it started to plug up on me. I back flushed with hot for 5 or 10 minutes and it was like knew again.

Of course that was while I was accidentally filtering my damn hefe! (side note, it was the extremely tart one and it seems less tart now). I meant to filter my Trappist...

Denny, how are the results?

Does it make a difference with chill haze? My wits and PA's are served around 37-39 degrees.

Filtering cold tends to get rid of chill haze, but not always. If you can get a hold of some stabifix, ad dthat to the keg, swirl arond and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, THEN filter you will have no chill haze.

Over all though they come out pretty damn clear. Some will have a very slight haze but most ocme clear.

I also have a pump that I use sometimes to filter form the carboy to the keg, other times I filter from carboy to carboy pushing with gas.

I'd make sure you get a .3 or .5 ABSOLUTE filter and a 1 micron chepa fiter inline behind it. I notice very little flavor loss.

Some go with a 1 micon absolute. That will get the yeast out but not much else.

I'm doing the same as DEC. Spend about the same price as the Midwest filter setup. I cold crash everything and let the secondary set at about 40 for a week, then pour into a purged cold keg. run about 3 psi through a .5 micron with activated carbon. Comes out beautiful! My biggest reason was to remove some of the yeast. I DO notice that the flavors mellow a little, especially on delicate beers and ciders, but not enough for me to stop doing it. Just leave the filter full of Star San inbetween batches and let it sit in your kegerator.

EdWort said:

Do you do this in a secondary? Ever put gelatin in a keg?

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Secondary. I wouldn't put it in the keg because some of it floats and some sinks...what do you want in your glass?

Sounds like a ton of trouble and a great source of potential infection just to sidestep a little longer secondary. If you can just wait a few extra days, crash cool your secondary for 3 days prior to racking into keg. If you're in a big hurry, just brew a little more frequently so you can delay the kegging a bit.

I've been mulling plans for a filtering setup just as Denny described. Sounds like I'll eventually do it.

For now I want to use some gelatin just to see how well it works. Heard great stuff about it, I think I'll use it on one of my next batches.

I also want to run a small test to see how much the gelatin will pull out when I forget to dump in my irish moss. Damn amnesia. What was I talking about again?

drouillp said:

I've been mulling plans for a filtering setup just as Denny described. Sounds like I'll eventually do it.

For now I want to use some gelatin just to see how well it works. Heard great stuff about it, I think I'll use it on one of my next batches.

I also want to run a small test to see how much the gelatin will pull out when I forget to dump in my irish moss. Damn amnesia. What was I talking about again?

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You were saying something about FREE BEER and a party at your place this weekend....if I recall properly...

I wouldn't use any carbon fiter for beer. That WILL rob flavor.

Never had an infection due to filtering and it's not really that much of a pain. Actually, it's kinda like magic.

Well, I took the interim step of picking up some gelatin at my LHBS this afternoon.

I'm racking 10 gallons of my Nierra Sevada to the secondary tonight and it's and exact duplicate of what I did last time so it might be a good indicator of effectiveness.

If the improvement is negligable, I'll just chalk everything up to DAMN chill haze and live with it.

Checkout http://www.beerandwinefilter.com/

They are in Canada. You have to phone to order and get more info on pricing but wow, are they cheap. He will sell to Homebrewers at the same price as micros/brewpubs/brew on premises.

10" Pleated Polypropylene Absolute Filters:
.5 micon for $40 CAD
1 micron for $38 CAD
3 micron for $38 CAD
5 micorn for $38 CAD

10" plastic housing for $20 CAD

Hops in 5lb or larger bags as well.

BierMuncher said:

Well, I took the interim step of picking up some gelatin at my LHBS this afternoon.

I'm racking 10 gallons of my Nierra Sevada to the secondary tonight and it's and exact duplicate of what I did last time so it might be a good indicator of effectiveness.

If the improvement is negligible, I'll just chalk everything up to DAMN chill haze and live with it.

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I'd do 5 gallons with gelatin and 5 gallons without. You could then take samples from both kegs at different times for comparisons sake. I am going to try that on my Haus Pale when I keg it this weekend.

EdWort said:

I'd do 5 gallons with gelatin and 5 gallons without. You could then take samples from both kegs at different times for comparisons sake. I am going to try that on my Haus Pale when I keg it this weekend.

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Sounds like a good comparison experiment.

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

Checkout http://www.beerandwinefilter.com/

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Thanks DEC. I'll give them a look.

EdWort said:

I'd do 5 gallons with gelatin and 5 gallons without. You could then take samples from both kegs at different times for comparisons sake. I am going to try that on my Haus Pale when I keg it this weekend.

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As usual EdWort, you make entirely too much sense...

However, this "Haus Ale" you mention...I see no recipe in the database. How bout sharing....:cross:

I am not a kegger (yet), but I have heard that some people cut a ½” off of the dip tube. This raises the suction point a little higher above the yeast cake.

BierMuncher said:

As usual EdWort, you make entirely too much sense...

However, this "Haus Ale" you mention...I see no recipe in the database. How bout sharing....:cross:

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Yeah, I know.

Here you go.

Bee Cave Brewery Haus Pale Ale

Enjoy!

EdWort said:

Yeah, I know.

Here you go.

Bee Cave Brewery Haus Pale Ale

Enjoy!

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Thanks.
You say "cascade"...
I say "can't miss"...

Ed, am I responsible for you posting your first recipe?

My obligation here is done...

If you leave the dip tube as is, then most of the yeast comes out in the first pint or 2. Just don't bump the keg after that.

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

If you leave the dip tube as is, then most of the yeast comes out in the first pint or 2. Just don't bump the keg after that.

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And when your little sister and her new boyfriend show up at the party, and the new boyfriend is a complete moron, and on top of that, is a BMC guy, you give HIM those first couple of pints. See how much she likes him after that drive home

rabidgerbil said:

See how much she likes him after that drive home

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That's even more funny than Bobby_M suggesting BierMuncher brew more so that they sit in the secondary longer. :rockin:

I'm actually a bit curious as to how that turned out for BierMuncher. Did the gelatin clear up his problems or did he end up buying a filtration system?

I've used a home made filtration system a few times as described by others on this thread. I've found that it does a pretty good job of clearing up the beer but most of the time it's more trouble than it's worth.

The only time I really bother is when I'm making a batch to take to a party where I'm trying to serve a bunch of BMC drinkers who might be put off by my transparency challenged brew and only if it's a lighter recipe.

I have a question for those who use a filter. I was looking into geting a 5 micron filter for my beer to clear it up, but thought the expense per filter was to much to only filter one batch at a time, so logistics won't work out.

But my question regards what is filtered out. My friend who likes my home brews always rips obnoxiously loud farts the day after drinking my home brewed beer. I have been told by other friends who occasionally drink the beer that they have that happen sometimes too. I am somewhat immune now as my system has adjusted to drinking this beer almost every day. I know this is the suspended yeast acting up in their digestive system and causing gas, would filtering the beer eliminate this problem, does it take out almost all the suspended yeast. Aside from aesthetics does it have any additional benefits?

Kevin Dean said:

I'm actually a bit curious as to how that turned out for BierMuncher. Did the gelatin clear up his problems or did he end up buying a filtration system?

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He often promotes the use of gelatin and has many photos to prove that it works.

Donasay said:

I have a question for those who use a filter. I was looking into geting a 5 micron filter for my beer to clear it up, but thought the expense per filter was to much to only filter one batch at a time, so logistics won't work out.

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I'm almost positive that filters can be cleaned and re-sanitized.

Just in case anyone thinks you have to do anything special to get clear beer, here's one that wasn't filtered, or fined in any way. No irish moss during the boil either. Just time + cold. BTW, this is a wheat beer.

I use the 8.75" plate filters removing excess yeast and chill haze. My allergies really kick my if I drink a few pints of most beer without it. I use 3 micron filter pads at a cost of $1.50 each, 2 required per batch of 5 gallons.
I have only had them plug when trying to filter young hard cider with excess suspended yeast, which I knew was foolish but I wanted to experiment.

Cheers, and brew 1 for me!!

Donasay said:

I have a question for those who use a filter. I was looking into geting a 5 micron filter for my beer to clear it up, but thought the expense per filter was to much to only filter one batch at a time, so logistics won't work out.

But my question regards what is filtered out. My friend who likes my home brews always rips obnoxiously loud farts the day after drinking my home brewed beer. I have been told by other friends who occasionally drink the beer that they have that happen sometimes too. I am somewhat immune now as my system has adjusted to drinking this beer almost every day. I know this is the suspended yeast acting up in their digestive system and causing gas, would filtering the beer eliminate this problem, does it take out almost all the suspended yeast. Aside from aesthetics does it have any additional benefits?

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To answer your question, yes. A filter will remove most of the yeast and lower the fart quotient. Gelatin will as well. I don't filter nor use gelatin (though I bought some and keep meaning to try it). Bobby is right though, get it cold and let time do it's trick and it will be clear and not be loaded with rhino farts.

Kevin Dean said:

I'm actually a bit curious as to how that turned out for BierMuncher. Did the gelatin clear up his problems or did he end up buying a filtration system?

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The gelatin did what I needed it to. The lighter the grain bill, the sooner my beers clear up. This one is a <4% and this is two weeks from the kettle:

BierMuncher said:

The gelatin did what I needed it to.

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Awesome! I'll have to try that on a few of my own brews. Of course, my sister-in-law will not be able to drink any of them but such is life.

Kevin Dean said:

Awesome! I'll have to try that on a few of my own brews. Of course, my sister-in-law will not be able to drink any of them but such is life.

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Mmmmmmmmmm....turning beer into meat products FTW!!!!

PseudoChef said:

turning beer into meat products

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Exactly why it's a mixed blessing. My sister-in-law is a vegan.

Vegan's don't deserve beer anyways.

the_bird said:

I'm almost positive that filters can be cleaned and re-sanitized.

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Cartridge filter can most definitely be back-flushed and sanitized.

I back flush then soak in oxy clean. High concentration of oxy clean will sanitize.

I use a high quality .3 nominal which is roughly a 1 micron absolute. Use polypropylene filters. I bought one for 40 buck and have been using it for over a year. I sometimes prefilter with a $8 1 micron nom. water filter cartridge if the beer is very yeasty just to get the chunks out. Those cheap 1 micron filters are roughly equal to a 10 micron abs quality filter!

Some people use 5 micron absolute poly filters with great success as well.

I have a source for filters in Ontario, but I have to search for the damn website and phone number. I bought mine form a ubrew shop but the guy in Ontario has a great selection.