filter for beer

So has anyone used or bought a filter for their homebrew beers before kegging?

I'm in the process of building one right now outta a water filter housing. Well it's going to be a randall first then maybe a filter.

I have. I bought it mostly for when I do ciders, but I also use it when I add a huge amount of extra ingredients that would take months and multiple racking sessions to clear. This is the one I use. I noticed it's out of stock, others sell it too...it's essentially just a water filter. There's a few advantages and disadvantages. It will make your beer clear, but you lose some of the flavor. If your beer is really muddy, it will have to be filtered multiple times with sequentially smaller filters, otherwise your filters will get clogged very fast and require changing. You should transfer with CO2 to prevent oxidation, but sometimes you'll spring a leak and CO2 and beer will be wasted and make a mess. To prevent this, it's best to use a coarse filter and step it down, use a low CO2 pressure, and transfer slowly. A lot of back pressure will be generated when the filter starts to clog. It also requires a lot more cleaning and sanitation because you have to clean at least 2 kegs, the cartridge housing, and the lines. It's a great product to have, but I would highly recommend that you only use it when you absolutely have to, and nothing else will do the job.

is it really that big of an issue? i get plenty clear beers without doing anything.

pwndabear said:

is it really that big of an issue? i get plenty clear beers without doing anything.

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Thats what I'm saying. In fact I peeked at a bottle of my hefe yesterday and it was way TOO clear.

I guess for once chill haze will work to my advantage

Obviously not everyone will see the point in it. It depends on what you are making, and how clear you want it to be. It's not always a matter of clarity though, but rather a method for removing additional sediment that might have been kicked up or anything that has neutral buoyancy. This could be useful for anyone who used anything like fruit, chocolate, or hops. Anything that might change the viscosity of the beer to something thicker or containing more particulates than preferred. With all things on this forum, it's how far you wish to go with a beer and what you wish to do with it.

Teromus - are the filters pretty easy to clean or a pain in the butt? Reusing some like that would make me pretty nervous.

They sell re-usable filters but I use the disposable ones. They disposables are only $2.95 and I don't use filters all the time, so it's not too pricey. I do clean them off before throwing them in the recycle bin, so I would imagine the re-usables are just as easy to clean. I spray them off with a dish-sprayer attached to my sink. My kit also came with a backflushing attachment, so that would help as well. The filter is the least of the problems...the most annoying part is cleaning all the stuff before filtering, then cleaning it up afterward. One more reason I use disposable ones

What if you used a filter like that for already carbed beer right before going into the glass? I mean in between the keg and the spigot?

Scooby_Brew said:

What if you used a filter like that for already carbed beer right before going into the glass? I mean in between the keg and the spigot?

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You would get nothing but foam. Carbed beer has to be filtered under counterpressure.

I filter every batch. I use these:
Housing
Filters

I have done this for a few years and it is well worth it for me. There are those that don't think filtering is worth it. It is easy and I feel my beer is much better and ready quicker.

I ferment in a 15.5gal keg and then transfer to 2 corny kegs and cold crash them for a couple of days. I then filter to another set of corny kegs. I cut 1 dip dube about 3/4 inch so it leaves most of the junk in the keg and not the filter. I also remove the insides of the out post on the 'dirty' keg so it doesn't clog. I trash the filter after one use, but I have done two batches back to back with one filter, rinsing between batches.

I also run a few gallons of clean water through the filter to get it all flushed out prior to running beer through it.