Filtering Question

I am a brand-new home-brewer, and was curious on the experts opinion on final bottling filtration...

I have not seen very much in my research on it, and plan on sharing my first batch (fingers and toes very much crossed....lol) with family and friends for the holidays.

How much leftover brewing ingredients will there be ???

My fear will be that my willing guinea-pigs will be "chewing" their brew rather than drinking it?

Suggestions or comments please....

TKS

Scooter13 said:

How much leftover brewing ingredients will there be ???

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as far as the trub/yeast cake at the bottom of the primary ferment that is usually left behind when you rack into a secondary. Usually I rack from primary bucket to a secondary bottle and then to a keg to be force carbonated. When I first started brewing beer I tried priming with dextrose in primary and then bottling.. kiss principal gone wrong after sampling. (yeastey beer that had a strong exlax quality)

Welcome to the board Scooter
BeerCanuck

If you filter your beer you will not be able to bottle carbonate. Filtering removes the yeast that you need. You could filter into a keg, force carbonate and then bottle from there but you're looking at a lot of extra equipment.

If you pour your beer properly (leave a little bit in the bottom) you won't get the yeast into your glass. People who are too picky about that don't deserve your beer in my opinion.

bradsul said:

If you filter your beer you will not be able to bottle carbonate. Filtering removes the yeast that you need. You could filter into a keg, force carbonate and then bottle from there but you're looking at a lot of extra equipment.

If you pour your beer properly (leave a little bit in the bottom) you won't get the yeast into your glass. People who are too picky about that don't deserve your beer in my opinion.

Click to expand...

I've read 5 and 1 micron filters do leave enough yeast to bottle condition, but .5 microns strips all yeast from the beer.

There is no need to filter. You will find a little yeast in the bottom of the bottle but that is it. I typically don't pour the whole bottle when I pour, and never drink my homebrew from the bottle. Once you empty a bottle be sure to rinse it immediately it will save you A LOT of time at bottle cleaning time.

Filtering is rarely necessary, as long as you've given it time to settle. Some kits say you can bottle from the fermenter, this will leave a pile of yeast on the bottom of the bottle. But, even then, a careful pour will give you fairly good results. Drinking homebrew from the bottle will stir up the yeast and is not recommended.

When I do filter, I use a 1 micron filter. That leaves a little yeast, but gets just about everything else.

THANKS to all....

So, I am taking the advice that filtering is "not" necessary....

I am still just a little unsure on the whole priming process though? So the way I have read the directions, I am to transfer from the primary (fermenting) to my bottling bucket....THEN I add my priming sugars to this and then I bottle directly from this bucket...correct?

Even so, I should advise all to still "pour" and not drink directly from the bottle...?

I guess this will work for now, but will need some advise for summer brew enjoyment, because I will want to be able to share my brew in the outdoors...

Thanks again to all.....Hope all enjoyed their thanksgivings...

Scott

I put the priming sugar into the bottling bucket first and then siphon the beer in.

If you pour the priming sugar on top, you have a grater risk of incomplete mixing and some bottles will be over carbed and others under carbed.

Pouring the beer into a glass is better. It also lets you see what the beer looks like.

If you drink straight from the bottle, you'll mix more yeast into the beer. If enough mixes in, it could start tasting bready at the bottom of the bottle.

Also, digesting yeast.... gassy.

A big part of the experience of enjoying a well-brewed beer is using your nose as well as your tongue. ALWAYS USE A GLASS. Sam Adams is even distributing their own glass to pubs - small base where you hold it to prevent heating from the hand, large bell shape and flute at the top to circulate the aroma when sipping. There is also nothing more pleasing to the eye than light coming through a nice red ale or the amber of a good IPA.