Will filtering impair my beer quality or taste ?

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ni4ni

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I'm considering buying a kegging system, just to be able to filter my beer (I will bottle it anyway).
I noticed that my beer "matures" in the bottles and becomes better as time passes (2-3 months old beer is much better that 1 month old beer). I guess it's because the fermentation continues in the bottle.
When kegging, I should filter my beer, then force carbonate it (a matter of 2-3 days as far as I know) and bottle it.
Now, because of the filtering process, there will be no more yeast present in the bottles. Will it harm the "maturing" or "fining" of my beer ? Will my beer stay the way it was in the day I bottled it ?

Thanks

Guy
 
ni4ni said:
I'm considering buying a kegging system, just to be able to filter my beer (I will bottle it anyway).
I noticed that my beer "matures" in the bottles and becomes better as time passes (2-3 months old beer is much better that 1 month old beer). I guess it's because the fermentation continues in the bottle.
When kegging, I should filter my beer, then force carbonate it (a matter of 2-3 days as far as I know) and bottle it.
Now, because of the filtering process, there will be no more yeast present in the bottles. Will it harm the "maturing" or "fining" of my beer ? Will my beer stay the way it was in the day I bottled it ?

Thanks

Guy
Click to expand...
Consider this: when you filter out the yeast, you remove the possibility of carbonating in the bottle. You'll need to get a counter-pressure filler or beer gun to bottle and not lose carbonation.
 
ni4ni said:
Now, because of the filtering process, there will be no more yeast present in the bottles. Will it harm the "maturing" or "fining" of my beer ? Will my beer stay the way it was in the day I bottled it ?
Click to expand...

Yes, removing the yeast will impede the maturation process. It will not stop it, as yeast activity is only a part of the processes that go on during maturation. But it also increases the stability of your beer. The best time to filter your beer is when it is at it's peak. This means conditioning in the keg and filtering bottling after that period.

Kai
 
You will not be able to remove all of the yeast, unless you use a 0.5 micron filter. If you want to get to that level, plan on filtering through a 5 micron filter, then a 0.5. I use just a 5 micron, which leaves some of the yeast, but clears all of the husk, hops and flocculated yeast.

An average ale will peak in 3-4 months. Even if you use cold storage, you won't get more than 6-8 months. (higher ABV ales like barleywines can last for years, though)
 
I guess I will have to filter it with 5 micron filter, let it condition a while in a keg, filter with 1 micron and then bottle it.

Thanks again

Guy
 

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