Filtering *instead* of secondary fermentation?

These guys seem to claim it works.

http://www.homebrewstuff.com/servlet/the-165/Home-brew-beer-filter/Detail

During secondary aging the primary effect is that more yeast settles out of suspension, carrying with it, proteins, polyphenols, and other flavor compounds that contribute to the "green" flavor of un-aged beers. Filtering will eliminate most of this yeast and those flavor compounds in a matter of minutes instead of weeks.

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Does this mean I can keg, chill, filter, force carb, and start drinking my beer as soon as active fermentation grinds to a halt for less than $3 extra per batch? Sounds too good to be true. What say ye?

I say nay. You can't filter diacetyl and other fermentation by-products too small for the filter to take out so the yeast needs to hang around and clean that up for you. Not only that, your filter will clog pretty quickly if there is still a lot of yeast in suspension.

Why filter if you are kegging? It gets clear in a week or two without any finings anyway...

If you were bottling, I could see this as more useful.

The yeast will NOT be filtered by a 5 micron filter that I know of. You need a 1 micron or .5 micron filter for that. Also a .5 micron filter will take much more than just yeast, that filter will suck all the color out of a merlot. (clear red wine anyone?)

I also want to add that the yeasts won't be given the time to clean things up.

IMO.

I'm def not going to ruin my beer because some guy can't sell his filters and is trying out a new market.

TheMan said:

Why filter if you are kegging?

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Speed

I've been considering getting a filter anyway, just to be able to produce a cleaner looking beer and maybe be able to waste a little less. I hadn't noticed the way the filter was being sold until a couple days ago and wanted to run it past you guys.

With a temp rise the yeast clean up fast. One day at 70 is enough. Pros can pull of ales in 10 days with filtering and force carbing (they also crash it to help keep the filters clean.) Good temp control and yeast health is more important than time.

I'm working on a process to turn grain directly into urine.

SoonerDoc said:

I'm working on a process to turn grain directly into urine.

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I can already do that.

Pro: I can dump trub just about anywhere.
Cons: Crunchier than I prefer, and doesn't seem to impress the ladies.

Filtering doesn't condition the beer.
Filtering REQUIRES kegging (another expense)
Adding $3 to each batch is a 10% increase in cost per batch for me.

3 strikes...OUT!