your opinions on timing. filter on siphon?

i would like to know your opinions on how long, in general, i should keep a brew in primary, how long i should keep it in secondary then how long i should keep it in bottles before drinking it.

i was also curious if i could possibly attach a filter to the end of my siphon hose that goes into my full fermentors, in order to filter out insolubles to make an even cleaner beer, when racking to secondary or bottling.

I would leave it in the primary for 2 weeks and then secondary for one to two weeks if you are bottling. It takes a good 3 weeks for the bottles to carbonate and they should be at 70 degrees or a little higher.

I am not sure what type of filter you are thinking about for the siphon. You can attach a fine mesh hop bag and that works to a degree. If you keg the beer comes out very clear without filters.

Blender said:

If you keg the beer comes out very clear without filters.

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Can you explain why kegging would result in clearer beer than bottling?
It seems to me that the same beer in = the same beer out, regardless of vessel.

I'd do 2-3 weeks primary and maybe 2 secondary. If I'm using a high flocculate yeast though i will just use a primary. I also often add geltain a few days before bottling. I don't strain my wort, some do and i've seen them use a large funnel with a cheese-cloth like strainer.

I use the 1-2-3 method. 1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, and 3 weeks in the bottle. That is for most normal beers. I don't believe filtering can be done by gravity too well. I've found the best luck with pushing from one keg through a filter to another keg via CO2. But rather going through all that, just put your secondary into the fridge for the last 3 days before bottling (also known as crashing, best done around 30°F). Note: Bring it back up to room temp before bottling.

schneemann said:

Can you explain why kegging would result in clearer beer than bottling?
It seems to me that the same beer in = the same beer out, regardless of vessel.

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If you force carb in a keg then you don't have anywhere near the amount of sediment that you do when bottle conditioning. Also, if you cold crash in the keg for the time it is force carbing, anything left in suspension in the beer falls out and you can draw it out on the first pint. After that everything should be crystal clear.

mmb said:

If you force carb in a keg then you don't have anywhere near the amount of sediment that you do when bottle conditioning.

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What is it about force carbing that results in less sediment?
My guess is that the process of bottle conditioning (adding sugar for the yeast to feast on) is the cause of that sediment, so therefore force carbing avoids that. Is that correct?

schneemann said:

What is it about force carbing that results in less sediment?
My guess is that the process of bottle conditioning (adding sugar for the yeast to feast on) is the cause of that sediment, so therefore force carbing avoids that. Is that correct?

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Correct.

That's why you decant off of bottle conditioned beers. Mega brewers also filter the beer going into the bottles, but the bottle conditioning creates quite a bit of sediment.

You will still find sediment in the bottom of a keg but it compacts and will stay in place as you draw off the beer. My beers are considerably clearer since the switch to kegs. Bottles seem to be better if you can chill them for a few days to a week but I was never able to do that consistently.