Beer Filters, Do you use one?

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I'm looking for a way to have no sediment at the bottom of my bottles. Could I filter before it goes into carboy by placing a filter into a funnel, that is connected to my 3/8" tubing before it goes into the carboy?
And what sanitation precautions should I take? Just soak funnel and filter in Star-Sans?

No, that wouldn't work. The reason is that if you're bottling, the way the beer carbs up is through a mini-fermentation in the bottle. That means that the yeast will carb up the beer, then fall to the bottom.

In a well-made beer, though, that's a slight dusting and not an inch of sludge. If you wait and bottle the beer when it's clear (no filtering, just through gravity and/or cold crashing), the amount of sediment in the bottle is very light. Then, you let the beer sit in the fridge for a few days or longer, and the yeast compacts down pretty tightly. If you use a highly flocculant yeast, the yeast will fall out and form a little tight yeast cake on the bottom of the bottle.

If you absolutely positively want no sediment in the bottle, then the only way is kegging and bottling perfectly clear beer from the keg.

Some breweries bottle condition their beer, so if you've ever had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, that's the amount of sediment you should get with bottling properly.
 
I've recently started filtering for kegs that I transport. I've always been a big believer in not filtering. I've done the keg transfer method, but even then the beer always had a yeasty harshness once tapped at the party. I let the beer sit for weeks in cold storage before I filter. Wow, what a difference. After filtering, you can shake the crap out of the kegs with no problems. Now, the beer does seem to 'soften' some. So I wouldn't filter for an IPA unless you over compansate for the loss of bitterness, but for things like ambers and pale ales, I'm impressed. I use one of the plate filters with the 'polish' disk. I guess the lesson to myself is/was: Don't knock it, til you try it.
 
I have never filtered a beer, and if all things remain as they are, will probably never filter unless I were to be forced due to time constraints.

I have always used gelatin should I feel the need for additional clearing above and beyond cold crashing. I have made Yoopers "Fizzy Yellow Beer" and BierMunchers "Cream of Three Crops" for parties where I had to transport the keg and I can say my beer turned out as clear as any mass produced BMC offering.
 
No, that wouldn't work. The reason is that if you're bottling, the way the beer carbs up is through a mini-fermentation in the bottle. That means that the yeast will carb up the beer, then fall to the bottom.

In a well-made beer, though, that's a slight dusting and not an inch of sludge. If you wait and bottle the beer when it's clear (no filtering, just through gravity and/or cold crashing), the amount of sediment in the bottle is very light. Then, you let the beer sit in the fridge for a few days or longer, and the yeast compacts down pretty tightly. If you use a highly flocculant yeast, the yeast will fall out and form a little tight yeast cake on the bottom of the bottle.

If you absolutely positively want no sediment in the bottle, then the only way is kegging and bottling perfectly clear beer from the keg.

Some breweries bottle condition their beer, so if you've ever had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, that's the amount of sediment you should get with bottling properly. quote]

Not talking about bottling yet......talking about filtering right out of the boiling pot before the wort gets into the fermenter. Plus you can buy a funnel with a strainer,,why not put a coffee filter in the funnel as well?
 
You're not going to be able to filter out all the break material with a coffee filter. It will take you longer than it took to make the beer. The best way to keep break material out of the fermenter is to let the kettle sit for an hour after chilling (obviously plate and CFC's don't work with this) and all the hot and cold break will drop to the bottom of the kettle. Then you just open your valve and drain to the level of the valve, and let whatever's left go. There's still going to be sediment that drops out of seemingly clear wort, though, and then all the stuff from the yeast.
 
maybe I'll need to let things settle in brew pot once it's chilled dowm. I have always(twice) emptied the brew pow into carboy as soon as possible. I think I will experiment with filtering into carboy
 
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maybe I'll need to let things settle in brew pot once it's chilled dowm. I have always(twice) emptied the brew pow into carboy as soon as possible. I think I will experiment with filtering into carboy

Sure, many people do that. And that's fine.

But the point I was making is that even if you do that, you will not have sediment free bottles. The sediment at that point comes from the mini-fermentation in the bottle to carb up the beer. Filtering/straining/etc the wort doesn't do a thing for beer clariity or for sediment in the end. It means less stuff in the fermenter, sure, but the stuff all falls to the bottom as trub anyway so there isn't any advantage to filtering prefermentation unless you just don't want as much trub in the bottom of the fermenter.
 
There are many ways to get clear beer. If I want a batch to be crystal clear, a good cold crash and gelatin does the trick.
IMG_20120211_152923.jpg
 
Yes my beer on tap looks like that too. But, if you tried to transport the keg....I doubt it would look like that. I know I can bottle mine off the kegger and keep it that clear, but transport the keg...no.
 
I used to filter pretty much everything. It can help turn beers around a little faster, but if you're willing to wait a bit longer (like an extra week) you can get nearly the same results by cold crashing and letting the beer sit in the keg for a week or two before drinking it. Wait a little longer and you're where you would have been with filtering, minus the hassle, expense, risk of O2 exposure, etc.

I'm much happier leaving the filter alone. It's just something else that needs to be cleaned. I make 10g batches, so instead of 2 kegs I had to get 4 kegs ready, then I had to wait while it ran through the filters (usually took more than an hour) and use extra CO2. The dang filters cost about $3 per set. Not astronomical, but it all adds up.
 
There are many ways to get clear beer. If I want a batch to be crystal clear, a good cold crash and gelatin does the trick.
IMG_20120211_152923.jpg

Yes my beer on tap looks like that too. But, if you tried to transport the keg....I doubt it would look like that. I know I can bottle mine off the kegger and keep it that clear, but transport the keg...no.

Very true Hammy, but all you have to do pull the first pint off and the run a jumper to another keg and trans fill, your beer should be a clear as brew2enjoy's after transportation. I get the same results without filtering.
 
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