Filtering beer before priming to bottle

[Gemadrken]

Before I get into anything; a lot of people have really weird opinions on filtering beer. Some love it for good reasons - Some love it for dumb reasons - Some hate it for good reasons - Some hate it for dumb reasons. And some people hate it or love it after varying experiences.

My is not necessarily "filtering to speed up clearing."

The context of my question: I've been making heavily hopped IPA's lately; 7-11oz of hops per 5 gallons. The issue i've had is that there are extremely small hop particles that you can feel on your tongue; i'd like to remove these. The battle I fight is "bottling fast enough to maintain top hop flavor/aroma vs giving the large hop particles enough time to fall into the trub." I do not have a kegging system yet; when I do i'll filter all my beers at a 5 micron filter unless my eventual personal experience tells me not to.

My actual question: If I filter through a 5 micron filter; will that leave enough yeast in my beer to effectively carbonate my beer? I know some people filter to take out their yeast; some even pasteurize their finished beer (on a commercial level).

I have a pretty kickass filter system; but i'd like my IPA's to actually carbonate. The hop particulate gives a really odd mouth feel.

Obviously i'd never shoot something like a hefe-weizen through a filter. I just need a way to keep hop particles away from my final product in heavily hopped beers.

On a side note; I've sent my first 2 wines through a 5 micron filter with great results; they are crystal clear. I don't filter to speed up my process- I filter to remove any random large particles that sneak their way into my wine. I'd be surprised if I ever decide to not filter a wine.
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Sorry for such a deep explanation for why i'm asking my question; but after ridiculous amounts of research on the subject i've found that people tend to have extremely strong opinions on the subject; like politics level strong feelings lol

 

[billl]

A 5 micron filter will remove most of the yeast.

If you really want to filer and then bottle carb, you can always add some fresh yeast post filtration.

If you have the ability to cold crash, that will drop the hop particles and you won't need to bother with the rest.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

My DIPAs are usually in the 9 -12 oz hop range. Some use as much as a 4 oz hop stand and 4 oz dry hop. I was also having hop particle issues. My last few I have cold crashed 48 hours, added gelatin, gave it another 48 hours and then bottled. Carbed up fine and clear as a bell. No filtration.

 

[Gemadrken]

Thank you both for the advice; I did consider re-yeasting post bottling and unfortunately I do not yet have the capabilities to cold crash.


I'll be investing in a kegging system and freezer cooler soon. Its good to know I'm not the only one that had the problem though.


Maybe i'll try to get like a 20 micron filter or something like that- or maybe ill just deal with it a few more times before I get proper equipment hah.

 

[billl]

Or be patient and wait for your beer to clear...

Or dry hop with hole hops.

Or keep the bottles in the fridge for a few days and pour carefully. It's a mini-cold-crash.

 

[GHBWNY]

Unless it is a chill haze situation, given time and gravity, all beers will eventually clear of all suspended particles: yeast, hops, etc.... if you want to wait. My understanding is that filtering at the homebrew level can encourage oxidation, which is detrimental to a post-ferm beer.

 

[bobeer]

I don't filter my beer and I've never used gelatin but I know a lot of people use it to clear their beer. Might look into that... I"d be worried about oxidation by using a filter. If it were me I'd just bottle and put them in the fridge for a week or so after they're carb'ed up.

Cold crashing helps a ton. Cold crash before kegging then as it carbs in the fridge it cold crashes some more. In a few days you have pretty clear beer. I know you're working on a setup like this but just know once you get there you wont have to worry about this

 

[billl]

Unless it is a chill haze situation, given time and gravity, all beers will eventually clear of all suspended particles: yeast, hops, etc.... if you want to wait. My understanding is that filtering at the homebrew level can encourage oxidation, which is detrimental to a post-ferm beer.

Filtering doesn't cause oxidation. Screwing up the filtering process can, but so can just about everything else in brewing if you do it wrong.

 

[wischwm]

75% of the beers I brew are IPAs. I really haven't had the problem you're describing. Yes, I do sometimes have some "floaties" but I usually let them settle before transferring. Although filtering would be one way to deal with them, I would be very worried about the "stripping" of hop flavor and aroma during the filtering process.

 

[BrewScandolo]

Ideally, transfer to a 2ndary. Then cold crash and use the gelatin method. It makes a huge difference. All those big particles drop out and you still have yeast to bottle carb. I normally cold crash for at least a week.

If you can't cold crash then you have to wait. Wait a long time. That stuff will eventually drop out.

 

[The_Great_Beast]

I don't have strong opinions on this, just thirty years of experience in process filtration for fermented beverages.

5 micron nominal filtration will reduce yeast population somewhat, but won't reduce it to the point of stopping bottle conditioning. Mature yeast cells are 0.45 micron in size, and newly-budded daughter cells are 0.2 micron.

However, a single pass with a 1.0 micron nominal filter medium will remove about 80% of suspended yeast cells from a beer. This is because 'nominal' means that the passages in the pad/cartridge range from 3 or 4 microns down to 0.1. Absolute micron rated filter media have much less variation, but because they're so tight, they plug up before much useful filtering is accomplished. They are best suited to being the final stage in stepped filtration.

As a commercial winemaker I filtered all of my wine. #1, customers hate sedimented bottles and complain and ask for their money back. #2, it looks much better--the difference between a filtered beverage and a crash-chilled or fined one is the difference between a freshly washed car and a freshly waxed car. It's instantly obvious.

#3, and most important, filtration improves aroma and flavor, and increases color stability. By removing suspended solid material that will either settle out over time, or degrade into other flavor/aroma compounds, the real character of the beverage is revealed.

(Note that filtering does not strip flavor, aroma or color. Any notion that it does ignores the fact that flavor and aroma compounds are molecules, and they're measured in nanometers, not microns. The hole in a filter element might as well be the size of the solar system compared to the size of a flavor or aroma compound.)

I find this crucial in highly hopped beers: if I make my Pliny the Imposter clone I want to drink it up within a few weeks of kegging. After that it loses the fine edge of outrageous hops. By filtering it I can get it into a keg, free of floating crap and serve it easily.

When I want to bottle condition a filtered beer I use CBC yeast. It's a completely wonderful product, carbonates quickly and reliably and forms a yeast sediment like a coat of paint.

 

[billl]

"5 micron nominal filtration will reduce yeast population somewhat, but won't reduce it to the point of stopping bottle conditioning. Mature yeast cells are 0.45 micron in size, and newly-budded daughter cells are 0.2 micron. "

Wyeast disagrees, and I think they should know.

". Ale and lager yeasts are currently both classified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae but historically have been considered separate species with lager yeasts in the Saccharomyces uvarum (carlsbergensis) classification. Yeasts are very small, typically 5 to 10 microns (1 micron = 10-4 centimeters) "

https://www.wyeastlab.com/he-yeast-fundamentals.cfm


But you have a valid point about nominal filter sizes. That is why a 5 micron filter will catch some, but not all, yeast cells. The higher end of the range will let some yeast through and the lower will catch them.

 

[crashmeister]

I filter the cheap, easy way, when transferring from boil pot to brew bucket, and again from brew bucket to keg/bottling bucket. I zip-tie a short (knee high) ladies stocking (panty-hose) to the end of the tube. Catches all of the crap. Never had a blocked keg or floating debris in the bottles.

Seriously, try it.

 

[Terence]

I brew and ferment 76 litres each time I brew, when ready to keg I set up 4 x 19 litre kegs with connections between each and filter and pump. I then purge all lines and filter and pump with CO2 and then hook up to outlet on conical stainless fermenter. Beer pumps through filter, into out port on first keg and out of oxygen post into next keg beer out post. When finished all kegs are full and have CO2 in left over head space, I then disconnect from fermenter and hook pump back up to CO2 bottle and let bubble away for a while until all kegs have settled down, result is clear beer carbonated.

 

[Terence]

Am overseas right now but will post pictures to show when I get home, I have beer in secondary now and will decant to kegs on 24th this month (October)

 

[Gemadrken]

Once again; it isn't a a patience problem

My Problem is- I've had people tell me its a good idea to dry hop for the last 5 days before bottling to preserve maximum aroma. If you are on a 5 day schedule being patient has nothing to do with anything.

I'd wait 6 months to bottle my IPA if thats what it took- but in this context i'm looking at a potential 5 day schedule.

Cold crashing is a fantastic idea. That is what I will do no doubt once I get a cooler

This has nothing to do with clearing- I know countless ways to clear my products.

This has specificially to do with 1 context- If I dry hop 5 days before bottling; even in a triple seep bag + "small" micron mesh mash bag; I will get hop particles in my beer. DOES ANYBODY KNOW A REASONABLE MICRON SIZE TO LEAVE ENOUGH YEAST TO CARBONATE WHILE STILL REMOVING LARGE HOP PARTICLES FROM THE BEER. - is my question. Any point outside that is irrelevant. You all have great ideas and are largely correct with what you are saying; but it just isnt relevant to what i'm asking.

Obviously there are countless great ways to clarify beer; that has nothing to do with my question. I'm interested in removing large particles while retaining suspended yeast count.

Obviously patience pays off great in a variety of ways; that has nothing to do with my question (If it does then feel free to enlighten me; but here I see a 5 day dry hop timeline). I dabble a lot in wines, if I wasnt patient then winemaking would not be worth my time..





To completely summarize my question; If i'm dry hopping shortly before bottling- How can I remove large hop particles from my beer without filter kegging or cold crashing? Is there a filter size that will retain enough yeast to carbonate while removing "massive" particles?

The gelatin(s) are a good idea. I may likely try that.

I don't know if you have all eaten hop matter but you should. Its terry unpleasant but enlightening. Imagine that while sipping an IPA that would be amazing without hop particles. That is what i'm trying to bypass.

Maybe I just need to go from 11oz of hops/5 gallons to 14 oz hops/5 gallons and give them extra time to settle



If I don't get a definite answer then thats fine because i'll be investing in kegging systems and refridgerators in a few months; also it will be winter so i'll have a lot of options for cold crashing
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All my bitching in consideration; there are some very great/informative responses here. I just feel that a lot of people didnt read anything to figure out the context

 

[wobdee]

I use to filter my beer into my keg with a 5 micron filter and there was always a little yeast left in the bottom of the empty keg. I think it takes a 1 micron absolute filter to remove all yeast.

 

[brokebucket]

Pretty sure gelatin only works with cold crashing. Could be wrong here, but when I have seen gelatin used, it is in combination with chilling.

Also, since you are in Minneapolis, it is about to get real easy for you to cold crash...stick it outside overnight and let the cold crash elves do it (they only show up when the temp is below 40F).

 

[Gemadrken]

Pretty sure gelatin only works with cold crashing. Could be wrong here, but when I have seen gelatin used, it is in combination with chilling.

Also, since you are in Minneapolis, it is about to get real easy for you to cold crash...stick it outside overnight and let the cold crash elves do it (they only show up when the temp is below 40F).

I am absolutely going to be taking advantage of of that

I'll try to make some lager's, pilsners, things I can't make without cold


The thing that has worked best so far has been making sure my bottles stay up-right while they are in the fridge for a while and then I decant as I do my pour and leave the last inch or so

 

[Terence]

I go through 2 or 3 x 1 micron filters for around 76 litres of beer, fermenter is sealed during primary and secondary and beer self carbonated during fermentation).
First photo purging kegs and pump with CO2
Second photo pumping beer through filter
Third photo shows beer going in beer-out tube and out air-in tube
Fourth photo shows purging beer from pump and filter and pressurizing kegs ready for chilling

 

[Gemadrken]

That setup looks amazing my man. Your inline pump looks pretty hefty; do you feel you need a pump that size for that type of filter? I've been theorizing a setup like that for my wine; I was using my vacuum pump to suck wine through my filter but I decided that surely an inline pump is superior.

 

[Terence]

G'day Gemadrken. I concur with inline, positive pressure instead of negative will get more consistent flow through filter IMHO.

The pump I use is a cheap (AUD$100) mag drive wort pump, it has a head of 3.4 metres and maximum flow of 19 l/min. I use a small peristaltic pump to remove the trub from first and then secondary ferment prior to decanting to kegs. This peristaltic pump controls the trub discharge and I waste no beer to speak of. Depending on the beer type I could go through anywhere from 2 to 4 x 1.0 micron Polyspun filters when decanting to kegs.

The pump is more economical than using CO2 to pump from fermenter and safer. I would probably blow the seam out of the cheap build fermenters I use if I tried to pressurize enough to push the beer through filter and then through 3 kegs.The pump does need to be able to push a bit of head as it does force the beer through a semi clogged 1.0 micron filter and 3 full kegs prior to the fourth keg

After I have emptied the fermenter I then hook up the pump to a CO2 line and this purges the pump, evens the quantity in first 3 kegs and also creates enough headspace in the first 3 kegs and pressurizes all of them.

The result is a clean transfer of beer to kegs with minimal (albeit a filter change) exposure to oxygen.