Filtering before kegging.

[radiowaves88]

Hello, new brewer here. I am a few days away from kegging my first brew. It's a Calypso IPA. I have followed the instructions that came with the kit very closely. I dry hopped the brew in the secondary fermenter with 7 days left in the brew as instructed. The hop pellets have broken down but a lot of hop residue still remains on the surface and suspended in the brew. Is this anything to worry about? Can I filter at kegging. If so, how can I do it? Thanks for any help.

 

[kombat]

It's not something to worry about, but if you really want, you can reduce the amount of hop residue transferred to the keg by cold crashing the carboy for a day or two before kegging. I personally would not filter, but some people report having success with covering the end of their siphon with some sort of (sanitized, of course) voile fabric to keep most of the bigger chunks from getting sucked up into the siphon. I've never tried this, as I found it hard to get the filter material to stay put, and I was worried about it clogging up and losing siphon.

On a related note, you usually don't need to use a secondary. In this case, since it's an IPA, a secondary might be recommended if you're planning to reuse the yeast (i.e., to keep the yeast from becoming mixed in with the dry hop gunk), but if you're not planning to re-use the yeast, it's better (in my opinion) to just dump the dry hops right into the primary fermenter and leave the beer in a single vessel until it's time to keg.

 

[Jim311]

It's generally considered too difficult or expensive to filter homebrewed beer, so we just embrace the various particulates, they won't hurt you. In fact, it's actually a selling point for some beers!

 

[brandonnys]

I don't know if it's poor practice, but I use a filter system with two Culligan HF-150 filter housings (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DH4LN/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20), the first one having a 5micron filter and the second having a 1micron filter. I fill one corny with unfiltered beer, hook the filter to the out post on that keg, and go to the out post on another empty corny. Then I just pressurize it and send it through the filters. I lose a fair amount of beer that way (3ish pints), but it works.

 

[BeardedBrews]

I don't know if it's poor practice, but I use a filter system with two Culligan HF-150 filter housings (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DH4LN/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20), the first one having a 5micron filter and the second having a 1micron filter. I fill one corny with unfiltered beer, hook the filter to the out post on that keg, and go to the out post on another empty corny. Then I just pressurize it and send it through the filters. I lose a fair amount of beer that way (3ish pints), but it works.

I have considered an approach very much like yours but have always had a few questions:

1. Filters - Are the filters single use, or do you clean and sanitize after use? If you clean them, what does that process look like?

2. Line Prep - After sanitizing, do you purge the sanitizing solution with CO2 before you start the filter/transfer?

3. Transfer Pressure - What pressure do you end up using for the transfer/filter? Would the system work under low pressure (<5psi)?

 

[Jim311]

I also wonder how he can sanitize those filters, or if they're a single use thing.

 

[Yooper]

It's generally considered too difficult or expensive to filter homebrewed beer, so we just embrace the various particulates, they won't hurt you. In fact, it's actually a selling point for some beers!

Haha- that just made me go "ewwwww"!

I hate the murky beers some sell (the NE IPA style among others). I like my beer to be clear, commercial quality, with maybe only a hops haze in heavily hopped beers. No chunks for me!

 

[radiowaves88]

Thanks for the info. A friend who homebrews just told me to use a common coffee filter when I keg. Does this sound OK/sanitary?

 

[prrriiide]

I also wonder how he can sanitize those filters, or if they're a single use thing.

You assemble the entire filter/housing structure submerged in Star-San and then purge with beer into the sink. Run into the keg when the beer has pushed out the Star-San.

I don't filter anymore. It always seemed to detract from the beer more than it added. I do a 5 day secondary at about 48&#730;-50&#730; on just about every beer I do, and they clear beautifully.

 

[Jim311]

Haha- that just made me go "ewwwww"!

I hate the murky beers some sell (the NE IPA style among others). I like my beer to be clear, commercial quality, with maybe only a hops haze in heavily hopped beers. No chunks for me!

I know, I'd say a ton of people feel that way. But my beers are murky and have hops floating around in them, and I'm okay with it. It makes the beer even tastier in my opinion, but not everybody agrees. I wasn't always that way either, I remember jumping online and looking up an unfiltered IPA thinking it had gone bad and wondering if it was safe to drink.


I cold crash but still end up with some hop matter in my dry hopped IPAs and that's okay. People don't seem to mind it once they've tasted it

 

[SGTSparty]

you could check this out. Gravity fed filtration system using a staircase.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the info. A friend who homebrews just told me to use a common coffee filter when I keg. Does this sound OK/sanitary?

No. It would oxidize the heck out of the beer, unless you had a way to filter with c02 like in the canister type filters.

 

[MikeSkril]

I have considered an approach very much like yours but have always had a few questions:

1. Filters - Are the filters single use, or do you clean and sanitize after use? If you clean them, what does that process look like?

2. Line Prep - After sanitizing, do you purge the sanitizing solution with CO2 before you start the filter/transfer?

3. Transfer Pressure - What pressure do you end up using for the transfer/filter? Would the system work under low pressure (<5psi)?

1.
Some filters can be reused. Most likely plated filters can be cleaned by back flushing and sanitized by heating in hot water. You have to check with the manufacturer before heating up a filter. Some other filter, you wont be able to reuse as you cant get them clean after the first use.
2.
The filter cartridges I've used are packed sterile. So I sanitized the lines and filter housing with Starsan, put the filter in the housing and ran CO2 to the system to flush all O2.
3.
5-7 PSI worked for me.

Anyway, I tried all that...I filtered with 2 filters in a row, 5 micron and 1 micron. Yes the beer would clear faster in the keg but dont expect it to be clear just right after filtering. I figured that gelatin has just the same effect.

My beers are crystal clear after a few weeks in the keg. Doesn't matter if IIPA or any other beer. Gelatin helps to drop out suspended yeast and proteins much faster. So I get the same results by adding gelatin, thats why I dont filter anymore.

 

[brandonnys]

You can hook the system up backwards and force water through the filters in reverse and it dislodges a good amount of the particulate matter. I hang them to drip dry, and once they stop dripping I just put the filters in a Food Saver bag and stick them in the fridge and keep them until the next batch. I get maybe 4-5 beers out of each filter. It ups my cost some, but I get a very clear, consistent product.

For the filters, most of them are packaged such that you can just drop them in the housing and go. I don't worry much about their cleanliness if they arrive in their factory wrapping. I've never had an issue to date.

To sanitize, I disassemble the whole unit and sanitize all the components with StarSan, and then reassemble and hook it up.

Until you mentioned it, I hadn't taken any precautions regarding O2 in the filter housings. I just assumed that when I pressurize the keg and start pushing liquid into the filter housings, that all of the O2 would get displaced by the liquid, and because I'm pushing the product into the second keg via the out port, there is only a marginal amount of O2 being introduced. Using this method, I haven't had any issues with oxidation to date, but I'm open to comments on it.

I did a filtration on an IPA yesterday and I ran it at 15PSI. Because I have two filters instead of just one, it was a bit slow. When I was running just one filter, 7-10PSI was more than enough. The porousness of the filter affects its resistance, so a 5-micron will require less pressure than a 1-micron, in my experience.

 

[MadHomebrewer]

Don't worry, a few weeks in the keg and it will clear up. Below is my last batch. First week was all murky second week in the keg it cleared up.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1466794771.432063.jpg