Filtering your beer

[Grampy]

Here's a question that probably has been asked before but what do you use to filter your brew with and how clean does it get. My son and I are new to this, we use nylon bags for brewing and filtering but there still seems to be residue in the bottles. Need help on filtering or is this normal.

 

[TyTanium]

The residue is yeast that carbonated your bottles.

You will always have it if you bottle condition.

But you can still have crystal clear beer. Time in the fridge works really well, but there are plenty of finings available too. Just pour slowly and stop when the yeast reaches the shoulder of the bottle.

PS - yeast is good for you.

 

[twistr25]

Residue is actually a good thing, especially if you're bottling as Ty said. Leaving it in the primary for a good while, 3+ weeks, and being careful when racking it over to the bottling bucket will help keep it clear too.

 

[Captain Damage]

Trying to filter your beer after it's been fermented is a great way to oxidize and ruin it. Commercial beers are filtered with expensive high pressure systems - and even in their tightly controlled closed systems they have problems with oxidation. As a bottle conditioning home brewer your best filter is gravity. After bottle conditioning some yeast sediment is expected. Storing your beer in the fridge for a week or two or three will allow chill haze to drop out. Now your beer is clear! (Your beer is perfectly drinkable if it has chill haze, BTW. It has no effect on flavor or body. It just looks a little cloudy) Pour carefully and watch for yeast creeping towards the mouth of the bottle. Leave the last 1/2 oz of beer with the yeast and enjoy!

Certain styles are supposed to be cloudy. Wits have a deliberately induced starch/protein haze; hefeweizens are deliberately served with all the yeast from the bottle and may also have a protein haze; heavily dry hopped beers such as American IPAs often have a permanent haze caused by the dry hopping.

 

[RUNningonbrew]

If youre worried about sediment you're better off using some type of finings, kegging it then using a blichmann bottle filler. Would be cheaper than trying to figure a good way to filter your beer

 

[Grampy]

Thank you everyone for the input, you've answered our question. I knew I came to the right place for the right answer.

 

[kaz4121]

I would recommend two things. First, as runningonbrew said, you should try some fining agent such as Irish moss or whirlfloc during the boil of you beer. It helps coagulate proteins which ultimately reduces haze in beer. In addition, you could try cold crashing your beer prior to bottling if you have a converted freezer. Drop it to the high 30s for 24 to 48 hours and your beer will be crystal clear. Alternatively you can leave your beer is secondary for longer until it clears up a bit on its own. or try all three! Good luck.