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jester22151

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I have just started brewing and my first batch was good, but not as good as I might have liked. The question I have is, if I were to filter what was coming out of the fermenter as it was going into the bottles to cut some of the cloudiness in the bottles, would that interfere with the carbination since the yeast is important to the carbination. Is there some kind of filter that would cut that down but allow enough through to get the job done?

Or would it be better to to hold back a little of the yeast that I would use, put the beer into a second fermentoer after 4 or 5 days and add a little more yeast or would this completely defeat the purpose?
 
I can remember being a nOOb and wanting to drink my stuff right away and thinking the same stuff. The best advice that I have after trying several things to fix cloudy beer is....

patience


I now keep my brews in a secondary carboy for several weeks. You will have much clearer beer by doing this. You can also achieve this after bottling by doing the same thing.....keep it in the bottle and don't drink it for several weeks.

or you can use a non see-through glass. it will taste the same and you wont' see the cloudy beer. :)

loop
 
Patience is the number one ingredient in brewing..... If you want to clearify your brew leave it in the secondary for a few weeks..... However wait to transfer from the primary until fermentation has halted..... Then transfer...... The books that say transfer at 5 days are WRONG...... Let your hydrometer guide you not a book.....

DRAGGER.....
 
You don't need a filter for clear, good tasting beer. You can add Irish moss to the boil and that will help.
Time is the best filter. Leave your beer in the primary enough time to let the yeast do their clean up job.
If you are not using a clearing tank, leave it a few weeks in primary. Rack to bottling bucket and bottle.
If you use a clearing tank, rack from primary after fermentation and let clear for a few weeks. I tend to go 2 weeks in primary and 4 weeks in secondary and have crystal clear beer that tastes great. (I'm a big believer in bulk conditioning beer for flavor and balance.) :mug:
 
Addressing the yeast. It is just about impossible for a homebrewer to filter out enough yeast to cause a carbonation failure. Strainers or even most house filters will not do the trick. So, no, you don't have to worry about yeast or save some out.
 
are you bottling out of the fermenter? when i used to bottle, i would rack to a bottling bucket and leave all the crap behind, even if it meant losing a quart or so. and of course, as others have mentioned, if you arent using secondary, let it sit on the yeast 3 or 4 weeks before you even consider bottling.
 
I started my home brewing with a mr. beer kit so yes I am botteling out of the fermenter. I will eventually invest in a 5 gallon system, but first I just want to learn the basics. If I got another Mr. beer keg and used that as a secondary fermentor would that cut down on the cloudiness or would it be the same thing all over again. IN addition, if I was to ad some fruit or some additional hops or something should I add that to the primary or secondary fermentor?
 
jester22151 said:
I started my home brewing with a mr. beer kit so yes I am botteling out of the fermenter. I will eventually invest in a 5 gallon system, but first I just want to learn the basics. If I got another Mr. beer keg and used that as a secondary fermentor would that cut down on the cloudiness or would it be the same thing all over again. IN addition, if I was to ad some fruit or some additional hops or something should I add that to the primary or secondary fermentor?

You could rack to another Mr. Beer container but why? Don't buy another Mr. Beer kit! Use the money and buy a 6 Gallon Better Bottle or an Ale Pail for a secondary, same result with better equipment, same price or less and you'll have a jump on your 5 gallon system. Do you have a LHBS nearby? Otherwise checkout Austin Homebrew Supply online. They have what you need and have cheap one price shipping.

To answer your question, I add dry hops to the secondary. Same for fruit.
 
Adding hops in your secondary will be for aroma and not taste. You have to boil hops to extract the essential oils for bitterness. You add them to the secondary "dry hop" purely for the nose. I'm with cowgo on purchasing an ail pail to have a jump on your 5 gallon system.

loop
 
I'm a new brewer as well and what I'm always wondering is if you leave your brew in primary for 3-4 weeks, what's the purpose of transfering to a second fermenter if you have all of the tools to bottle easily from the first primary container?
 
beardedbrew said:
I'm a new brewer as well and what I'm always wondering is if you leave your brew in primary for 3-4 weeks, what's the purpose of transfering to a second fermenter if you have all of the tools to bottle easily from the first primary container?

Because of all the stuff ("trub") that settles out of the fermenter during those 3-4 weeks. It will be a big thick layer of dead yeast, hops particles, break material, and protiens. You don't want that stuff in your beer- that's why let it sit to clear and condition. If you bottle from that first container, you'll stir up all that stuff into the beer again when you add your priming solution.

So, you add the priming solution to a bottling bucket, and then rack your clear beer into the new container, holding the racking cane above the trub, so only the beer flows.

I even put my fermenter up on the island early in the day on bottling/kegging day, so when I move it if anything got stirred up, it has time to settle back down.
 
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