Water filter for more clear beer !?

[Irena]

My beer is very dark because i don't have access to Irish moss so i want to know if i can use simple water filters like these for clarifying my beer ?!

And if i can,when should i use it ? after fermentation or before it ?

Thanks.

 

[Grinder12000]

Well - those might have activated charcoal so you will take out the flavor at the same time! Bad idea LOL

Don't worry about clarity, you are not at that stage of expertise yet to really worry about it. Not cutting you down but there are other ways to do it. Plus "dark" does not mean cloudy right?

So when you say dark do you mean cloudy?

 

[KingBrianI]

It would be a lot easier to fine your beer with gelatin (I'm sure that's available there). There are tons of threads on this site explaining how to use gelatin to fine your beer. If that's not an option either, can you not get a place in Poland (or germany or the UK) to ship you irish moss, or whirlfloc or something like that?

 

[BendBrewer]

I found that time has been the best clarifier if you have it.

 

[Irena]

Plus "dark" does not mean cloudy right?
So when you say dark do you mean cloudy?

Sorry for my bad language skills,i exactly meant cloudy

It would be a lot easier to fine your beer with gelatin (I'm sure that's available there). There are tons of threads on this site explaining how to use gelatin to fine your beer. If that's not an option either, can you not get a place in Poland (or germany or the UK) to ship you irish moss, or whirlfloc or something like that?

I tried gelatin before, but i want beer which i can read book from other side of my beer glass like some commercial beer.

 

[malkore]

I've never used a filter and I can make beer as crystal clear as water.

Finings, crash cooling, and time is what it takes.

 

[gregpio85]

If you're going for a BMC type beer it might be worth trying one of those water filters. BMC's are pretty clean tasting to begin with so the water filter might act to level everything out. I'm by no means an expert on the matter, but I'd be interested in seeing what the effect is.
And even if you end up not using it for beer, you've got clean water.

 

[RobBug]

Using a water filter for beer is a pretty bad idea.

Best case scenario, you get pure water when filtering your wort (after about the first pint then it will just clog).

Worst case scenario, it immediately clogs - 99.9% sure this will happen.

Either way you waste money.

Time without any finings (irish moss, whirfloc tablets) is your best bet. Even a cloudy hefewiezen will clear up real nice given enough time (2 weeks or so).

 

[wolverinebrewer]

Col. Jessop: Are we clear?
Kaffee: Yes sir!
Col. Jessup: Are we clear??
Kaffee: Crystal.

All humor aside, time really does it.

 

[Irena]

I always cold crash my beer and let it sit for at least 4 weeks.i added gelatin to my last batch but it's also as cloudy as chocolate milk.
you can see it here :

so you think it's OK ?

 

[SKMO]

Gelatin toward the end of primary,(or anytime during secondary if you even do that), or during bottling will help a lot. TIME will clear about anything up as long as it's not a wheat beer or something meant to be cloudy.

EDIT - OK, after looking at that...... is the beer really cold? Maybe just chill haze? Are you pouring out of the bottle correctly and leaving the yeast behind?

If it tastes good I would not worry about it, looks pretty tasty.

 

[Irena]

yea i putted the bottle in the fridge for two days then putted in the room temperature for a whole day.the taste is good but i like perfectness so clarity is as important as taste for me.
By the way the used malt which i made it had a lot of dust.you think can it cause the cloudy beer like that ?

 

[RukusDM]

Using a water filter for beer is a pretty bad idea.

Best case scenario, you get pure water when filtering your wort (after about the first pint then it will just clog).

Worst case scenario, it immediately clogs - 99.9% sure this will happen.

Either way you waste money.

Time without any finings (irish moss, whirfloc tablets) is your best bet. Even a cloudy hefewiezen will clear up real nice given enough time (2 weeks or so).

It will not clog (depending on what kind of mess the beer is in the first place). I ran 5 gallons post ferment through a 20mic filter with out any issues. I want to try a 5 mic filter next to see what that does.

I was testing this to see if I could remove chill haze. I would need a 2 to 5 mic filter for that and have the beer cold to bring out the haze before passing through filter.

The problem is I only have a pump to push the beer through the filter. Using CO2 and beer in a keg pushed into a carboy or another keg is the preferred method from what I've read.

I did get some oxidization, but it was a test batch and I ran it through using different pump speeds and flows several times so I probably would rather use the keg method.

It does work though.

 

[Irena]

It will not clog (depending on what kind of mess the beer is in the first place). I ran 5 gallons post ferment through a 20mic filter with out any issues. I want to try a 5 mic filter next to see what that does.

I was testing this to see if I could remove chill haze. I would need a 2 to 5 mic filter for that and have the beer cold to bring out the haze before passing through filter.

The problem is I only have a pump to push the beer through the filter. Using CO2 and beer in a keg pushed into a carboy or another keg is the preferred method from what I've read.

I did get some oxidization, but it was a test batch and I ran it through using different pump speeds and flows several times so I probably would rather use the keg method.

It does work though.

so if it won't clog or give me pure water i'm gonna to buy one.

 

[certaut]

piwo wygląda dobrze dla mnie

 

[Runyanka]

Wont those filters oxidize the beer somewhat with all the places for air pockets?

 

[Bigjuicy]

If its chill haze then there is little you can do now to remove it. Some finings, cold conditioning and time will help clarify your beer. Chill haze is dealt with best before it becomes a problem. Chilling your wort as fast as possible will reduce chill haze significantly.

 

[RobBug]

It will not clog...counter to what I said --i.e. you're wrong

Correction - it really depends on the filter. If it's equipped with activated carbon or whatnot then it will really clean up. If you suck up the yeast it will get clogged and require backflushing etc.

Here is a decent thread on it from another forum:

Carbon filtration

And here is the wiki on filtered beer:
Filtered beer

I remember seeing a special on brewing beer - not brewmasters - and it showed the breweries filtration system - after every batch they had to take it apart and give it a good cleaning. This is large scale of course and slightly off topic.

Fake edit: it was Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe.

Edit: Either way, come back and tell us how it turned out.

 

[RukusDM]

Correction - it really depends on the filter. If it's equipped with activated carbon or whatnot then it will really clean up. If you suck up the yeast it will get clogged and require backflushing etc.

Here is a decent thread on it from another forum:

Carbon filtration

And here is the wiki on filtered beer:
Filtered beer

I remember seeing a special on brewing beer - not brewmasters - and it showed the breweries filtration system - after every batch they had to take it apart and give it a good cleaning. This is large scale of course and slightly off topic.

Fake edit: it was Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe.

Edit: Either way, come back and tell us how it turned out.

I stated that it won't clog depending on how bad the beer is in the first place. I used a 20 Micron filter and had no issues. I of course didn't plant the hose in the trub at the bottom of the fermenter.

I've used this twice and I always disassemble the filter and wash it out. Once I'm done I either fill the filter housing with star san and put it back together or leave all the parts in a bucket of star san.

If you use a 5 Micron or tighter, you will want your beer to have already set for a while to clear a bit before you filter, or you will want a dual stage with a 20 mic and a 5 mic. or you will plug.

 

[Irena]

I bought a filter just like this one in the picture and putted between my beer tank and spray gun.sadly there was no difference between filtered and not filtered beer,it only gives me more foam.you can see it here :

 

[davesrose]

We don't know what kind of filter you used by a picture. As for the picture of your beer, what kind of beer are you brewing, and is it all grain? Who knows, you could be using unmodified malts that need a protein rest (which will help clear up beer that has unmodified malt). Apart from IPAs and wheat beers, I can get pretty clear just with whirlfloc and cold crashing and conditioning . If you want to filter all your beer to be crystal clear, then you'll need a filter like this:

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/product/0101836/1-micron-filter

 

[Irena]

it's a brown ale and i used all grain method (Batch Sparge).
i made malt myself (from green barley).i always do protein rest and cold crashing but i can't reach the clarity which i want,i don't know some terms you used like : modified and conditioning.
yes i guess it's because of filter so i'm going to by 1 mic filter to see what will happen.

 

[ShakerD]

There are vendors on ebay that ship to Poland.

Just a thought

 

[Irena]

Thanks ShakerD.

 

[davesrose]

it's a brown ale and i used all grain method (Batch Sparge).
i made malt myself (from green barley).i always do protein rest and cold crashing but i can't reach the clarity which i want,i don't know some terms you used like : modified and conditioning.
yes i guess it's because of filter so i'm going to by 1 mic filter to see what will happen.

Yeah, 1 micron filter is about as clear as beer will go (it's a physical barrier that doesn't allow any yeast or large clumps of protein through). Water filters tend to be carbon filters, which isn't what you're looking for.

I'm also concerned a about the malt though. Commercial malt is going to have the best effeciency and no worry about different infusion steps. Getting proper germenation from raw barley is very difficult from what I understand. What was your effeciency? "Conditioning" just means letting the beer sit longer. I find if I let my beer sit a couple weeks, it'll get clearer.

 

[Irena]

I tried 1 micron filter ,still no change and beer is still cloudy.i always do all grain and i think my malt is a bit high in protein,what do you say about those filters with reverse osmosis and activated carbon ? i doubt if water filter has any effect on protein !!??