Filtering Beer

[christhebrewer]

I use a 10" filter housing and a 1u filter. I chill down to 1c for a couple of days and pump out through the 1u filter. This give a nice clear beer without having to wait weeks. 1u leaves enough yeast to bottle condition too.
these guys have the housings and filters.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/10-WATER-FILTER-HOUSING-3-4-PORTS-CLEAR-BOWL-/180680028688?pt=UK_HGKitchen_SmallApp_RL&hash=item2a115e7210

You can back flush the spun polyprop filters and re use them although they are about €2.50 in chadwicks now so why bother.
By the way one filter can easily handle 60l in about 10 minutes.

I'm actually looking for a 0.5u filter for beers which won't be bottle conditioned.

[Partridge9]

@Jacob

Unfortunately they really are only single use - but you could in theory use one filter for two batches if you did it together.

Also it would handle 10 gallon batches no problem.

I bought the filter system and a 'box' full of 1micron and 5 micron for roughly 100euro all in.

[Greg2013]

I use a 10" filter housing and a 1u filter. I chill down to 1c for a couple of days and pump out through the 1u filter. This give a nice clear beer without having to wait weeks. 1u leaves enough yeast to bottle condition too.
these guys have the housings and filters.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/10-WATER-FILTER-HOUSING-3-4-PORTS-CLEAR-BOWL-/180680028688?pt=UK_HGKitchen_SmallApp_RL&hash=item2a115e7210

You can back flush the spun polyprop filters and re use them although they are about €2.50 in chadwicks now so why bother.
By the way one filter can easily handle 60l in about 10 minutes.

I'm actually looking for a 0.5u filter for beers which won't be bottle conditioned.

Chris what about the fittings that go into the top for connecting the pipework, have looked on their site and they don't e=seem to have them?

[christhebrewer]

Most of my connections are 1/2" copper. I use a short piece of copper, around 50 or 60mm long. This is a perfect fit to push a 12mm silicone hose onto. Set up is;
Solar projects pump connected directly to the 1/2" ball valve on the fermenter. copper on the outlet of the pump connected to copper on the inlet of the filter via 12mm hose. same on the filter outlet to the keg or bottling bucket.
First connect pump to bucket bleach/vinegar and flush the whole thing through for a few mins.
Then move it all to the fermenter outlet and let the beer push out the bleach/vinegar. When the beer starts to arrive just catch it in the keg (flushed with CO2 of course) when the keg is full catch the rest in the bottling bucket.
I have found a company in the Netherlands who have 0.5 micron filters. Will talk to them next week.

[DEMPSEY]

Chris is there any chance we could have a demonstration of you filtering and see how successful it can be. It would be a good video clip.

[christhebrewer]

I'll have a go but I ain't Speilberg!

[christhebrewer]

Is James not way ahead on this?

[UpsidedownA (Andrew)]

I have been considering filtering also. Was thinking along the lines of this housing with a filter pack and just add the piping and disconnects myself. I see a couple of guys filtering on youtube with a 10 micron filter and I wonder is that a good compromise between preventing the flavour from being stripped away and clarity? I don't see them on amazon but they are on ebay.

Has anyone given any thought to how filtering might affect flavour? From where I'm standing there might be two mechanisms. The first is that filtering might result in oxygen pick up from the lines, pump, filter frame set up etc, just like any movement can result in oxygen pick up. I think this is especially likely in a homebrew set up where it might be difficult to flush the lines and filter with deaerated water before hand. Also flushing will inevitably result in losses around the side (watering down beer). The other route is simple degassing. Filtering degasses the beer so you lose volatile flavour compounds with the gas. That happens when you move beer too.

I doubt that filter size has much or anything to do with losing flavour simply because the flavour compounds are absolutely tiny and could get through all but the very smallest filters. They're probably only 100ths of a micron. This graphic gives you an idea of relative molecule sizes. http://kenanddot.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/filtration-spectrum.jpg.

[Shane Phelan]

Yeah I was pondering about the oxygenation issue also and was thinking that at the very least you could purge the lines with CO2 although its difficult to know what would happen inside the filter, I'm sure a certain level of oxygen would be hanging around in there.

In terms of filtering removing flavour we need to think about what we are actually removing from the beer here. Depending on the filter size in micron you are removing the following from beer:

Yeast
Hop material
Grain/Husk material
Tannins
Large Proteins

While each of these components will technically contribute to flavour, perhaps negatively, it might be a good thing removing them?

[DEMPSEY]

As Irish Goat has said,Metalman and O'Hara's use a 1 micron level of filtering. This answers a question of is the beer intended to be a cask ale or is it destined to be a keg ale. Knowing that the beer is intended to be a keg ale you can increase the amount of hops in the beer because you will lose a portion when you filter and so arrive at your target bitterness. Filtering removes yeast which has a flavour(taste it raw). This yeast flavour contributes to the taste of cask ale and so its important what yeast you use to make your cask ale.

[UpsidedownA (Andrew)]

Removing yeast and other particles takes out a lot of bitterness because isomerised alpha acids are really sticky and cling to the yeast trub etc removed in the filter. Swipe your finger along one of the filter sheets after filtration and pick up and taste some of the yeast on it. It is appallingly bitter.

[christhebrewer]

It's just a way to achieve a certain style of beer, Metalman and O'Hara's are super pale ales and among my favorites and if I can make something close to theirs I will be very happy.( I didn't know they were 1 micron filtered so I'm happy I'm on the right track)
On the other hand if you want a yeasty, casky old school ale then filtering may not be right. It's just a choice like mash temp etc....

[Alex Lawes]

I'm actually looking for a 0.5u filter for beers which won't be bottle conditioned.

0.5 micron?
You're looking to do sterile filtration?

Has anyone given any thought to how filtering might affect flavour? From where I'm standing there might be two mechanisms. The first is that filtering might result in oxygen pick up from the lines, pump, filter frame set up etc, just like any movement can result in oxygen pick up. I think this is especially likely in a homebrew set up where it might be difficult to flush the lines and filter with deaerated water before hand. Also flushing will inevitably result in losses around the side (watering down beer). The other route is simple degassing. Filtering degasses the beer so you lose volatile flavour compounds with the gas. That happens when you move beer too.

The fact is most brewers hate what filtering does to beer. It strips out hop flavour. The recommended way to filter is to go from a 10 or a 5 micron down to a 1 after, then carefully consider if you want to go sterile with the 0.5 micron. You can go straight to 1 but it will create a-lot of foaming, almost certainly oxidise the beer, clog easily and strip out hops as well as head retention.
However filtering, in the exception of sterile filtering, does next to nothing for shelf life. Most brewers I've asked about it have said straight out that most of the time you decrease shelf life as you're constantly running the risk of further DO2 intake. Especially as the beer should be cold at the time to increase turbidity, it is far more susceptible to air intake at the same time.

I'd say use a mixture of finings and one filter run, but at 5 microns. Plan ahead for the loss in Co2, hopping and head retention too. Bring the beer as close to 0 centigrade as you can beforehand and give it a go. I think the negatives outweigh the benefits though for a homebrewer. I'd love to hear how this goes though. The plate filters from morebeer look like the best option.

[Will_D]

Before you even consider a filter: Smell it! Some filters smell like fresh beer mats ( celullose  ) others may smeel a bit plasticy ( spun polyester ).

Before running your best beer run plain water, then a similar (sacrificial) beer through, the its safe for the polished prize winner!

[christhebrewer]

I'm not arguing the case for or against filtering but I would recommend trying it. It's the only way to know how it tastes. I'm enjoying an american pale ale right now which was filtered at 1 micron and I can say it's pretty good. Plenty of hop aroma and loads of bitterness.
The 1 micron still leaves quite a bit of yeast on the bottom of the keg so I'm intereseted to see what a 0.5 tastes like. To see if it clears all the yeast.( and at what cost in flavour). Could be usefull for a lager.