How many here filter their beer?
I found that by running my beer thru two filters, a 5 micron coarse filter, followed by a 3 micron polish filter, two things were achieved.
First, the beer was brilliantly clear. Second, the flavor was more stable and thus had a longer shelf life.
Note that through proper brewing technique and lagering, the beer should be naturally clear on it’s own.
I tried it for a while. I found it to be a PITA and didn’t improve the beers I like to drink.
I just use whirlfloc tablets and cold crash for beers. That’s enough for me. I know many use gelatin or other clarifiers which seems easier than messing with filters. I’ve used Dualfine on fruit meads that wouldn’t clear up on their own. It worked great and was easy.
Sounds too much like work, and another step where the batch could be mucked up.
I don’t filter anything. If I have a beer that I need to clear, I use gelatin in the Brite tank (aka secondary) before kegging.
I get brilliant beers using gelatin. Filtering just provides another risk of infection and oxidation, not to mention the added cost.
Little or no risk of problems if done correctly.
Yes…added cost is a factor. But the upside far outweighs the downside in my experience.
I get brilliantly clear lagers by dropping the final lagering temps to 30F for a couple of weeks.
I guess I just didn’t find the upside.
That’s what make brewing so unique…everyone has a different experience. We will look into a floating pickup tube as we keg all of our beer.
As far a floating dip tubes: I recommend the Clear Beer floating dip tube.
I also have the ‘Buoy’ floating dip tube that I cannot recommend.
Clear Beer is more expensive but IMO the cost is negligible when compared to its hassle free operation.