I’m new to kegging and was surprised to find filtration systems pretty reasonable priced.
How many people utilize filtration in their brewing process? Are you happy with the results?
I have been impressed with the clarity gain of lagering, not that my ales were bad either (always use a secondary).
I don’t expect much of a gain, but for the fairly modest cost and potential flexibility of the system (may double it as a hpback as well) it makes sense to add to the arsenal eventually.
Note that a hopback is designed to work with hot wort, and many filtration systems may not be rated for near-boiling wort. You might be able to make a randall out of it, though.
I filtered a couple of batches some years ago. It was a hassle.
If you’re worried about starbright, clear beer, cold temperature and patience clears the beer just as well and tastes better (to me anyway).
But you should give it a spin and see if you have a different result than I did.
Lots of folks filter their brews and love the end results.
It just wasn’t for me though.
Should be no need for you to filter your beer. I have looked into from time to time and like the Professor has said - it seems like a hassle.
Time will clear most any beer, but if you want super clear beer the important things are to 1) hit your pH so you get a good hot break, 2) chill fast so you get a good cold break 3) use a yeast strain that drops clear or use a fining technique such as gelatin - or time and cold temps - to drop the yeast.
Here’s a picture of my kolsch. I never have a problem getting it to drop this clear after only two weeks of cold conditioning (sometimes I add a 1/3 tsp of gelatin disssolved in 170 degree water).
The only time I felt filtering beer was almost worth the hassle was so I could take a couple of uncarbonated kegs to a party. I filtered them to get the chunks out so that when I pressured up to 30 psi and shook them the beer wouldn’t be totally cloudy. Otherwise I let time, temp and gravity do all the work.
Appreciated all! As I said, I’ve had no problems with clarity, was just curious to see if anyone sore by it, which I am guessing is a silent minority, if any. The filtration system was a fallback for my other hopback designs, so I guess I’ll start with them before resorting to the filtration method. I still haven’t served my lagers or first keg, but I’ll probably tinker down the road (didn’t seem like much additional work) out of curiousity.
Still don’t need to filter - I simply cut the end of the dip tube down 1/2 inch in the keg, let all the yeast settle for a week or two, and run off into a new keg. Sediment free beer no matter how much you shake it up!
