Filters

[BrewMasterBrad]

Ray (yeastkiller) and Mike (kesslerbeer) seem to think that filtering my beer will result in fewer side effects from drinking homebrew (think clearing out the office from toxic fumes). It looks like a 1 micron filter will work fine for this. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions when it comes to filtering?

Brad

[brew captain]

Brad, check out a good article by Mr. Wizard on this topic in the May/June 2007 issue of BYO. He also rebuts a readers response to this article in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue. In a nutshell 1 micron it too tight and you are going to remove more than yeast and chill haze particles at that size. You will also pull flavor and color and likely clog the membrane before you get half way through the filtration process unless you start with a larger sized filter and step down to 1 micron.

Bottom line is that the alcohols responsible for a fat head the morning after will make it through the filtration anyway. I am not a fan of filtration - I am a fan of flavor! Look at how few points are grated to "appearance" on the BJCP scoring system and how many are given to "flavor". Anything that is detrimental to flavor to me is a step in the wrong direction. While I have not bothered doing this yet, I hear that a little hydrated, unflavored gelatin gets your beer as pretty as you could want with no impact to flavor.

But what the hell do I know?

Cheers!

[BrewMasterBrad]

I agree with you Robert. Ray and Mike are sissies. I was just looking into it. I have had great success getting clear beer with gelatin.

[dhempy]

Brad:

At what point in the ferm cycle do add gelatin?

Dan

[BrewMasterBrad]

After fermentation is done. Since I don't do a secondary per se, I rack into a bright tank (keg with shortened dip tube) and chill to 32F. Add gelatin and shake. Leave in the bright tank at 32F for a few days then rack into the serving keg and carbonate.