Filtering

[dionferguson]

can you filter your lager and cider kits after initial fermentation? or is it best not to and why? and what about after secondary fermentation? or will this affect the carbonation?

[mope]

Don't know alot about this myself, but to quote a previous thread:

You shouldn't filter beer. You need some yeast in suspension from the primary fermentation stage to allow secondary fermentation to take place otherwise you won't get any CO2.

Yeast will also provide some protection against oxidation as it has the ability to utilise some or all of the O2 that may get into the beer during transfer.

[dionferguson]

Do'h!

ok so thats an obvious no after primary fermentation but what about after secondary, i'm going to barrel mine this weekend for the secondary fermentation and so wondering if filtering it after this will affect it?

[dionferguson]

Anyone?

Was thinking of leaving my lager to second ferment and carbonate in a pressure barrel for a week at room temp then a week at lower temp then thought i'd be ok to filter it after this into another pressure barrel before bottling to get it nice and clear, would this be ok? or will this filter out the carbonation?

[kenny850]

ive never filtered dion and i think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who does,its just not done

[Jim]

The only chance you have is to filter the beer once final gravity is reached, then force carbonate in a cornelius keg. A normal HB pressure barrel can't take enough pressure to force carbonate beer, especially lager.

I don't know if you can get filtration equipment that will work under pressure to avoid losing the carbonation, but I doubt if you would want to pay for it even if it exists.

[boingy]

Left to its own devices, most beer drops clear eventually. For the stubborn ones there are finings. Beer filtering is generally not done by homebrewers. It's fiddly, removes the carbonation from the beer and needs yet more equipment.

And besides all that, we like to be smug about those "idiot commercial breweries" who do filter their beer

[dionferguson]

sounds more like i'm just being impatient more than anything

I racked it off for the 1st time last night into a barrel and it looked quite 'thick' and dark rather than cloudy but will leave it now at room temp for a week before moving to garage for another week or two to let it carbonate and settle properly then i'll see how it is then, thanks for all the help and info guys, still got a lot to learn but i'm getting there