Filtering question for Mike McDole

[TastyMcD]

"Technically" you could filter carbonated beer as long as the pressure of the beer was within the ratings of the filter. I recommend running this filter at 5 psi but my experience indicates it will support 10 psi. When filtering carbonated beer, the target keg needs a pressure relief valve http://morebeer.com/view_product/16771//Adjustable_Pressure_Relief_Valve placed on the gas out connector so that CO2 can be bled off while the whole beer path is kept under pressure. You'll still get a lot of foaming (and probably leaking) and have to touch up the beer when finished. Short answer.....I wouldn't bother filtering carbonated beer with the plate filter.

Tasty

[MattSF]

heh what Tasty said ^

re: pressure I also may have made the wrong decision on that... but I filled the target keg with some CO2, bled it, repeated, etc. Then opened up the top hatch and covered the opening with a clean towel which I had sprayed with a good amount of Star San solution. This way, dust wouldn't settle into the open keg, and the blanket of CO2 would stay mostly undisturbed by drafts, air movement etc. Or so went my ...thinking

[Mylo]

Granted they are $3 but a washable one sounds nice.

Washable sounds scary...


Mylo

[Tom from Raleigh]

I picked up a used whole house filter setup from a guy in my club. After a Google search, I found these resources. Later I'll post my before and after of my beer filtered prior to listening to Tasty on Brewstrong.

http://www.filtersfast.com/
http://www.bestfilters.com/

[Thirsty Boy]

"Technically" you could filter carbonated beer as long as the pressure of the beer was within the ratings of the filter. I recommend running this filter at 5 psi but my experience indicates it will support 10 psi. When filtering carbonated beer, the target keg needs a pressure relief valve http://morebeer.com/view_product/16771//Adjustable_Pressure_Relief_Valve placed on the gas out connector so that CO2 can be bled off while the whole beer path is kept under pressure. You'll still get a lot of foaming (and probably leaking) and have to touch up the beer when finished. Short answer.....I wouldn't bother filtering carbonated beer with the plate filter.

Tasty

I usually don't filter carbonated beer either, but a nice way to do it is to run a connecting tube from gas post to gas post - and keep the whole system closed.

So you
*Put your full keg onto the gas - at a higher pressure than it has been carbonating at
*Put your empty keg on at the same pressure.
*Run a line from gas post to gas post. The kegs are now at equal pressure.
*Now connect your full keg to your empty keg (filter in the middle of course) via the liquid posts. Nothing will happen of course because the pressures are equal.
*Put your full keg up on the bench and give a quick pull on the pressure relief valve of the empty/bottom keg. This starts the flow and then the keg filters under gravity.

No foaming, no C02 loss and if it slows down, you can just tug the bottom relief valve a little and the pressure difference will get things going again. It also deletes the problem of over filling as the system is completely closed and the volumes of the two vessels are the same. Walk away and have beer - in 30mins the beer will all be in the bottom keg and clear as a bell.

I prefer to filter uncarbonated beer. But its certainly possible to get it happening with carbonated beer if you discover your clarity problem after you gas it up.

Washable sounds scary...
Mylo

Nah - give it a good clean, soak in hot percarbonate, rinse, dry - run sanitiser through it on filtering day. Most people I know of using filters in Australia, are using the washable ones. Never heard of any issues with filter related infections.

TB

[cdburg]

I have another question for everyone who is filtering now. Are you filtering before the beer is aged or allowing the beer to age with the yeast and then filtering before carbonating?

I just brewed a Belgian Strong Golden, and it's going to need to age for a while to let some of the higher alcohols mellow. Should I filter it now and let it age and carbonate afterward? Should I let it age with the yeast and then filter and carbonate just before drinking?

Also, if you brew lagers, are you filtering after the lagering? I would think that it would be best to leave the yeast in the beer during lagering, so that it can do it's work. Then again, I've heard some people say that they don't think the yeast is doing much during lagering (because of the low temps).

[zoso124]

I usually don't filter carbonated beer either, but a nice way to do it is to run a connecting tube from gas post to gas post - and keep the whole system closed.

So you
*Put your full keg onto the gas - at a higher pressure than it has been carbonating at
*Put your empty keg on at the same pressure.
*Run a line from gas post to gas post. The kegs are now at equal pressure.
*Now connect your full keg to your empty keg (filter in the middle of course) via the liquid posts. Nothing will happen of course because the pressures are equal.
*Put your full keg up on the bench and give a quick pull on the pressure relief valve of the empty/bottom keg. This starts the flow and then the keg filters under gravity.

No foaming, no C02 loss and if it slows down, you can just tug the bottom relief valve a little and the pressure difference will get things going again. It also deletes the problem of over filling as the system is completely closed and the volumes of the two vessels are the same. Walk away and have beer - in 30mins the beer will all be in the bottom keg and clear as a bell.

I prefer to filter uncarbonated beer. But its certainly possible to get it happening with carbonated beer if you discover your clarity problem after you gas it up.
TB

Thirsty have you done this with a plate filter? I wish I would have read your post before attempting to filter my carbonated beer.

[Thirsty Boy]

no - sorry I haven't done it with a plate filter - dont know if it would work. Depends on whether the plate filter can hold in the pressure??

The canister filters do so easily

Still - far far easier to filter uncarbonated beer.