Do you filter your beer?

[shunt]

do ya?

[Mylo]

nope


Mylo

[breyton]

Sometimes. Usually for beers I dont want to wait for proper conditioning and/or beers that I may be giving to friends not used to seeing or not seeing thru a beer I will filter.

It is an added step in the process and one I am too lazy and/or busy to incorporate into my standard procedures.

[DannyW]

Sometimes. Certain yeasts (WLP029) and malts (Munton's American Style) seem to take an inordinate amount of time to clear on their own.

Makes 'em prettier too! This is a Blonde Ale made with Munton's American Style that had been cold conditioning for many weeks. I finally said "F-this!" and filtered it. didn't hurt it any; we actully did blind triangle tastings in opaque cups and everyone preferred the filtered version.

[yabodie]

Not my beer, but I might do this for meads in the future. This way I can make a lower alcohol mead using a high alcohol yeast, filter out the yeast then add some honey after filtering, thus avoiding a restart in fermentation.

[Sent From My iPhone]

Depends on the beer. I filtered my Kolsch so it would be crystal clear. I just filtered an Octoberfest I made in December that I plan on lagering for a few more months and I wanted to get it off the yeast and have it sparkle. I usually never filter ales.

[Bugeater]

Nope

[Sent From My iPhone]

Danny's picture of his beer got me thinking. We had our families over on Sunday for a cookout and everyone seemed to enjoy the beers I had on tap (Kolsch, Maibock, Blond Ale, Octoberfest). I had kegged the Blond Ale a week ago and the carbonation was just getting perfect, but it was still a little cloudy (Whit Labs Cal Ale yeast). My Sister-in-law tried it and said "it tastes pretty good, but it looks dirty". She only had one and moved on to something else. As Homebrewers we are pretty tolerant of cloudy beers and we know that in time the cloudiness will settle out, but the casual beer drinker isn't. I started degassing the Blond every day and I filtered it last night through a 7 micron pad:



Although it's not carbonated yet, it does seem have a crisper, cleaner taste and finish, but that may just be due to the visual impression. I don't plan on filtering every beer, just the lighter ones that I want to clear more quickly.