Bottle Condition after Filtering

[Peter O'Driscol]

Is it possible to filter beer before bottling and still have secondary fermentation in the bottle?

[Caffinehog]

It depends on the filter. Some filters revmove all yeast, others don't. You'll have to read the filter packaging to find out.

It is also possible to filter and then add new yeast, but that yeast must be adapted to alcohol first, so it would have to come from a starter.

[Tweek]

Depends. You can get a lesser grade filter that may let some yeast through but most of the filters designed for beer will not.

I dont understand why you would want to do this anyway. Essentially what you would be doing is filtering aout any suspended yeast that was making the beer cloudy and then putting it back in. you would just be wasting your time.

If you want bright beer the best thing to do is to be patient.let your beer sit in secondary for a few months. Your end product will be very bright. I left a recent beer in secondary for over a year, it is a bright as any commercial beers(assuming you dont disturb the yeast at the bottom).

[fretlessman71]

Something else you can do is continue to re-rack your primary every week or so into a new container. After you've done this about 4-5 times, you ought to end up with a clearer brew. Am I wrong on this? Patience is still key with this...

If you're worried about all of the yeast ending up in your glass, there are strains of yeast that are known for being a little "stickier" than others. Investigate!

[Tweek]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Something else you can do is continue to re-rack your primary every week or so into a new container. After you've done this about 4-5 times, you ought to end up with a clearer brew. Am I wrong on this?

you could do this, but you would run a much larger chance of getting an infection by the increase in handling. Time really is your best ally when it comes to bright beer.

[stronk]

Another alternative (from a 50-year-old homebrewing book) is to skim yeast from the top of the beer whilst it is still active in the primary. You'd have to be using proper ale yeast, though.

Apparently this results in a less bitter beer and has a similar effect to reracking to primary.

[Caffinehog]

your solution, courtesy of Wyeast

1968 London ESB Ale Yeast.

Probable origin: London, England
Beer Styles: British Pale Ales, Special Bitters
Commercial examples may include: Fullers London Pride, Young's and Greene Kings
Unique properties: This extremely flocculant yeast produces distinctly malty beers. Attenuation levels are typically less than most other yeast strains making a slightly sweeter finish. Ales produced with this strain tend to be fairly fruity. Fruitiness increased with higher fermentation temperatures 70-74º F, (21-23º C). Diacetyl production is noticeable and a thorough rest; 50-70º F, (10-21º C) is necessary. Yeast traps trub easily and autolysis is possible. A very good cask conditioned ale strain due to thorough flocculation characteristics. Beers become readily bright within days. Brilliant beers easily achieved without any filtration. Alcohol tolerance approximately 9% ABV. Flocculation - high; apparent attenuation 67-71%. (64-72° F, 18-22° C)

[Fast_Eddy]

I have done a ton of brewing with 1968(I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing me rave about it by now) - it is truly an awesome yeast(same as LP002, IIRC). It is very clean with lower temps, and fruity with higher temps. It works fast(and will ferment very high gravity worts, too) and floc's out quickly. It is the house yeast for many Austin brewpubs.

For making a beer bright - two widely used approaches are fining and cold conditioning. PVPP, isinglass, gelatin, or papain all have advantages and dis-advantages for fining and are variously used for protein and yeast hazes. Cold conditioning - taking your ale down to the 40 F's for extended time - works very well in my experience as long as the haze is a yeast haze.

[DreamWeaver]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
I have done a ton of brewing with 1968 Cold conditioning - taking your ale down to the 40 F's for extended time - works very well in my experience as long as the haze is a yeast haze.

If I do this will I still be able to bottle condition my beer? Will there be enough yeast to carbonate? Or will it just take a little longer?

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by DreamWeaver
If I do this will I still be able to bottle condition my beer? Will there be enough yeast to carbonate? Or will it just take a little longer?

For bottled beers you'd probably have to do it after it carbonates. You wouldn't want to crash the yeast out before carbonating. I haven't bottled for a long time, since before I started doing this, so I'm just conjecturing.

[Peter O'Driscol]

I have a small filtering machine that allows the beer to filter throught two pads with a porousity of 1 micron and the carbonation effect does not seem to make much difference. This has me confused. I would have thought all the yeast would be cleared from the beer with filtering.

[Peter O'Driscol]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
For bottled beers you'd probably have to do it after it carbonates. You wouldn't want to crash the yeast out before carbonating. I haven't bottled for a long time, since before I started doing this, so I'm just conjecturing.

Do you mean storing your bottled beer in 40 F for extended periods after the carbonation? Thus ending up with a clear carbonated beer but with sediment in the bottle.