A Question About Cold Filtering?

[BAH]

What exactly is cold filtering and does it make a BIG difference to the taste of beer as compared to heat pasteurization?

Thanks

BAH

[brewmonkey]

All beer MUST be cold filtered. Filtration just like finings must be done at the lowest possible temps. This "cold filtering" is a gimmick used to make you think they have done something special to the beer.

If you want your beer to be "brite", then you filter/fine at or below the temp. you will serve it at.

[Richard English]

And of course, the best beers will not be filtered in the sense that the chemical fizz manufacturers do it.

To my mind the less filtration (of wine or beer) the better. Properly brewed beers and wines will fall bright naturally and can then be racked off the lees.

Cask conditioned ales will still be murky when they are delivered to the pub and the cask will be tapped once the beer has settled. The bottom of the cask will have a thick deposit of yeast (and maybe some hops) and care must be taken not to jolt the cask and stir the mixture up.

Just another reason why poor cellarmen prefer chemical fizz beers, of course.