Topic: Clarity
Filtering for Beginners
MEMBERS ONLYMany homebrewers bypass the step of filtering their homebrew and instead use fining agents and cold crashing (storing the beer after fermentation has completed in a cold place for a week or longer to allow the yeast to drop out of suspension and the beer to clear naturally). Cold crashing works well for most beer
Double filtering homebrew
MEMBERS ONLYThe first question that really should be answered is why do brewers filter beer? Some brewers filter beer to make it clear and pretty, some filter beer so that they don’t have to wait weeks for yeast to settle out and want the yeast out for flavor reasons, others use sterile filtration to guard against beer
Clear Steps to Filtering Homebrew
MEMBERS ONLYIf you’re thinking, “why would I want to filter my beer?” you’re not alone. Filtering is an excellent technique to implement when homebrewing. Clarity is important to many brewers and drinkers, and is often a mark of quality in beer. It can improve the stability of your beer as well. Some, including myself, would argue
Fining Homebrew
MEMBERS ONLY“Finings” is brewer speak for flocculants that are used in brewing to clarify suspensions of solids in a liquid, such as trub in wort and yeast in beer. Such solids remain suspended because they are small so that they can settle only very slowly, and because they usually carry the same charge and so repel
Fining Beer for Clarity
MEMBERS ONLYFirst, what does “fining” mean? Well, this is another piece of brewer’s jargon, like “grain bill,” “knock-out” and calling brewing water “liquor” — indeed one 18th century writer records that anyone using the word water in the brewery would be charged sixpence (a significant sum of money in those days). Fining is the process of
Lager Yeast Starters & Chill Haze: Mr. Wizard
MEMBERS ONLYQ I always make a yeast starter in order to pitch the proper amount of yeast. Typically, I use a stir plate in the basement, which is a consistent 68 °F (20 °C) ambient temperature. The last time I made a starter I happened to take a temperature reading with an infrared thermometer and it
Adjusting for Filtering
MEMBERS ONLYGravity settling good, filtration bad,” was my conviction for a long while. I joined England’s Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in its early days and am still a member, even though I no longer subscribe to its doctrinaire approach. For CAMRA considers that filtered beer is not “real ale,” because it says that real ale
Filtering Homebrew
MEMBERS ONLYFiltration is a hot topic among homebrewers. The majority do not do it, and many are strongly opposed to the practice, claiming that it is unnecessary and detrimental. On the other hand, the majority of microbrewers filter most if not all of their output, regarding it as the best way to consistently produce clean-tasting beer.
Filtering Before Bottling
MEMBERS ONLYEarlier this year Ashton Lewis participated in an “Ask Mr. Wizard” Q&A on BYO’s Facebook page where questions flew in over a two-hour timeframe. He provided quick and concise answers to over 30 questions. What follows is his original, short answer (in italics), plus some more information he wanted to provide when given additional time
Filtering Homebrew
MEMBERS ONLYThe first question that really should be answered is why do brewers filter beer? Some brewers filter beer to make it clear and pretty, some filter beer so that they don’t have to wait weeks for yeast to settle out and want the yeast out for flavor reasons, others use sterile filtration to guard against
Irish Moss Substitutes
MEMBERS ONLYThe Wiz answers a question about brewing with seaweed rather than Irish moss.
Trub in the secondary fermenter
MEMBERS ONLYMost small cylindroconical tanks have two ports on the bottom; one on the side of the cone and one on the bottom. The upper port is used to rack beer out of the tank above the sediment layer. Some racking ports have a curved arm that can be rotated to change the location of the