How to “get the particles out of your beer”
Wordpress provides me the list of search terms that have guided users to this site. The other day, it seems that someone was interested in finding out how to “get the particles out of your beer.” I can only guess exactly at what particles the visiter was seeing, so I will suggest a few solutions to a few problems.
Clarity Through Sedimentation
Most particles of concern will eventualy settle out of suspension to the bottom of the fermenter. Generally, when racking your beer to a secondary fermenter ( or secondary to tertiary), if special care is taken not to stir up the sedigment, these particals will be left behind. In most instances, by the time your beer hits the bottling bucket, these particles will have been weeded out.
In theory, to filter yeast out through sedimentation, drop the temperature of the beer as low as you can get it (around 40 degrees F) to encourage the yeast to go dormant and flocculate out. I bottle condition so I haven’t tried this.
Clarity Through Kegging
As an extension to the previous section, kegging your beer provides you a shortcut. After the particulate matter settles out (during the articifical carbonation stage, the sediment can simply be flushed out by opening the tap. After a few glasses, as I understand it, all of the sediment will have been cleared and you have a one-way ticket to clear-aleing.
Clarity Through Filtration
I am no expert in filtration, and it is probably overkill for the homebrewer, and it is frowned on by some craft brewers, but here goes. Filtering you beer will a ensure crystal-clear brew that doesn’t suffer from chill haze. You will need a kegging system to use most filters; gravity just doesn’t supply enough pull to generate the required pressure unless the bottling bucket is significantly elevated.
I have considered a poor-mans filtration system using steralized coffee filters. If you secure a circular paper coffee filter around the end of the your syphon hose to form a little balloon pocket; you might have some success. I imagine that a standard coffee filter might be able to catch most of the yeast/trub sediment, but the proteins that attribute to a chill haze would pass through with ease.
Clarity through containment
If you are having trouble getting the “mess” cleaned up after dry hopping; I suggest that you use a grain back to isolate the hops. If you are using whole hops, this generally isn’t a major issue; the whole hops will generally get water-laged settle to the bottom. Though I have not tried dry hopping with whole hops, due to their size, I imagine that it is not overly difficult to about sucking the whole hops into your syphon tube.
I have tried dry hopping with pellet hops and found that some of the residue did make it into the bottle, and that “just not good eats.” If I try it again, I will certainly use a grain bag or try the coffee filter technique mentioned above.
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IMHO dry hopping with pellet hop is a waste of time and effort. Using whole leaf is the only way to go….the “mess” is but a small consequence compared to the results one gets! Dry hop in secondary….when racking have the hops in a nylon bag or loose in the bottom of the vessel to get them good and wet when you transfer the beer. They will float to the top but in a day or two they become beer logged and settle to the bottom…..Allow 7-10 days for full effect. If you are troubled with getting the whole leaf into (and out of) the tiny opening of a glass carboy forget using it for secondary and just use another plastic food grade wide mouth bucket.
I agree that pellets are a waste but hop plugs work well too! Just rip then into small pieces and put in a hop bag and then rack over top of them. They will swell up the size of a softball and when you get done just turn your fermenter upside down and take some tongs or needle nose pliers and grab the bag and pull it out. Just make sure the bag gets completely wet by pushing it under a few times with a sanitized spoon or something.