any homebrewers? got a filter question.

[baloo6969]

So, made my 6th batch of beer.
Been fairly successful so far.
I have a american light that is nearly ready to bottle. First time I made it, was great, just looked a bit funny. I added .5tsp of irish moss the last 30min of the boil. My brother says it makes a cleaner beer, does not change the taiste...normaly.
I wanted to clean up the beer some more, I see filters are quite expensive.
I use sheets of 100micron filter pads in my tank. I cut a section of filter pad, and bust of the needle and thread...
So here is my question, can I do the same, if I soak the pad in onestep?

 

[fishtaco]

I do all-grain homebrew and have never heard of using filters and 15 minutes with the irish moss should be plenty. Are you using a wort chiller? Are you using hop bags? Other than that you may be getting too much yeast off the bottom during your bottling process or you are not letting your beers ferment long enough. Sanitation could also be an issue. Never had a problem getting my beer to clear up and remember home-brews are never going to be as clear as mass produced lager.
Fishtaco

 

[dragonzim]

How long has it been sitting for? Do you rack it into secondary carboys during the brewing process? I've always used Irish Moss in all my brews, whether beer or mead. What I usually do for beer is start off the fermentation in a white bucket then after the airlock stops bubbling, rack it into glass. Generally I'll leave it for a week or so then rack it again into another carboy. Do this as many times as is needed till the beer is clear. For a 5 gallon batch of beer I'll usually start with around 6-6.5 gallons of wort since I know I'll lose that gallon to gallon and a half in the racking process.
Never used a filter and never needed to...

 

[baloo6969]

It's been sitting for 8 days.
I used a wort chiller and hop bag.
I did not transfer to another carboy...I was under the impression that when the airlock stops,
you should immediately bottle.
Is it OK to let go for another few days?

 

[fishtaco]

Eight days is too short of time, usually a good rule of thumb is after the fermentation process is complete, let it set an additional 4-7 days at least.
Some of my Trappist and Stouts go six weeks in the fermentor even though they usually stop bubbling at around 3 weeks. As I said before I started out doing all-grain, so maybe Zim will know if that rule holds true for extract brewing also.
Zim, I am starting to bottle all that mead I made and the honey blossom is pure goodness. Suprised to hear you are using irish moss in that too, what stage are you using it?
Fishtaco

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by baloo6969
http:///forum/post/3248111
It's been sitting for 8 days.
I used a wort chiller and hop bag.
I did not transfer to another carboy...I was under the impression that when the airlock stops,
you should immediately bottle.
Is it OK to let go for another few days?
8 days is WAY too short a time to bottle after the initial fermentation. Even though you may not see any bubbles from the airlock at that point it is probably not completely done fermenting. I'd say with 5 batches under your belt you've been lucky you didn't have a bottle explode on you yet. For most beers I wait a minimum of 3 weeks before bottling. I usually keg my beer though and force pressurize it at 3 weeks to 1 month.
You should definitely pick yourself up another carboy and at that 8 day mark when you dont see bubbles in the airlock anymore rack it to the second carboy. Get a racking tube if you dont already have one. Its just a long acrylic tube, curved at one end that you hook your hose up to. One the long end, which goes down into the bucket there will be a fitting on the end that when it hits the bottom of the bucket it will prevent most of the sediment from being siphoned into the carboy. I usually rack to a second carboy after the initial fermentation and leave it for at least a week. Sometimes I'll rack it again if there is heavy sediment.
Originally Posted by Fishtaco
http:///forum/post/3248122
Eight days is too short of time, usually a good rule of thumb is after the fermentation process is complete, let it set an additional 4-7 days at least.
Some of my Trappist and Stouts go six weeks in the fermentor even though they usually stop bubbling at around 3 weeks. As I said before I started out doing all-grain, so maybe Zim will know if that rule holds true for extract brewing also.
Zim, I am starting to bottle all that mead I made and the honey blossom is pure goodness. Suprised to hear you are using irish moss in that too, what stage are you using it?
Fishtaco
I use Irish Moss at the end of my boilcook time. Find it really helps to clear out any remaining beeswax particles as well as catches any spice floaters that I may have added. I've always ended up with crystal clear meads even when using fruits, whole or powdered spices.

 

[baloo6969]

Great thanks guys!
So, I've got a bottling bucket. I'll rack into the bottling bucket, then I'll scrub and sterilize the carboy, and transfer back into it...and let it sit for at least another week.
Do you think that for a light beer, second fermentation will take +1 week after primary?

 

[fishtaco]

Interesting, for my beer I use a Brewcraft 8 gallon bucket that has a sunken ring in the bottom and rack from that into the same bucket that is set-up as a bottling bucket with a spigot. I've not had any problems with sediment as the rings in the bottom seem to do a good job of catching it. I don't even own a carboy for doing beer. I worry that by reracking my beer I am going to run the risk of having something bad in the air get into it, so I don't even open my fermentor till bottling day after it is chilled and the wort is poured in. I'm surrounded by barns, stock animals, farmers fields etc, so my clean country air is sometimes not that clean and local brewers call the airborne yeast around here horseblanket cause that is what it makes your beer taste like if it gets in.
Fishtaco

 

[fishtaco]

Originally Posted by baloo6969
http:///forum/post/3248159
Great thanks guys!
So, I've got a bottling bucket. I'll rack into the bottling bucket, then I'll scrub and sterilize the carboy, and transfer back into it...and let it sit for at least another week.
Do you think that for a light beer, second fermentation will take +1 week after primary?
I would give it two weeks, it will just make it taste better. I know it is hard to be patient, so I have enough equipment to have up to three batches going at one time to make sure I don't drink my beer too soon or run out. It also gives you the ability to do long term beers like strong ales and stouts that can take 3-6 month in the bottle till they are ready to drink.
Fishtaco

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by Fishtaco
http:///forum/post/3248161
Interesting, for my beer I use a Brewcraft 8 gallon bucket that has a sunken ring in the bottom and rack from that into the same bucket that is set-up as a bottling bucket with a spigot. I've not had any problems with sediment as the rings in the bottom seem to do a good job of catching it. I don't even own a carboy for doing beer. I worry that by reracking my beer I am going to run the risk of having something bad in the air get into it, so I don't even open my fermentor till bottling day after it is chilled and the wort is poured in. I'm surrounded by barns, stock animals, farmers fields etc, so my clean country air is sometimes not that clean and local brewers call the airborne yeast around here horseblanket cause that is what it makes your beer taste like if it gets in.
Fishtaco
Sounds like a cool bucket. I just have the standard 5 gallon brew buckets. I think I have 4 of them currently and 5 or 6 glass carboys. Use almost the identical process for doing beer as for mead, the mead just takes longer. Usually give mead about 2 weeks to a month in the primary bucket then rack it to glass for anywhere from a month to a year. Depending on what's in the mead (fruits or spices) I may rack again to another carboy just to get rid of excess sediment. Once its in glass it can stay there for years if you want to continue aging before you bottle it as long as you keep your airlock wet. I just use water in mine but I know some guys that fill with vodka with the thinking that they alcohol in the vodka will kill anything that might make it into the airlock. Been doing it my way for about 15 years and never had a batch go bad on me though.

 

[reefraff]

Back when I was still brewing I had a strainer I'd lay a piece of cheese cloth in. Even siphoning out of the carboy with a raised inlet about 2 inches I was amazed how much crap still gets strained out. Using the multiple carboys sounds like a better idea than filtering. Never thought of that.