Hey guys. I'm starting to keg instead of bottle conditioning and am fairly new to it. I was wondering if the beer filtering systems for sale online actually work and if so which one do you recommend? Or would cold crashing produce a relatively clear beer. Thanks any help is appreciated.
No filter needed in my experience. Cold conditioning in the keg usually does the job. You pour a pint or two of crud and then you have clear beer for the other 48. If you jostle the keg after this you move the trub at the bottom of the keg and you end up with another glass or so that has floaties. Others can chime in on adding gelatin post fermentation or keg. Newbie to kegging? I'd recommend you practice a little with carbonating water. Check the bejesus out of your seals, poppits, and anywhere anything connects to anything. I've had the most trouble with where the CO2 tank screws into the regulator. An oz of sleepless paranoid, as they say....
With kegging especially, but also bottling , good old fashioned time and gentle handling usually works well to clear the beer...if you have the patience : )
If you're just starting out with kegging, I'd recommend seeing what results you get just by kegging. You still get some benefits of cold crashing, which is arguably better done in a keg because it doesn't suck O2 into the headspace. Like inchrisin said, the first pint or two can be a mess, but after that, you might have very clear beer. YMMV.
No filter needed. Ales : use gelatin + cold crash 7 days at 32 F . Lagers : use gelatin + cold crash 3 days at 32 F /// Polyclar + cold crash 4 days at 32 F Crystal clear beers
I cold crash my beer for 48 hours while in the primary, then put into a secondary. I add gelatin for 3 days before kegging.....works Great!! https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz_vdv-VQfJXMTRyXzFsUWRRcmM/view
