Filtering Beer

[Alpha492]

I was looking online and found that filtering beer may improve shelf life but aside from the website I was looking at I hadn't really heard of anyone filtering beer before. Anyone have any opinions on this?
Does it make the beer less cloudy?
Does it improve the shelf life of the beer?
What are the best filters(if applicable)?

Thanks

 

[Wade E]

If you are bottle fermenting it then I really dont see the purpose of this. If you are kegging it I can see it somewhat but ont ever feel the need as long as you purge the tank good. The only real way i see any benefit really is if you have force carbonated it and are using a counter pressure filler.

 

[smurfe]

As Wade says, if you do filter you really need to be able to force carbonate and bottle with a counter pressure filler or Beer Gun. It will make for a clearer beer but will strip most of the yeast needed to natural carbonate. I rarely filter but when I do, I use my Mini Jet that works pretty good. Many use an inline water filter and push the beer through it with CO2. Normally though, if your beer is that cloudy and doesn't drop clear a filter isn't going to do any good. You probably havechill haze.


I don't see where filtering is going to improve shelf life any at all. The oils from the hops are what extends the shelf life of a beer along with good fermentation practices and proper packaging.