BARRELED WITHOUT FILTERING

[COL]

I have just made the stupid mistake of not filtering when I barreled for the secondary fermentation.
Rather than siphoning back from the barrel to the fermentation bin and then siphoning again to the barrel, tonight, I should prefer to let things lie, and then when the beer is ready (fully fermented) sieve or strain or filter each pint as I draw it from the barrel.
Will this matter? Will the end product be just as good ?
I should appreciate any advice.
kind regards
Colin

 

[BeerCat]

Sounds like you did the right thing. The yeast will settle so don't worry.

 

[Clint]

By barrel do you mean plastic pressure barrel,cornie keg or cask?

 

[Drunkula]

Col - what's your brewing routine?

Today everyone tends to brew in the primary then barrel, keg or bottle. Doing a 'secondary' is all but dead.

And by filtering do you mean passing through a filter or just racking through a tube from one vessel to another.

I think you're worrying about nothing.

 

[COL]

By barrel do you mean plastic pressure barrel,cornie keg or cask?

It's a plastic barrel, not a metal one, or a wood cask.

 

[COL]

Sounds like you did the right thing. The yeast will settle so don't worry.

Thank you. But I don't want to leave it for more than a couple of weeks before I start drinking it. I suppose that is not enough time for it to clear, and I wonder if sieving each pint from the barrel after only 2 weeks will produce a pint just as good as it would if I had filtered the liquid when siphoning into the barrel, which is what I do normally. This is the first time I have not done that filtering at the barreling stage.

 

[Clint]

Right,ok,you can really only put about 90g of sugar in a plastic pb for your secondary fermentation.
So,you should just Syphon into the pb, ensuring it's all sterile and holding pressure then leave at room temp to carbonate,then move to somewhere cooler to condition.

 

[Drunkula]

I used to be scrupilous about not getting sediment into a barrel - then you're adding priming sugar and making more yeast anyway so sediment is really not that much of a worry.

 

[BeerCat]

Do you have a sediment trap on the end of your syphon? They sell them at wilkos.

 

[terrym]

Unlike hop particles, the vast majority of homebrewers can't and don't filter out yeast cells from beer since the cell size is too small, so they just allow time, cold, gravity and sometimes finings to do the job for them and then decant the beer from off the top of the settled yeasty trub layer. If you want to filter out yeast from beer, specialist equipment is needed, as used by commercial breweries, which costs ££s.

 

[COL]

Col - what's your brewing routine?

Today everyone tends to brew in the primary then barrel, keg or bottle. Doing a 'secondary' is all but dead.

And by filtering do you mean passing through a filter or just racking through a tube from one vessel to another.

I think you're worrying about nothing.

My secondary fermentation is always in the barrel, after introducing priming sugar into the barrel. When shifting the liquid from the fermenting bin to the barrel I normally use a fine mesh bag to catch the sediment.
As regards fermenting, after reading the comments here and after doing some research, on my next brew I am considering just having only one fermentation, without any secondary fermenting.

 

[COL]

Do you have a sediment trap on the end of your syphon? They sell them at wilkos.

I use a fine mesh bag at the end of the siphon.

 

[COL]

Unlike hop particles, the vast majority of homebrewers can't and don't filter out yeast cells from beer since the cell size is too small, so they just allow time, cold, gravity and sometimes finings to do the job for them and then decant the beer from off the top of the settled yeasty trub layer. If you want to filter out yeast from beer, specialist equipment is needed, as used by commercial breweries, which costs ££s.

Thanks. It all sounds sensible. But I never want to wait too long before I start drinking the final product. To use the proper slow methods I guess I should have to have more than one brew of 25 litres in progress at the same time.(probably more than two brews in progress), but I haven't the space in the house or on my premises.

 

[COL]

Col - what's your brewing routine?

Today everyone tends to brew in the primary then barrel, keg or bottle. Doing a 'secondary' is all but dead.

And by filtering do you mean passing through a filter or just racking through a tube from one vessel to another.

I think you're worrying about nothing.

I am slightly concerned that if I do not prime the barrel, as I always do for a second fermentation, then there will not be enough natural carbonation in the barrel, and insufficient pressure in the barrel from natural carbonation. I want to avoid introducing CO2 from a gas cylinder into the barrel, to avoid producing a gassey tasting final product. My previous 50 or 60 brews have always remained lively right down to the bottom of the barrel without adding any gas to the barrel over the 5 weeks it takes me to use up all the beer in the barrel.

 

[COL]

Col - what's your brewing routine?

Today everyone tends to brew in the primary then barrel, keg or bottle. Doing a 'secondary' is all but dead.

And by filtering do you mean passing through a filter or just racking through a tube from one vessel to another.

I think you're worrying about nothing.

Regarding your barrels, do you not have to put any CO2 gas into the barrel to maintain the pressure and keep the beer lively?

 

[terrym]

Regarding your barrels, do you not have to put any CO2 gas into the barrel to maintain the pressure and keep the beer lively?

When I used basic plastic PBs I used to rack off more or less clear beer from the FV into the PB and prime with sugar. For about 19/21 litres I used up to 95g table sugar, never more. My PBs were kept in the garage and in the summer months I could almost get to the bottom of the PB before the top pressure died. In the coldest winter months I might get down to about half way. I then reprimed with about 60/70gm sugar since my PBs had no injection facility. I found that worked for me.
I think you might solve a number of your problems if you could find the space for some more beer to be put into storage. That way you could build up a stock of beer so that you are drinking carbed up fully clear properly conditioned beer, whilst the next brew is going through the carbing and conditioning stages. That's what many home brewers tend to do, which avoids drinking beer that may not be ready for whatever reason, and it takes the pressure off the brewing cycle.

 

[COL]

Thank you for all that info.

 

[COL]

When I used basic plastic PBs I used to rack off more or less clear beer from the FV into the PB and prime with sugar. For about 19/21 litres I used up to 95g table sugar, never more. My PBs were kept in the garage and in the summer months I could almost get to the bottom of the PB before the top pressure died. In the coldest winter months I might get down to about half way. I then reprimed with about 60/70gm sugar since my PBs had no injection facility. I found that worked for me.
I think you might solve a number of your problems if you could find the space for some more beer to be put into storage. That way you could build up a stock of beer so that you are drinking carbed up fully clear properly conditioned beer, whilst the next brew is going through the carbing and conditioning stages. That's what many home brewers tend to do, which avoids drinking beer that may not be ready for whatever reason, and it takes the pressure off the brewing cycle.

What would happen if you primed the brew with too much sugar? Would the beer taste too sweet? But if one left the primed mash to ferment out completely, would it not simply produce a beer with a higher alcohol content, instead of being any sweeter?

 

[peebee]

What would happen if you primed the brew with too much sugar? Would the beer taste too sweet? But if one left the primed mash to ferment out completely, would it not simply produce a beer with a higher alcohol content, instead of being any sweeter?

The yeast will probably say "thanks very much" and ferment it out. So the beer shouldn't taste sweeter, though it might be a tiny bit more alcoholic.

BUT! It will generate a lot of CO2 and pressure. The pressure barrel will probably fall over as the pressure pushes out the "dimple" in the base (if it has one). This happens just prior to the barrel splitting and disgorging (forcibly) beer onto the floor.

Want to try it?