About to buy my first filtering system, which is better, cartridge or plate? Thanks for feedback!
Why are you filtering? When I first started brewing earlier this year, I figured I would be obsesses with clear beer and bought a filtering system. Once I learned more about the whole home brew thing, I never toughed what I bought. I currently get very clear beer.
Save your money and just use gelatin.
Do a search and you’ll come up with several posts on how to use it.
It’s cheap and effective.
I’m also on the no filtering side of the fence. I have used a half tablet of whirlfloc in the last 10 minutes of boil and whirlpool the cooled wort before transfer and I have clear wort running to the primary and the majority of the remaining solids will precipitate out of solution during ferment.
And if I am doing a lager or other I want super clear I transfer to a secondary vessel for 1-4 weeks and they are brilliantly clear. If dry hopping a beer I do it in the primary for a week after ferment finishes and then transfer off the trub into secondary to further drop solids.
As mentioned if you want to further drop out solids if they become a problem outside of these simple methods then gelatin is a solution to further drop particles. And if you are bottling and carbonating naturally you will have solids in the bottle no matter what even if you filtered first.
look at the reviews on NB site regarding the cheap plate/ cartridge style filter sounds like a huge hassle in between the leaking, the slow transfers, the loss of beer, the cost of pads/ cartridges, the extra cleaning and process, the added oxidation and risk of picking up contaminants, Did I mention the hassle! LOL bottom line is if you use sound process such as my take above, your beers will be super brilliant out of the bottle even just learn to keep them upright and the solids compact pretty tight to the bottom of the bottle so that your pour will be crystal unless your purposely rouse the cake.
Plate, it stores easier on a shelf when you no longer use it.
I thought about this primarily because my girlfriend doesn’t like the yeasty taste of homebrew but it does seem like a lot of work. I get pretty clean looking beer and have tried isinglass in my last batch to drop out some of the yeast but it is still in the secondary and I haven’t been able to test it out
good, more for you. and the yeast helps fight a hangover
Use high flocculating yeast and cold crash for a few days.
