how do the big guys do it?

[bluestang50]

How do all of the big beer producer keep yeast out of the final product? I have never seen yeast in a beer i have bought from a store and the taste doesn't change with age. What are they adding/doing?

 

[wilserbrewer]

filtering and pastuerizing maybe?

 

[wegz15]

I believe they filter the final product. If you drink craft beers some still have yeast in them.

 

[A4J]

They use a filter, or cold crash, or bright tanks.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

They filter then force carbonate.

 

[snazo]

buy a quality wheat or anything belgian in that matter and you'll find yeast. love swirling the last 1/8 of a bottle to create the head. but ales and lagers, yah im in aww as well

 

[jonmohno]

Go check out some bottled conditioned ales, I believe sierra nevadas brews are.Youll notice how more well rounded or complex they can taste.

 

[KFBass]

I work in a brewery and we use a DE Filter. Some breweries use a centrifuge.

We ferment the beer in a conical style fermentor. When it has reached it's FG, we pressurize and cool the beer to 0C. We transfer to another tank (to get it off the yeast and dry hop if necessary) where it sits until it gets filtered. We filter it into a "Bright Tank" (bright meaning finished or filtered) where a carbonation stone is used to force carb. Bottling day comes around, generally we spend a few hours fixing the labeler, and the rest is pretty standard. Everyone takes home a few underfills and we all go home tired and happy. Whole process takes about 2 weeks.

If I can figure out how to work my phone to upload pics, i'll post a pic of the DE filter beds after an IPA run. It looks like a weird alien christmas tree.

 

[SumnerH]

Yep, Sierra and many craft brews are bottle conditioned. You can barely notice it with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale; they clear it (I believe it's filtered, even) and then add back just enough yeast to carb it. But there's some there.

Most of my homebrews are almost as clear; with enough patience, almost everything will floc out, leaving just the barest dusting of yeast in the bottle after carbing.

 

[tknice]

Yep, Sierra and many craft brews are bottle conditioned. You can barely notice it with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale; they clear it (I believe it's filtered, even) and then add back just enough yeast to carb it. But there's some there.

Most of my homebrews are almost as clear; with enough patience, almost everything will floc out, leaving just the barest dusting of yeast in the bottle after carbing.

Yeah, my buddy just harvested some yeast from a 6 pack of kellerweis and he's building up a starter that he's gonna throw in a Bavarian hefeweizen recipe. Can't wait to try it!

 

[bgrayson726]

At 2:47, the brewmaster at a local brewery here explains exactly how they filter it, etc. Pretty interesting stuff.

 

[rjwhite41]

Macro brews are generally filtered and pasteurized.

 

[bluestang50]

Thanks for all of the great responses. My first brew turned out very clear and with only a tiny bit of yeast built up in the bottom of the bottles after several weeks. I have an IPA that I will be bottling in about another week and a half. Does anyone do the whirlpool trick when racking from the boil kettle to the primary and from the primary to the secondary?

 

[jonmohno]

I simply do it by using a sanitized nylon straining bag.

 

[camus]

Most of my homebrews are almost as clear; with enough patience, almost everything will floc out, leaving just the barest dusting of yeast in the bottle after carbing.

Yeap, and if you let them be enough anything but the hardest of shaking will leave that stuff stuck at the bottom.