What better way to celebrate summer than with a cool, crisp, clear beer. Filtering beer does more than improve the clarity of a brew. Discover how minerals like diatomaceous earth optimizes the filtering process to help produce a better beer.

Benefits to Filtering Beer

Beer wasn’t always filtered. It became the norm once people started drinking it out of clear glass. Seeing floating particles from the brewing process made it less appealing to some drinkers and advertisers. It didn’t take long to discover that clear beer not only looked better, but it also tasted pretty good too.

While some craft beers are still purposely less filtered, more brewers look for ways to improve the filtering process. Some early filter aids included crushed shells, shrimp carcasses, coconut fibers, and rice husks. While these are natural products, some don’t exactly sound right floating around in your beer. So, beer filtration has become more refined over time.

Now, to remove biologic impurities as small as a submicron and eliminate hazy beer, brewers need efficient commercial-grade filters that can handle a high capacity. Many brewing companies have found that diatomaceous earth (DE) is a cost-effective filtration medium flexible enough to clarify large volumes of beer.

Using Diatomaceous Earth as a Filter

Like the early filter aids, DE is also a renewable resource. It’s the skeletal remains of microscopic unicellular plants that live in fresh and salty bodies of water. Brewers choose DE for a variety of reasons:

• Inert
• Porous
• Low flow resistance
• Adaptable medium
• Readily available

Beer filtration varies depending on the quality of beer you’re after. Having a flexible filter aid like DE allows brewers to adjust the process to filter as much or as little sediment to achieve the beer’s color, texture, and depth of flavor.

Sustainable Beer Filtration

When you use DE to filter beer, this flexible, natural resource not only makes the process more cost-effective and efficient, but also better for the environment. Once the filter cake is used, these organic materials can be recycled into compost, fertilizer, and other eco-friendly applications.

Natural DE filter aids are available in a full range of grades to meet specific brewery standards. Lower grades form filter cakes with small pores that filter more for a high degree of clarity. Higher grades have larger pores to allow more sediment through for reduced clarity but sometimes richer body and flavor.

Dicalite Management Group understands how important it is to choose the right filtration method. Our high-grade diatomaceous earth is mined from our California location and is a direct-run product, ensuring its consistency. All you need to focus on is crafting a better beer from a natural, high quality filter. Contact us to request a free sample.