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Beer Filtration
Collodial Stabilization
To achieve beer stability it is necessary to remove either the protein, the polyphenol, or both from the beer. These nonbiological haze precursors can be removed during the cold conditioning or filtration steps, i.e., during colloidal stabilization at the filter. During filtration, the most commonly used stabilizers for removing proteins is amorphous silica gel (e.g., Lucite®). Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone or PVPP (e.g., Polycar AT®) is typically used for removing polyphenols (14). The stabilization procedures which interact directly with filtration or similar processes are:
• Addition of PVPP and silica gel powders to beer in conjunction with filter aids.
• Addition of PVPP in bright beer after kieselguhr filtration, followed by separation in horizontal leaf filters and subsequent regeneration for reuse.
• Combined treatment with sterilization using PVPP-impregnated sterilizing filter sheets.
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