coldrice

Recipes 

mysigp226

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I felt too dumb to ask and ended up breaking 2 canes before I figured it out..so here's what I've learned.

1. The tub goes onto the cane at the short end by the curve
2. Stick the long end of the cane into the barrel/carboy/etc
3. Suck on the tub end until the liquid is an inch from your mouth
4. Tip the tub down into the bucket/carboy/etc
5. It will flow
5b. If it stop flowing, start at step #3 and repeat

Yes..it will contaminate, but what else you going to do? Unless you spend $10 and get an autosiphon.

Oh...the tub may never come off the cane without breaking the cane or cutting the tub. I've just resigned myself to cleaning the entire unit as a single piece. (note two broken cans above)

hcarter

Recipes 

Maybe look into an autosiphon, no contamination and easy to use. Any LHBS or online supplier will have them. No worries about the question, we've all been there, some are still there, that's why we're all here.

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A Highlander likes two things naked. The other's Scotch.
- Howard
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-make-yeast-starter-pictorial-76101/

JMD87

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The basic idea of a siphon is that once you get a flow going, you use gravity to your benefit to keep it going. Lets say you plan on transferring your cider to a bottling bucket. The theory is pretty simple, you put your carboy/bucket/jug full of cider up higher then your bottling bucket, you start the flow (theres a few ways to do this), and put the plastic tube into the bottling bucket, making sure that the tip of the tube is lower than the bottom of the raking cane.

Still with me?

A few ways to start a flow: You can suck on the end, but as you said you risk contamination. In an emergency, some people have swished some vodka, or other strong alcohol in their mouth and then sucked the end of the tube.

If you have a carboy, some brewers put on a "carboy cap", which basically allows you to blow into the carboy to create pressure inside the carboy which starts flow.

Now, if you have a spare $12.99 I (as well as many others I'm sure) will recommend you get an auto siphon. It starts flow with a single "stroke" of the siphon. Very easy, very effective.

Hopefully I helped instead of confused you more. This was some long post about siphoning.

__________________
Primary 1-
Primary 2-
Secondary -
Bottle Conditioning- Marzen
Drinking- Amarillo Pale,Oatmeal Stout
On Deck - Porter, Helles

burns629

Recipes 

HarvInSTL

Recipes 

+Eleventy bijillon on the auto siphon.

Once you get one you will never use a racking cane again.

Now the only downside to auto siphons is the fact that you can't use hot liquid. Including hot water to clean. Stick with warm water for clean up.

__________________
Primary: Cherry Vanilla Melomel, Blueberry melomel, Orange Cranberry Melomel, Port, Orange Blossom Muscat, Dubbel, Golden Strong

Secondary: 9/9/9/-My version, Carbernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Raspberry Melomel

On deck: Tripel, 5 day IPA Squared, White Russian Imperial Stout

Live in Saint Louis, MO? Then check out www.stlbrews.org and www.garagebrewers.com

beerthirty

Recipes 

Fill the cane and tubing with water from the sink. Place your sanitized thumb over the tubing end. Move it from the sink and stick the cane into the bucket. With your tubing and thumb lower than the level of beer in the bucket release your thumb over a catch basin (or into the sink). When the colored beer hits the end of the tubing put your thumb back on the tubing and move it to your container of choice(below the level of you beer fermenter). Release your thumb and the flow will begin. Lower the tubing to the bottom of the bottling bucket or keg to prevent aeration. Congrats, you have now transfered your beer.

__________________
primary- Tangerine Dream, SWMBO slayer,
serving- amber ale hop experiment #6, Roggenbier, apfelwine
planning- Cru?
conditioning- 9/9/09 barleywine
Drink water?... Never, fish fornicate in it.--- W.C. Fields
Most problems can be solved with the proper application of force.

coldrice

Recipes 

Wow, freakin' awesome video...I recommend everyone watches that. Thanks everyone for your input, I appreciate it!

burns629

Recipes 

If you scroll around on that site, they have a whole video series starting with equipment all the way to bottling which is pretty good, and covers about every question that a beginning brewer has ever asked. I prob watched each of those a few times.

Hope the link helps

KB

SirFizzle

Recipes 

I use a sanitized barb fitting to get it started. Just barely press into the end of the tubing. Or a short piece of tubing barely over the end of the bottling wand.
Your mouth only touches this piece and you pull it away before any beer flows through it.