How do you siphon from 1 gallon jugs??? grr!

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JNye

JNye

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autosiphon doesn't fit. i tried starting a siphon with my mouth out of frustration but failed luckily. what are my options?
i got a few little juggs for experimenting and such but how to siphon my precious beer?
 
Here's a crappy online picture, but I bought a mini-autosiphon.

fermtech_auto_siphon_mini_267_thumb.jpg


It's made for gallon racking.
 
Fill sanitized tubing with water, leaving about and inch open from the end you put in the jug. Obviously clamp the other end.
Put the tubing in the jug and slowly release the clamp and drain the water out until you get to your beer. It is a little tricky but as long as you control the clamp you should not lose very much beer.
It is worth a try!
 
i kinda figured they made a mini auto siphon. guess i'll go that route. i'll give your idea a try for tonite though Kevin. Thanks.
 
KevinW said:
Fill sanitized tubing with water, leaving about and inch open from the end you put in the jug. Obviously clamp the other end.
Put the tubing in the jug and slowly release the clamp and drain the water out until you get to your beer. It is a little tricky but as long as you control the clamp you should not lose very much beer.
It is worth a try!
Click to expand...

Agree with this method, minimal equipment!

I just practiced a few times with water first. I even used some flat coca-cola once so I could get the hang of when to clamp it. Easy as pie.
 
KevinW said:
Fill sanitized tubing with water, leaving about and inch open from the end you put in the jug. Obviously clamp the other end.
Put the tubing in the jug and slowly release the clamp and drain the water out until you get to your beer. It is a little tricky but as long as you control the clamp you should not lose very much beer.
It is worth a try!
Click to expand...
Clamp? That is why God gave us thumbs. Just put you thumb over the end of the tube.
 
I like the "T" device too. Just install a Stainless T at the end of your hose. Cover the end with your thumb, and suck on the end of the branch. When the siphon gets going, release your thumb, and clamp the end you sucked on.
 
KevinW said:
Fill sanitized tubing with water, leaving about and inch open from the end you put in the jug. Obviously clamp the other end.
Put the tubing in the jug and slowly release the clamp and drain the water out until you get to your beer. It is a little tricky but as long as you control the clamp you should not lose very much beer.
It is worth a try!
Click to expand...

After having two auto siphons fail with the little piece in the end falling out (second one after it's 3rd use) I've given up on them. I take a 5ft or so length of 3/8 ID tubing, fill with starsan and put my thumbs over either end. Place one end in my vessel holding the brew with my thumb still over the other end making sure to keep it lower then the end in the brew. This ensures the water won't run out that side. Then release my thumb as I drop the tubing into the new vessel (keg). The minimal amount of starsan getting into my keg is of no concern.
One little piece of tubing to rinse out is much easier than cleaning an autosiphon :D


bovineblitz said:
Weird, my autosiphon fits just fine.
Click to expand...
+ this when I had an autosiphon. No problems fitting it into 1G Growlers for meade.
 
IrregularPulse said:
After having two auto siphons fail with the little piece in the end falling out (second one after it's 3rd use) I've given up on them. I take a 5ft or so length of 3/8 ID tubing, fill with starsan and put my thumbs over either end. Place one end in my vessel holding the brew with my thumb still over the other end making sure to keep it lower then the end in the brew. This ensures the water won't run out that side. Then release my thumb as I drop the tubing into the new vessel (keg). The minimal amount of starsan getting into my keg is of no concern.
One little piece of tubing to rinse out is much easier than cleaning an autosiphon :D



+ this when I had an autosiphon. No problems fitting it into 1G Growlers for meade.
Click to expand...

that little piece actually poped out of mine last night so i had to fix it. i put a bunch of silicon grease on a racking cane and this held the little plastic piece. i then manuevered it in place. couple dabs of super glue and then i popped that piece in place permenately i hope. wasn't difficult at all.

I tried the primed siphon thing with sanitized water and it just doesn't work for me. i have tried the tee fitting thing in the past also...no go. I have always done it thru my rubber stopper...is this my issue?
 
I had this same problem once.I went and bought a 5 gallon racking cane for 6 bucks and just cut it to fit the 1 gallon carboy i have.
 
echotraveler said:
fill tubing with sanitized water... its a bit messy.
Click to expand...

I just coil it a bit then submerge in the bowl where I keep my solution. Hold up each end as you attach it to your cane and let the solution hang out in the middle. You just need enough to pull your beer up and get the siphon going, don't need to fill it all the way. On a 1-gal jug the needed amount will be even smaller since the beer has a shorter vertical distance to rise!
 
JNye said:
that little piece actually poped out of mine last night so i had to fix it. i put a bunch of silicon grease on a racking cane and this held the little plastic piece. i then manuevered it in place. couple dabs of super glue and then i popped that piece in place permenately i hope. wasn't difficult at all.

I tried the primed siphon thing with sanitized water and it just doesn't work for me. i have tried the tee fitting thing in the past also...no go. I have always done it thru my rubber stopper...is this my issue?
Click to expand...

Mine has fallen out twice too, once some weeks ago and once this weekend. I was able to carefully balance it on a standard racking cane (long enough) and pop it back into place. I have two auto-siphons so I don't know if it was the same one each time. Its too bad, those are expensive, but if this only happens occasionally to me and its not actually broken, I guess I'll put up with it.
 
so I got it done tonite. stupid me was siphoning thru the bung(on the higher vessel). so it would try to start then fail. just used my siphon tube with water and no bungs in place and it wourked great...no mini auto siphon for me! thanks guys. can't beleive i didn't realize why i couldn't start a proper siphon earlier.
 
Ah, yeah. If that bung was restricting the flow of air into the jug as the siphon started, the vacuum would eventually stop the flow. Glad to hear you worked things out!
 
Homercidal said:
I like the "T" device too. Just install a Stainless T at the end of your hose. Cover the end with your thumb, and suck on the end of the branch. When the siphon gets going, release your thumb, and clamp the end you sucked on.
Click to expand...

I tried that method once - sounded good in theory but not so much in practice for me.
 
I used to fill the tubes with sanitizer to start the siphon. Recently i started jamming a turkey baster (clean new purpose specific and sanitized) into the end of the tube and started a suction. Much less fluid loss. works well.
 
schmagy said:
I used to fill the tubes with sanitizer to start the siphon. Recently i started jamming a turkey baster (clean new purpose specific and sanitized) into the end of the tube and started a suction. Much less fluid loss. works well.
Click to expand...

I did the tube-full-of-water siphoning until I bought my auto-siphon... don't make me go back!!

There are three sizes of auto-siphons... the largest may not fit into a 1 gallon, but the medium and smalls should have no problem.

When I post the progress on "Pipeline Cider" later, I have pictures of using my autosiphon in a Gallo wine jug (my 1 gal fermenter, of course!).
 

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