Using carboy as primary -- how to transfer wort from kettle..?

I'm going to be using a 6.5 gal carboy as my primary fermenter instead of a bucket on this brew, and I just realized that this would make transferring the wort from the kettle into the fermentation vessel a tad bit tricker.

Once the wort is cool, should I just use my autosiphon and racking wand? What do most people do? I've already started boiling my water, hopefully I'll figure it out soon!

Since wort needs to be oxygenated before pitching, it's perfectly fine to just use a funnel and dump it directly in. What I usually do though, is dump the wort into my bottling bucket (which has level markings on the side), fill with enough water to get it to 5 gallons, and then transfer via tubing to the primary.

Unless you have a ball valve on your kettle, you'll need to siphon or pour it through a funnel.

You could but the almost boiling temp of the wort will distort the racking cane and maybe the auto siphon (not sure, I don't have one). If you have a large funnel, I'd use that. Just make sure what ever you use it's sanitized really well.

Ki-ri-n said:

You could but the almost boiling temp of the wort will distort the racking cane and maybe the auto siphon (not sure, I don't have one).

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IHateMayonnaise said:

Once the wort is cool...

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Sorry I had a couple of homebrew's as I was typing

I did get the funnel part right.

I just sit my pot up on my deck railing and put my carboy on the ground and autosiphon it through hose into the carboy.

Well the only thing I'm not sure about is would it be alright if the hops stay in the kettle if i siphon it into the carboy? shouldn't they stay in?

IHateMayonnaise said:

Well the only thing I'm not sure about is would it be alright if the hops stay in the kettle if i siphon it into the carboy? shouldn't they stay in?

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I dont think it matters much. Seems like some people dump all the hops/gunk in, some whirlpool and leave in the kettle/throw away/compost. I think its just personal preference. You probably wont see any additional flavor/bitterness added. If so, it would be very minimal.

The hops float mainly, at the end I take handfulls and squeeze them out through a strainer to get all the sweet sweet nectar off them

i had 20.5 lbs of grain so i added 6.4 gallons (at 1.25 qt/lb) of water @168 and stirred the grains in the mash tun, and the temp was reading 140 when i stuck the thermometer in the top of the tun and after i drew off some the temp was 150, so i guess the hot water settled or something. I added about a quart of 180F water to raise the temp a bit. 30 mins later i checked it again and it was again reading 140 at the top and now 148 when i drew some off, so i'm adding a little more hot water. also my mash tun (10gal rubbermaid) is almost to the top!

in about 15 minutes the 60 minutes will be up, should i let it sit for longer since the temp was a bit lower than i was heading for (150)? Or should I go ahead and start sparging??

Are you stirring?

wacko said:

Are you stirring?

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Yes i stirred the hell out of it, my huge metal spoon started to bend a little actually.

After I chill the wort, I use my autosiphon to transfer it from the kettle to my 6.5 gal carboy. After that I aerate it and the pitch my yeast.

IHateMayonnaise said:

Yes i stirred the hell out of it, my huge metal spoon started to bend a little actually.

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Seems odd you'd have so much temperature change if you are stirring.

wacko said:

Seems odd you'd have so much temperature change if you are stirring.

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I agree. Oh well I'm sparging now; I tested the OG before I started sparging and I was at 1.080..my target OG is 1.103 and there will be some boil off so I figure I'm probably good.

i had 6.4 gallons of strike water, and that combined with my 20.5lbs of grain puts the level near the top of my 10 gallon mash tun. I'm running off right now (already valouf'd) very slowly, and the grain starts to peak out of the water pretty much two inches lower than the original level in my mash tun, so I add some 170 degree sparge water until there is an inch on top of the grain bed.

Is it odd that my grain bed is so close to the top of my mash tun? And also, should I run off EVERYTHING from the mash tun and use that in the boil? Or should I stop at about 6.5 gallons and not use the rest?

People make small batches of second runnings if you have something to ferment it in.

I tried to stuff 24lbs of grain + 6 gallons of water in a 8.5 gallon pot last week. Didn't quite work

I believe that there will be a lot of water lost to grain absorption so you'll be adding water, just keep adding til about 7 and boil down.

wacko said:

People make small batches of second runnings if you have something to ferment it in.

I tried to stuff 24lbs of grain + 6 gallons of water in a 8.5 gallon pot last week. Didn't quite work

I believe that there will be a lot of water lost to grain absorption so you'll be adding water, just keep adding til about 7 and boil down.

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So...should I keep adding sparge water on top of my grain bed until I get 7 gallons in my brew kettle and THEN stop? Or should I add less sparge water (letting the water level drop below the top of the grain bed) and use that water? A bit confused...

The first 2 batches I would dump it from the kettle through a funnel with a filter screen on it. Aggrivating because I would have to stop, clean the screen, spray with starsan, and start again. I'm not the strongest gal in the world so lifting 30+ lbs. of wort gets pretty tiresome.

Batch #3 I just dumped the cooled wort directly into the primary (through a funnel). Left the layer of gunk at the bottom of the kettle, in the kettle, and the rest of the gunk settles in the bottom of the primary after a couple weeks.

Don't worry about using the siphon unless you really feel ambitious.

Whirlpool and autosyphon. You get more good beer out of your fermenter then. Less space being taken up by trub=more space for beer.

B