Couple of questions

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Hernando

Hernando

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I was racking my Belgian Wit to the secondary fermenter with an auto siphon this weekend and while it was transferring, I noticed the line would get air in it and it would agitate with the beer. The air seems to come in from the point where the auto siphon cane connects to the hose; It isn't a super tight fit. Is this air going to ruin my beer? Is this normal?

My other question has to relate to star san, if any of it comes in contact with the wort after boil or while the beer is fermenting is it ruined. I know it is pretty diluted but was more curious if this will effect the overll outcome or quality of the beer?
 
Not sure about your first question, but as far as starsan goes, it's ok if it comes in contact with your beer, but you don't want any quantity in your beer as it could effect gravity, flavor etc. After I dump sanitizer out of say a carboy, there's bubbles left behind and as I've been told, a small amount of bubbles from starsan solution is ok.
 
A little air won't run your beer, but you should try to tighten that connection as best as you can. The less oxygen your beer absorbs in the transfer process, the better.

A little sanitized won't ruin your beer either. People have stories about dumping sizable quantities of star san in their beer and not noticing any ill effects. Again, you'll want to limit the amount of sanitized your beer comes into contact with to that which is necessary to sanitize the vessel the beer is going into, but a few drops here and there will not even be noticeable in the finished product.
 
The air thing is not good. If it was blending air with beer as you were racking it, you have oxygenated your beer and it will have "wet cardboard" flavors, similar to if you drank a half consumed beer that sat on the counter for a couple days. One option is to give your beer a sugar feeding to try and get the yeast going again to use up the oxygen in your beer.
As for the Starsan, if it is diluted properly is will not harm your brew. Not even the copious suds that will always be there. Starsan is a no rinse sanitizer.
 
Thanks Nordeast and TTB-J. The amount that came in contact with my beer was minimal but I just wanted to check as I am still learning. I was more concerned about the air in the hose and the amount of agitation I saw. I will have to figure out a way to get that connection tighter. Some quick ties or vlecro straps or something.
 
bottlebomber said:
The air thing is not good. If it was blending air with beer as you were racking it, you have oxygenated your beer and it will have "wet cardboard" flavors, similar to if you drank a half consumed beer that sat on the counter for a couple days. One option is to give your beer a sugar feeding to try and get the yeast going again to use up the oxygen in your beer.
Click to expand...

This is what I was afraid of. As for Sugar feeding the beer, would boiling some DME and adding it be the preferred way?
 
Hernando said:
Thanks Nordeast and TTB-J. the amoutn that camein contact withmy beer was minimal but I just wanted to check as I am still learning. I was mro econcerned about the air in the hos eand the amount of agitation I saw. I will have to figure out a way to get that connection tighter. Some quick ties or vlecro straps or something.
Click to expand...

You can buy those worm gear style hose clamps at any hardware store. One of them shouldn't really be more than 50 cents. You can clamp your hose down nice and tight with those.
 
1. Was this a constant flow of air through the auto siphon as you were racking, or were there only a couple periods when this occurred? It's my belief that it's actually very hard to oxidize beer. You would really need to go out of your and TRY to pump a constant flow of oxygen through the beer for an extended period of time to do any harm. I've personally had air bubbles pass through my beer while bottling on many occassions and the beer stood up to the test of time in each instance (consistant quality was noticed months after bottling.)

2. No, Star San will not ruin your beer. At the recommended dilution ratio, Star San is completely safe in contact with your fermenting beer/wort; it will not hinder yeast activity or harm the wort. There are several threads on here regarding Star San and it's effectiveness.
That said, I wouldn't push the limits of this sanitizer: use it as needed and don't overdo it. There is debate as to how safe the sanitizer is for your health, and while the manufacturer's recommended dilution ratio is well below toxicity thresholds for the chemicals in the sanitizer, the surfactant used (dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid) is a strong corrosive and irritant. There is an entire MSDS regarding this chemical, it's application, and health side effects.
Again, this is my opinion and you should not be discouraged from using Star San. I use Star San with every brew I make. Many/most will argue that Star San is completely safe, some even arguing that you can drink a glass of it at the recommended dilution ratio with no ill effects, but I would STRONGLY discourage this. Use it as needed: after all, it was made for homebrewers.
 
I've had my autosiphon bubble quite a bit and not had oxygenation issues. It's not like a stray breath can ruin a batch, it takes a good amount of oxygen to affect the taste in a significant way. Anyways, if it was as easy as just putting a little more sugar or DME in there, then priming would take care of oxygenation on its own. So I wouldn't personally suggest adding anything at this point, but others may disagree with me there. Up to you, but my inclination is to work on tightening that connection with some sort of band or clamp and getting another batch going.
 
Hernando said:
I was racking my Belgian Wit to the secondary fermenter with an auto siphon this weekend and while it was transferring, I noticed the line would get air in it and it would agitate with the beer. The air seems to come in from the point where the auto siphon cane connects to the hose; It isn't a super tight fit. Is this air going to ruin my beer? Is this normal?

Check the inside diameter of your siphoning hose, it's probably 3/8. Use a 5/16 instead, and you won't have problems. It's harder to attach, but if you run hot water on it, it goes on. Make sure you measure ID and not OD. I had the same problem with my first IPA, I actually wound up pumping the siphon. The new hose got rid of the problem. I wouldn't worry too much about the oxygen in the beer, it takes a lot to ruin it, and from what I understand, it's usually evident after long storage. I'm sure you'll be tasting good Belgian Wit and not wet cardboard. Have fun.:tank:
Click to expand...
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the oxygen - I've had bubbles in my autosiphon and the beer was fine. It would likely only be a possible problem if you were going to keep the beer for a long time before drinking.

I have one of the large size autosiphons (1/2 inch OD). I tried a hose clamp for the tubing with little luck, then went to a smaller tubing size where I had to dip the end of the tubing in near boiling water to soften it enough to get it on - that stopped the leaks, but was a hassle to get on and off for cleaning, even though I didn't take it off every time. I finally hit on the idea of using 3/8 ID silicone tubing, which works great. It goes on easily, forms an airtight seal, and comes off easily. Best of all, it can be boiled to sanitize.
 
Hernando said:
This is what I was afraid of. As for Sugar feeding the beer, would boiling some DME and adding it be the preferred way?
Click to expand...

Was it really sucking air, or just bubbling a little? As others have stated its usually not a big deal, if it was really churning with air there might be an issue. If you want to try feeding it again you could but in these cases I think its probably better to leave it alone. If you leave it alone and it tastes great you will know for the future what you can get away with. I really don't even think a secondary was necessary unless you are going to be dry hopping AND you want to wash your yeast. You can easily leave a beer in primary for 6 weeks
 
Well it sucked in the air for about a third of the racking process then I just squeezed the crap out of the hose for the remainder. I will hope for the best on this batch. It is a bit relieving to know that it is harder to oxidize the beer. I tend to get really cautious when it comes to beer :D Thanks all for the tips and help. :mug:
 
bottlebomber said:
I really don't even think a secondary was necessary unless you are going to be dry hopping AND you want to wash your yeast. You can easily leave a beer in primary for 6 weeks
Click to expand...

It was neccessarry so I could start my Rogue Brutal IPA clone :D
 
I wouldn't worry about it, especially if you're bottle conditioning. The yeast will help scrub that oxygen out when you feed them a little sugar.
 

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