Aeration during rack to secondary?

OK, I finally racked to secondary tonight and I use an autosiphon. The racking process was very smooth but I noticed a thin line of bubbles running along the top of the siphon tube almost the whole time. Other than that I was sure not to swish/splash/splosh anything around. Do I have to worry about aeration of the wort as I racked to secondary or is this characteristic of the racking process and RDWHAHB... Thanks.

Joe

P.S. Do most people on this board use the carboy cap with a racking cane or the autosiphon? Any suggestions? I read that thread posted in the "Buying a secondary..." thread and it looked great.

RiversC174 said:

OK, I finally racked to secondary tonight and I use an autosiphon. The racking process was very smooth but I noticed a thin line of bubbles running along the top of the siphon tube almost the whole time. Other than that I was sure not to swish/splash/splosh anything around. Do I have to worry about aeration of the wort as I racked to secondary or is this characteristic of the racking process and RDWHAHB... Thanks.

Click to expand...

Were these REALLY tiny bubbles? I get these when I rack. I've always just assumed that it was CO2 in the beer escaping.

Sometimes I get a bigger bubble where the cane meets the hose, and the beer is not a solid flow below this. When that happens, I just pinch the bubble with my fingers for a couple of seconds and release. Problem goes away.

Either way, I never worry about, or have problems with, aeration.

RiversC174 said:

P.S. Do most people on this board use the carboy cap with a racking cane or the autosiphon? Any suggestions? I read that thread posted in the "Buying a secondary..." thread and it looked great.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good poll to have. I'll post the thread...

-walker

Keg lube will probably give you a better seal...

keg lube on what?

Sorry, Keg lube on the hard plastic of the autosiphon where you attach the tubing.

It stopped the bubbles for me.

ah. ok. that makes sense. You could also use a little hose clamp, IF the problem is a bad seal.

I'm not convinced that he actually had air getting in the line, though. I think it might have been CO2 coming out of the beer.)

-walker

I've seen that too, I've ignored it and all the beers I've done have come out ok. I had NO fermentation in the secondary (except for the occasional bubble.....too far apart to count (usualy days between bubbles)> I then Keg with CO2 and have never had an issue.

Great feedback. I'll check the tube connection to the cane, I may just not have had the tube far enough onto the cane, it was only overlapping about 1/2". The bubbles were small. About the size youd see after a beer is poured and tiny tight bubbles are still rising to the top so I guess it was CO2 escaping. Yeah and I'd like to know who uses what. I have seen pictures of the carboy cap and it looks like a much easier, no hassle setup. Later.

Joe