Darn Bubbles!

In my quest to ditch the hop bags entirely, I tried dry hopping without a hop bag. The plan was to wrap some 50 mesh around the end of an auto siphon to filter the hops. I did that, but encountered a problem.

Everything started fine, but after a gallon had been transferred, the auto siphon and mesh set up introduced a massive amount of bubbles into the bottling bucket.

The flow was still pretty decent even when there was a lot of bubbling. Eventually it would stall. Clearing the filter and restarting the siphon stopped the bubbles, but they would start again after 15 seconds or so.

I was able to transfer all 5 gallons and no hops ended up in the bottling bucket, but I had to restart the siphon three times and introduced a large amount of bubbles into the beer.

So, where the heck are these bubbles coming from?

What I've done that has worked well is to use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag in the bottling bucket. I just make sure it is pushed all the way to the bottom as to not introduce any bubbles and rack into the bucket. Then when racking is done, I simply pull the strainer bag out, give the beer a quick, gentle stir to mix in the priming sugar, and then bottle.

That works, but I'm trying to get off bags entirely.

My theory on what happened: the flow restriction provided by the hops clogging the mesh, versus the strength of the siphon draw, caused the rubber gasket in the autosiphon to partially collapse, allowing air from inside the outer siphon tube to enter the inner tube.

Next time that happens, pour some of the siphoned beer into a sanitized cup, and then pour some beer from the cup into the autosiphon, on top of the gasket. If the air bubbles cease, you'll know air was getting by that gasket...

Cheers!

That sounds right, thanks.

MisterTipsy said:

So, where the heck are these bubbles coming from?

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My guess is that it was dissolved co2 coming out of solution from the turbulence.

bja said:

My guess is that it was dissolved co2 coming out of solution from the turbulence.

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That could be true too. I'll be testing your theory when I try using this filter



inside a dry hopped secondary bucket and transfer with a spigot and gravity.

bja said:

My guess is that it was dissolved co2 coming out of solution from the turbulence.

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It could be that AND the air leaking from the inside of the siphon tube.

MisterTipsy said:

That could be true too. I'll be testing your theory when I try using this filter

inside a dry hopped secondary bucket and transfer with a spigot and gravity.

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Interesting filter! What material is the outer screen made of?

MisterTipsy said:

It could be that AND the air leaking from the inside of the siphon tube.

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Were you using an autosiphon? If so you should have been able to see the bubbles traveling through the tube. I assumed you weren't since you didn't mention this.

bja said:

Were you using an autosiphon? If so you should have been able to see the bubbles traveling through the tube. I assumed you weren't since you didn't mention this.

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Yes and the bubbles were visible in the full length of all tubing. Like it was carbonated. Very fizzy.

Stauffbier said:

Interesting filter! What material is the outer screen made of?

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304 stainless steel 50 mesh.

I have some 30 and 100 mesh too. Haven't tried either of those yet, but 100 will be too small.

MisterTipsy said:

304 stainless steel 50 mesh.

I have some 30 and 100 mesh too. Haven't tried either of those yet, but 100 will be too small.

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Is that mesh something that can be obtained at places like Lowe's or Home Depot?

Stauffbier said:

Is that mesh something that can be obtained at places like Lowe's or Home Depot?

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I haven't seen it at HD. I bought it from Amazon.

It's about $12 for a 12x12 piece of 50 mesh. This link has a ton of different types of mesh.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005H4B6W0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Thanks!

If you cut the mesh with metal shears, the edges can be sharp and prickly. I poked my self a few times before I de-burred the edges.

MisterTipsy said:

If you cut the mesh with metal shears, the edges can be sharp and prickly. I poked my self a few times before I de-burred the edges.

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Sounds like my SS braid! I poke myself with the wires on the end of that thing every, single time I use my MLT!