Minimizing loss on primary-secondary transfer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

clemson55

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
662
Reaction score
3
Location
Newport News, VA
Is the name descriptive enough? I want to know the best way to transfer from the primary to the secondary in order to minimize loss. I dont want to leave a lot of beer in the primary and I dont want to suck up a bunch of trub off the bottom either. Seems like a normal siphon would still leave a fair amount of liquid in there. If you tilt the carboy I would think the trub will get stirred up. So what do you guys do in order to get the most beer out? Thanks
 
Well, the first thing I do is to strain the wort going into primary. I try to leave as much break material and hops as possible. Then there is less to deal with later. Then before I rack from the primary, I put the bucket up on the island/counter the night before so it can resettle. When you move it, it does stir up. If I remember, I put a book as a wedge on one side so most of the trub goes on one side. Then I rack by starting with the siphon high up in the beer so I know it's above the trub and just lower the racking cane as I can see it to keep it under the surface of the beer but above the trub. I don't leave much beer behind at all.

I don't know if that makes sense- let me know if it's not very clear.
 
Thats reasonably clear. I got out a pretty good amount of the material from the wort going into the primary I just know theres a pretty good layer on the bottom of the carboy and I want to get as little as possible once I transfer.
 
Back
Top