air bubbles while siphoning

[teej_810]

lately when i siphon my beer to the keg or secondary i get a build up of air bubbles inside the line. anyone else have this? is it normal?

 

[impur]

I noticed some bubbles when i transferred to my bottling bucket recently. I think it was just CO2 being released from under the yeast cake.

 

[JJL]

A couple of things you can try.

1) You may need to raise your primary a little higher.

2) Try squeezing the tube where the air bubbles are. Usually this will get rid of the void.

 

[TomSD]

If you don't have a good seal on your cane it can cause some bubbles too.

 

[stevo155]

My guess is it's CO2 in the beer being released when transferring.

 

[WCrane]

Does it happen to be near the top where the hose meets the racking cane?

I had the same happen this past weekend. It was just air in the line, give the tube a squeeze and it'll go away. If it was a little leak you'd be aerating and it would be visiable.

 

[apfann]

I had that same problem till I got a little pipe clamp that I tighten down when I use the siphon. I got less air and stopped having the other problem of premature loss of siphon pressure.

 

[Maarten]

My guess is it's CO2 in the beer being released when transferring.

+1 for CO2

Because CO2 is produced constantly and the headspace is also filled with CO2, the beer is slightly oversaturated. During siphoning you agitate the beer and release CO2. No big deal.

 

[Blackgaurd_Brewing]

I had that same problem till I got a little pipe clamp that I tighten down when I use the siphon. I got less air and stopped having the other problem of premature loss of siphon pressure.

Im with this guy... Try a clamp on the hose fed by your racking cane, Aerating at bottling or racking is horrible on the beer and a 25cent clamp will make it all better.

 

[shawnbou]

I had that same problem till I got a little pipe clamp that I tighten down when I use the siphon. I got less air and stopped having the other problem of premature loss of siphon pressure.

+2. I used to use a rubber band wrapped around the hose about 10 times, but that was a pain to put on and take off. The solution: I got a little round plastic clamp from AHS for about 79 cents. It clips on easy and snaps right off when I'm done.

I notice that the closer I put the clamp to the end of the hose, the better results I get. Little to no bubbles in the transferring beer and no loss of suction.

 

[SwampassJ]

I didn't have that with the smaller sized auto siphon (thank you swmbo for snapping it) but with the 1/2" auto siphon I have to pinch just beyond where the tubing attaches to the auto siphon.