Today was bottling day on my first AG batch, and I'm starting to think that bottling takes longer than the actual brew day. Or rather, starting the siphon takes longer than the actual brew day. (Yes, I know that there's a thing called an auto-siphon, and I don't have one yet. This is a venting thread not a help me thread)
I tried to start the siphon with a turkey baster. Carboy on the kitchen table, bottling bucket on the floor. No dice. Liquid rises up to the connection between the hose and racking cane, then falls back into the carboy.
So I tried to tilt the carboy while my sister operated the turkey baster. I was tilting at probably 30 to 45 degrees, and the liquid would still come up to the connection and fall back into the carboy. The difference is that a trickle would go down into the turkey baster. She could literally fill the turkey baster with beer, and the rest would get sucked back up the hose into the carboy.
After about 20 minutes of this, I threw some starsan in some water and tried to fill up the hose as best I could to get the siphon started that way. The siphon did start, but it was the most bizarre siphon I've ever seen. The beer came up to the connection between the cane and the siphon hose and then looked like it stopped completely, but it was actually trickling down. About a foot down the siphon hose, it looked like the base of a tiny waterfall. Tons of bubbling and splashing. And then it ran down the rest of the hose like it was supposed to.
I can only assume that I had a pocket of air about 5/16" in diameter (3/8" hose) and a foot long, and it was wreaking havoc with everything. Because this siphon was defying gravity left and right. I used to be pretty good in Physics classes, but I always did get lost on the practical application.
I tried to start the siphon with a turkey baster. Carboy on the kitchen table, bottling bucket on the floor. No dice. Liquid rises up to the connection between the hose and racking cane, then falls back into the carboy.
So I tried to tilt the carboy while my sister operated the turkey baster. I was tilting at probably 30 to 45 degrees, and the liquid would still come up to the connection and fall back into the carboy. The difference is that a trickle would go down into the turkey baster. She could literally fill the turkey baster with beer, and the rest would get sucked back up the hose into the carboy.
After about 20 minutes of this, I threw some starsan in some water and tried to fill up the hose as best I could to get the siphon started that way. The siphon did start, but it was the most bizarre siphon I've ever seen. The beer came up to the connection between the cane and the siphon hose and then looked like it stopped completely, but it was actually trickling down. About a foot down the siphon hose, it looked like the base of a tiny waterfall. Tons of bubbling and splashing. And then it ran down the rest of the hose like it was supposed to.
I can only assume that I had a pocket of air about 5/16" in diameter (3/8" hose) and a foot long, and it was wreaking havoc with everything. Because this siphon was defying gravity left and right. I used to be pretty good in Physics classes, but I always did get lost on the practical application.