Air in autosiphon

[davemw429]

Hello all!
I'm a newbie and was feeling really good about my first batch of holiday ale. Was excited to transfer to secondary fermentation carboy today and used my new autosiphon. I did practice a few times with water but as I was doing the beer I thought it seemed as though a lot of air was coming through the tubing. After reading some other posts, I am now convinced that the siphon plunger seal may have leaked. Given all the bad press about oxygen should I consider my first batch ruined? Should I bottle sooner to lessen oxidation? I was planning on letting it go another week in secondary. Thanks for any comments!

 

[Airplanedoc]

Im sure it will be fine, also check where your hose attaches to autosiphon to be sure the connection is tight, you could get leaks there as well.

 

[241]

No worries about the oxygen, I made an airy mess out of my first brew and it came out great still.

On the auto siphon, I like to use little metal c clamps on where the tubing connects to get a good tight seal there, otherwise you get bubbles that can disrupt the vacuum - especially the "climby" ones that keep going up as liquid flows downward. Hope that helps!

Oh this also works for the bottling wand as well.

Cheers

 

[davemw429]

Thanks for assurances that beer will be fine. I do know the tubing is attached tightly. I could tell the bubbles were coming up from bottom of racking cane which is why I suspect the autosiphon plunger gasket.

Just wondering though whether I should bottle sooner (3-5 days) or does it matter if I leave in secondary (7 days or more)?

Thx again!

 

[Face Eater]

You can leave it in secondary longer, won't make much of a difference if any. I have had that happen to me and I squeeze the tubing while siphoning slowly until the air stops then release. I have done it a few times and it stopped the air for me.

 

[nukebrewer]

I don't think it was air. With the autosiphon tip submerged it's unlikely that air was being introduced from a leaking seal. It was more than likely residual carbon dioxide being agitated out of solution as the beer flowed through the autosiphon.