Auto Siphon

commonsense · Jul 1, 2015

So I had a friend of mine borrow my auto siphon over this past weekend to bottle his beer as he is a new brewer and doesn't have all of the equipment yet. I assumed he knew how to use it but as we were talking today it turns out he placed the auto siphon in the carboy and just hand pumped the entire 5 gallon batch into the bottling bucket. I get mixed results when I search for how much of a problem that will cause with oxidizing. Any thoughts? My first reaction is this will be minimal but the thought of a gap between the beer and the inside tube makes me think he could be introducing more oxygen with each pump.

ImNoExpert · Jul 1, 2015

:smack:

Calypso · Jul 1, 2015

He still had a hose connected to the auto-siphon though? The beer wasn't just free falling into his bottling bucket, right? Personally, I hate how much oxygen mixes into my beer with even a single pump of my auto-siphon, but once it's started I think it's going to introduce a fairly minimal amount of oxygen with each additional pump. I wouldn't worry about it too much. To be on the safe side, just tell him to drink the final product quickly. Be a good friend and offer to help.

rodwha · Jul 1, 2015

I'm not sure. I feel I've oxidized my beer as it often takes me 2 or 3 pumps to get a solid siphon working. But maybe that's not the problem I've encountered as it doesn't seem like wet cardboard to me, though these problem beers seem to have a similar quality. These start off good but after a couple of weeks it develops. It's the one issue that makes the most sense to me though.

commonsense · Jul 1, 2015

Haha yeah, I will certainly offer to help him out and drink it quickly. How long does it take for the oxidation to start shining through? I don't think I've ever had a problem with it. Also, I read where if you bottle carb the beers with sugar the yest will actually eat up the oxygen during carbonation? I've never heard of that.

I will be sure to give him a good swift kick in the ass for this malfunction.

Calypso · Jul 1, 2015

That depends on a number of factors, such as amount of oxygen and temperature. His best bet is going to be to leave the bottles at room temperature until they're carbed, put them all into a fridge, and drink them as quickly as possible. A couple of weeks can be the difference between enjoyable and wet cardboard.