First batch, major success and fail at the same time lol

[El Nino]

Well, today was the big day, finally transferring the fermented brew to the keg and force carbing it. Should be easy huh?

First thing I did was take a hydrometer reading, just because I was curious where it was. I didn't take an OG reading since I didn't get the hydrometer till after starting the batch. Anyway I figured for this one, I wouldn't get too technical and just follow the instructions for the kit (Northern brew Chinook IPA, 1 gallon extract). Reading was 1.008, and I'm assuming the OG was around 1.053. If that's the case, ABV is at 5.91%, a little stronger than expected (kit says it should be in the neighborhood of 5-5.5%, but hey I ain't complaining )

Now's where I think I might have messed things up, the transfer to the mini keg. I don't know why, but I was having major issues with the auto siphon, it just wasn't working. I lost count of how many times I gave it a pump, and I think it was doing nothing other than kicking up sediment and aerating my beer (lol). a few times, the bottom cap thing fell in the beer, and after a while (and after a bunch of expletive-laden tirades, I said to hell with it and siphoned it without the bottom cap. Without the cap, the siphoning action worked like a charm, though I guess i would be siphoning whatever sediment was floating around in the process.

In any case, live and learn I drank the hydrometer test and it was awesome! I'm wondering if the OG of the batch was higher than 1.053 because just off that sample I had a pretty damn good buzz going. I'm used to drinking 6-6.8% ABV craft beer and this one seemed to hit me harder than those. Anyway, set the PSI on the mini keg to 15 and leaving it there overnight, can't wait to have an actual sample.

So, how badly did I mess things up, judging by the auto siphon story? (kicking up a bunch of sediment then finally siphoning it without the cap?). Even if the end result is bad, I take it as a success. The beer itself from the sample was excellent, and what I potentially messed up was user error that I can correct in the future.

 

[JimRausch]

The good thing is that with only 1 gallon, if there are any oxidation problems from the siphon problems, it will all be gone before it's noticeable. Any excessive trub you may have transferred will settle down to the bottom, so your 1st pour may be murky, but the rest should be clear. You done good. Brew On!

 

[El Nino]

Thanks man! Yeah I figured just have a homebrew and relax like they say, and if you don't have any homebrew, drink the hydrometer sample

By the way, is the auto siphon tip a necessary piece? I'm thinking in my case it's causing more harm than good by leaving it on there. There's not much play when it comes to trying to loosen it in order to let fluid through. It's either completely on, sealing off liquid transfer, or so loose that it's falling off. I really have no success using that thing unless I remove the cap. Or maybe I just need to buy a better one, I'm assuming the equipment that comes with a kit isn't necessarily top of the line

 

[kh54s10]

IPAs are meant to be drunk young. It takes a while for an oxidized beer to go bad so drink it fast. You should be good to go.

I don't really understand all the problems people seem to have with an autosiphon, Keep the end submerged, make sure the tubing is tight on the cane and there should be no problem. I am on my third. They are made of plastic... I got cracks then bought a new one. Then another and when this one goes I will but another. BTW that is 2+ years each.... Now if they made one of Stainless Steel....

 

[GPP33]

The little plastic cap just makes it easier to get all the beer without getting any (or as much) trub. When it fell off how did you get it back on?

 

[El Nino]

The little plastic cap just makes it easier to get all the beer without getting any (or as much) trub. When it fell off how did you get it back on?

Figured so, but for the life of me i couldn't get it to work while it was on. Only when it was off would the siphon work. Maybe i got a bad one.

It floated to the top when it came off, so i just picked it out. After sanitizing my hands of course haha.

 

[jschein]

IPAs are meant to be drunk young. It takes a while for an oxidized beer to go bad so drink it fast. You should be good to go.

I don't really understand all the problems people seem to have with an autosiphon, Keep the end submerged, make sure the tubing is tight on the cane and there should be no problem. I am on my third. They are made of plastic... I got cracks then bought a new one. Then another and when this one goes I will but another. BTW that is 2+ years each.... Now if they made one of Stainless Steel....

They do make a stainless one; https://www.brewsssential.com
I am old school, just suck the tube.

 

[Boomer]

Wouldn’t you have noticed any problems with the tip of the siphon while you were pumping cleaner through it before racking your beer??

 

[RM-MN]

The cap on the autosiphon is meant to keep the siphon above the trub. The cap should have a gap above it so the beer can flow. Try yours a few times in just water so you can see what it is doing.

Sometimes the seal on the pump part of the autosiphon leaks and then it won't siphon properly or leaks lots of bubbles into the beer. Put a teaspoon of water down the barrel of the autosiphon to help it seal.

 

[str1p3s]

If you dry hopped, it may have been getting clogged with hop debris. I usually put a nylon hop bag over the end with a rubber band to filter out the hops. Not only did the siphon clog on me a few times, but I transferred too much hop debris to the keg and clogged the dip tube. So watch out for that when you go to pour your first few.

 

[kh54s10]

They do make a stainless one; https://www.brewsssential.com
I am old school, just suck the tube.

Nice! But expensive... I guess I will use the change that I put in a bowl when emptying my pockets for that - some day.

 

[mongoose33]

Nice! But expensive... I guess I will use the change that I put in a bowl when emptying my pockets for that - some day.

Maybe put that change toward a conical so you can use gravity to rack w/o a siphon?

I have spigots on all my Bigmouth Bubbler fermenters. No way I'd ever go back to a siphon.

 

[kh54s10]

Maybe put that change toward a conical so you can use gravity to rack w/o a siphon?

I have spigots on all my Bigmouth Bubbler fermenters. No way I'd ever go back to a siphon.

Nope, I have no problems with my autosiphon. I don't trust those cheap plastic spigots. Especially since I ferment in a chest freezer. It would be too easy to lose grip and snap one off. There is a post in another thread of 5 gallons of wort on the floor due to one.

Conicals are too tall for a chest freezer fermentation chamber. And any external chiller is way out of my budget. Better Bottles have worked extremely well for me for almost 6 3/4 years. And I own 7 of them. That would get extremely expensive in conicals.

 

[El Nino]

Wouldn’t you have noticed any problems with the tip of the siphon while you were pumping cleaner through it before racking your beer??

I probably should have done that, since it'd be a good way to test it beforehand as well! But I took it apart and threw it in starsan after washing all the pieces. Put it back together and... fail haha.

Anyway after the first batch I can say I'm hooked. Despite me fumbling through the whole process, the beer turned out better than anything I've bought off the shelves, seriously. And it was an extract kit to boot. I can't wait to do an AG batch since I keep hearing the final product is even better.

I think the chest freezer / temp controller was probably a huge difference maker with how good the beer came out, and definitely a good investment. I had the IPA fermenting at 64 degrees, and the temp swings were no greater than 2 degrees (And I always kept hearing how fermentation temps were the #1 most important thing to good beer other than sanitizing)

Well, I have 2 gallon jugs of apple cider that should be done in another week. After that... Time to brew a 2.5 gallon BiAB batch of something I appreciate all the help / advice on the forums, it's definitely a big help on making sense of it all.

 

[El Nino]

Maybe put that change toward a conical so you can use gravity to rack w/o a siphon?

I have spigots on all my Bigmouth Bubbler fermenters. No way I'd ever go back to a siphon.

Been thinking about the mini brew bucket, but my main concern is cleaning the spigot. Does it require disassembling it every time you use it? From what I read, one of the biggest causes of infections seems to be dirty spigots.

But yeah I'm quickly not becoming a fan of siphons. Matter of fact, the biggest cause of 4 letter word usage during the whole brewing process usually have been steps that involved a siphon I don't mind spending an extra 5-10 minutes cleaning something if it means I don't have to deal with siphoning.

 

[mongoose33]

Been thinking about the mini brew bucket, but my main concern is cleaning the spigot. Does it require disassembling it every time you use it? From what I read, one of the biggest causes of infections seems to be dirty spigots.

But yeah I'm quickly not becoming a fan of siphons. Matter of fact, the biggest cause of 4 letter word usage during the whole brewing process usually have been steps that involved a siphon I don't mind spending an extra 5-10 minutes cleaning something if it means I don't have to deal with siphoning.

It never takes me 5-10 minutes. It takes maybe 15 seconds to take a spigot off the fermenter. I rinse it, use a small tubing brush on it, and make sure there is no visible sign of soil, trub, old yeast, whatever inside it. I work the valve back and forth while rinsing. Takes maybe a minute or so. Then I put it in a small container of PBW for a few minutes, working the valve back and forth a few times. Then swap the valve's position, another few minutes in the PBW. Then once that's done, I rinse well under water, dunk it in Star-San while working the valve back and forth, and I'm done.

Total elapsed time may be 3 minutes or so. Not a big deal considering I'd have to clean and sanitize the siphon anyway, and considering the convenience of the spigot.

 

[El Nino]

I don't think it'll win style points since it's not clear, but it's delicious beer!

 

[jschein]

Looks good to me, enjoy!