How the hell do you syphon?

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RJRobb2

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I am trying to syphon from my fermentation container to a bucket and it isnt working?

How do you start a syphon and how the hell do you keep it going?
 
Fill your siphon hose with tap water and plug the ends with your fingers.

Carry the racking cane/hose over to the buckets, drop the racking cane into your fermenter and then drop the hose into your other bucket.

Make sure your bucket is lower than the fermenter. Siphoning works on gravity.
 
Connect a hose to the small tube, insert the small tube into the larger tube (that's what she said), insert the other end of the hose into the container that you want to rack into, put the the end of the siphon into the beer, then pump it a couple of times and you should be all set.
 
Professor Frink said:
The two best investments, and small money at that, for me were an autosiphon and a hop bag for my keggle.


The autosiphon is great. It's so easy to use. The only problem is that I never get to use it. My 4 year old loves it. Siphoning is now his job.

If you don't have the autosiphon, get it.
 
one thing to consider if you *know* how to start a siphon but it's not working is to squeeze the tube where it meets your racking cane. this will cause the liquid to flow through the entire diameter of the tube, and will allow the siphon to continue indefinitely.
 
insert tip into liquid. blow hard, and then immediately suck in hard. let go fast and watch the liquid gush down into the pot.
 
As cheap as an Autosiphon is, I can't see any reason not to invest in one. Go that route and save yourself a lot of headache.
 
cola said:
insert tip into liquid. blow hard, and then immediately suck in hard. let go fast and watch the liquid gush down into the pot.

Someone may have said it already, but never start a siphon with your mouth. The mouth contains far too many bacteria. Bacteria that you most likely dont want to introduce into your beer.

Reno Homebrewer said:
As cheap as an Autosiphon is, I can't see any reason not to invest in one. Go that route and save yourself a lot of headache.

+1 I love my autosiphon!
 
AFAJ Brew Guy said:
Someone may have said it already, but never start a siphon with your mouth. The mouth contains far too many bacteria. Bacteria that you most likely dont want to introduce into your beer.



+1 I love my autosiphon!

I will wrap my hand around the end of the tube and then suck through my fist (wow, that sounds like something from 8mm) when I start a manual siphon on the fly.

Just picked up an autosiphon and used it on my brew session this past Sunday. It seems worth the <10 bucks.
 
I use the same technique as found in the posted video, and I've never had a problem.

Lift hose up.
Fill with as much water as possible
drop in bucket.

Never had a problem, just be as quick as possible, as that prevents a "bubble" from forming at th highest point.

nick
 
Step 1: Buy autosiphon and 5 feet of tubing they cost about $7
Step 2: put full carboy or bucket up on counter
Step 3: put empty sanitized container on ground.
Step 4: follow directions on autosiphon
 
I've been using the stock hoses etc.. put a turkey baster on the end of the hose and either suck it or use the baster to get the suction
 
I had trouble starting the siphon process last time as well. I just poured the beer in directly. I know that, ideally, it shouldn't be done that way, but it worked out just fine for me.
 
I've been using a sanitized turkey baster which has worked well until last night and I couldn't get the damn thing to start after several attempts.

I'll be looking to get an auto-siphon soon.
 
I can see how the "Filling the hose with water" method would work, but my question is, why? You are adding water (even if its only a very small amount) to your beer, and the guy in the video filled it straight from the tap. That seems silly after spending so much time sanitizing everything to just use tap water. So it's either sanitize tap water by boiling and letting it cool, or sanitizing an autosiphon (which is attached to the hose that you need to sanitize anyway) in less than a minute with Starsan. I just cannot see any reason to use any other method than an autosiphon.
 
Yes, your mouth has bacteria, but so does your finger (even if it's been sloshing around in sanitizer). I love the auto-siphon, but brewed for 10 years without one. I would get the cane in place, then fill the tube by mouth and clamp it off and dunk the tip of the tube in 190° water to flash sanitize it. Of course, this is greatly facilitated by the insta-hot tap, but one could do the same with a no-rinse sanitizer soln.
There is a certain value to having the racking cane secured where you want it, getting every thing lined up, then instantly starting the siphon. Using an intermediate tube between your mouth and the actual siphon hose is also a good idea.
It's a good thing to have lots of tricks up your sleeve so that you can deal with life's surprises.
 
I've been filling my hose and racking cane with starsan to start my siphon. I then begin my siphon into a pot on the floor. The moment beer begins coming out of my hose I cap it with my finger and immediately move it into my carboy. No unneccessary tap water, no bacteria, no problems yet.....If your really worried about bacteria, use a latex glove to cap hose.

I'd like to try the carboy cap siphon starting idea I've seen in another thread. If someone knows where this thread is post a link.
 
GlassblowersBrew said:
I've been filling my hose and racking cane with starsan to start my siphon. I then begin my siphon into a pot on the floor. The moment beer begins coming out of my hose I cap it with my finger and immediately move it into my carboy. No unneccessary tap water, no bacteria, no problems yet.....If your really worried about bacteria, use a latex glove to cap hose.

I'd like to try the carboy cap siphon starting idea I've seen in another thread. If someone knows where this thread is post a link.

I'm pretty sure you're talking about this thread here...
 
Reno Homebrewer said:
I can see how the "Filling the hose with water" method would work, but my question is, why? You are adding water (even if its only a very small amount) to your beer, and the guy in the video filled it straight from the tap. That seems silly after spending so much time sanitizing everything to just use tap water. So it's either sanitize tap water by boiling and letting it cool, or sanitizing an autosiphon (which is attached to the hose that you need to sanitize anyway) in less than a minute with Starsan. I just cannot see any reason to use any other method than an autosiphon.


I use the "filling the hose with water" method. I do partial boils and use water straight from the tap to top off my carboy. I see no reason why I shouldn't use this same water to get my syphons started. Unless you have really bad tap water there I can't see anything wrong with this.
 
BierMuncher said:
I love it when the OP hits the forum with a question, then immediately logs off and never returns to see the efforts of the people trying to help.


:eek: :eek: :eek:


As soon as I posted this I got it working and got to bottle my first batch!

For some reason the syphon kept stopping. I dont know what the deal was. I was frustrated as hell because I was all set to bottle. But, I finally got it flowing!

I do appreciated the info though, I am going to look into the autosyphon.
 
Ooompa Loompa said:
I use the "filling the hose with water" method. I do partial boils and use water straight from the tap to top off my carboy. I see no reason why I shouldn't use this same water to get my syphons started. Unless you have really bad tap water there I can't see anything wrong with this.


Nothing wrong with it. For me, the easiest part of the whole process of brewing beer is pulling a piece of plastic up and then pushing it back down. To each his/her own. :)
 
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