How to Start a Siphon?

[Mschott]

Howdy,

First brew here and have a question on starting a siphon. I have the tube, bottle filler, and the racking tube (everything that comes with the brewer's best kit). I'm sure there is a thread on here about how to use them but I can't find one. I'm guessing that starting it with my mouth isn't the best / most sanitary way. Could anybody point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

The easiest, most sanitary way, is to fill the hose with some water. When you invert the hose it will cause a vacuum that will start the siphon.

Or, go back an get an AutoSiphon and it becomes as simple as a bike pump.

 

[cubbies]

Or, go back an get an AutoSiphon and it becomes as simple as a bike pump.

Just do this. If you have to create a siphon without one, follow his other advice, but this is the way it is done.

 

[springer]

fill the vinyl tubing with sanitizer either pinch of put your thumb(sanitized) over the end place your racking cane into the primary or whatever make sure you outlet is lower than the primary and just let it flow. I just run it into a small pot to get the Starsan out then I rack. Or just buy an auto siphon ..

 

[Mschott]

Nuff said, thanks for the quick reply!

 

[CowboyShootist]

My carboy has an orange cap that has 2 "tubes". Put the racking cane in one tube and blow on the other tube to start the siphon.

Here's a Pic

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

I fill the hose with StarSan.
It won't affect the flavor, but I still try to collect what's all StarSan
and about a half a cup of mixed beer/StarSan separately.
Then collect a hydrometer sample and let the rest drain into the secondary or bottling bucket.
A cane tip will keep the end of the racking cane out of the trub.

 

[Dennis1979]

I bought a 2 foot section of 5/16 tube at Lowes. Also got a connector/coupler type thing which I connected to one end. Total cost is less than $1. I insert this smaller piece in my siphon tube tube and use my mouth to start the siphon. My clamp is about 18 inches up the siphon tube and as the liquid begins to flow past that point, I clamp it, remove the smaller section of tube, un-clamp it and I'm in business. My mouth never touches the actual siphon tube.

But I agree that an auto siphon would be the easiest. My way works and I just haven't wanted to spend the extra money yet for the auto siphon.

Dennis

 

[Baja_Brewer]

These guys dont know what they're talking about, just suck on it.







okay, Im kidding... if you're gonna do that have some vodka in your mouth!!

 

[telemaster]

If you're visually oriented there is an excellent website with videos on all the basics of brewing... including how to start a siphon.

www.homebrewingvideo.com

 

[Mschott]

Thanks for all the replies. This site is great, its good to know I'm not tackling this new hobby all on my own!

 

[culaslucas]

Sterile Siphon Starter - For 5 and 6 Gallon Carboys | MoreBeer

You can now close this thread as the link above is definitive answer.

The end.

PS you can find the filter sold separately here: http://morebeer.com/view_product/16797//Sanitary_Filter
this thing also works great for aerating your wort on the cheap with an aquarium air pump...

 

[GAbrewer]

This is all I have to say on the subject of siphoning:

Auto-siphon - Home Brewing Wiki

It took me all of about 3 racking sessions of sucking hoses and filling them with water and spilling it all over myself and the floor to come to this conclusion.

 

[culaslucas]

This is all I have to say on the subject of siphoning:

Auto-siphon - Home Brewing Wiki

It took me all of about 3 racking sessions of sucking hoses and filling them with water and spilling it all over myself and the floor to come to this conclusion.

Autosiphons are cool and all but they break relatively easily.

 

[BuzzCraft]

what i've done for starting siphons is cheap, easy and exceptionally effective. i'm sure someone else has probably done this too, but i've never seen it described previously.

use a 60ml catheter tip syringe. They look like this: 60ml Syringe with Catheter Tip-Large Photo & Picture

The catheter tip fit's snugly inside the end of your siphon tube. Sanitize the whole shebang with whatever you like, put your racking cane in your beer, pull the plunger on the syringe (pull it all the way out so that it actually leaves the syringe casing). voila, the beer is flowing. crimp your siphon tube to stop the flow, pull the syringe out of your siphon tube and put the tube into whatever vessel you're racking to. hope that description's clear.

btw...i wear clean latex gloves when i'm doing this (quick dip in sanitizer), because you will end up grabbing the end of the siphon tube to remove the syringe.

the nice thing is that the beer that escapes the siphon before you stop the flow is just beer.....no sanitizer or other diluents as when using the full hose method. so guess what happens to it? mmmmm......beeeeeeer. green beer, but hey....

 

[Dave R]

I pull the rubber bulb off my turkey baster, sanitize the pointy end of it with some alcohol, stick the pointy end into the end of my siphon hose and suck on the other end of the baster. When the beer starts to flow, I pull off the baster and put the end of the siphon hose into the bottom of the bucket. Very quick and easy.

 

[KerryD]

I've got the auto siphons and they are nice, but I'm finding that spigots really are my friend. Easy sampling, racking, etc... and, if you're using buckets they are cheap... super easy to clean as well.

 

[elvestinkle]

I left my auto-siphon at my friend's place, so I had to do the old water-starter trick with the thumbs on ends and whatnot. I wore latex gloves that had been dunked in iodophor for 3 mins and gave her a go, and it worked like a charm.

Lesson: I will never leave my friend's house without my autosiphon again!!

Edit: sorry, this is a bit of thread necromancy, but I wanted to let folks know that there are ways to do it without "get an autosiphon" being the only answer. As you can see, it wasn't an option for me this afternoon.

 

[AdamPag]

Get an autosiphon and get a longer tube, 6' should cover it. If you dont, you'll find out quickly why you wanted a longer tube.