Whats a racking tube for?

[bobbydigital]

I am on my second batch. about to bottle soon.....

I have not used the RACKING TUBE and The tube that goes in the bottle to decrease foam....

i dont really know how to USE racking cane, what side is up and where it goes..and does.......or know if they are useful..
and the foam thing that attaches kinda to spigot i couldnt connect it...but i had no foam problems last batch.... just poured from spigot to bottle..didnt really see a need for that thing.

 

[usnsti]

Well hopefully I have this right...

The racking cane is the long tube shaped like a cane with a bend about 4 inches from the end. This is to stick down into your fermenter and siphon the beer into the bottling bucket. The reason you siphon instead of pouring is the prevent oxygenating your beer.

The bottling tube is the one you would hook up to the spigot on your bottling bucket. it has a valve on the end that when pressed against the bottom of the bottle allows the beer to flow. This makes it MUCH easier to fill the bottle without spilling and again helps prevent oxygenation.

Happy brewing

 

[usnsti]

Also if you bought a homebewing kit it should have come with a 3 foot or so length of clear tubing. That is used to go from the end of the racking cane into the bottom of the bottling bucket, and also as a connection between the bottling bucket spigot and the bottling tube.

 

[bobbydigital]

the cane is a clear tube with a bend. ..
It also has a little black cap at the end...

I would stick the cane in the fermenter......with the bendy side hanging off the top.
attach that to auto sphion
and attach that to a tube that goes in the next bucket?

 

[usnsti]

the cane is a clear tube with a bend. ..
It also has a little black cap at the end...

I would stick the cane in the fermenter......with the bendy side hanging off the top.
attach that to auto sphion
and attach that to a tube that goes in the next bucket?

That sounds about right. My auto siphon is the same size and shape as the racking cane though, so I just use it as the racking cane. What you described should work though. If you are not sure try practicing using water instead of beer to see how things work out. That way if you spill some or mess it up it is no big deal. good luck.

 

[veggiess]

the cane is a clear tube with a bend. ..
It also has a little black cap at the end...

I would stick the cane in the fermenter......with the bendy side hanging off the top.
attach that to auto sphion
and attach that to a tube that goes in the next bucket?

Yeah, if you have an autosiphon you shouldn't need the extra racking cane. The autosiphon does it all and works like the cane.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I have a stainless steel racking cane for running the wort straight from the kettle through my CFC.

Plastic ones deform at those temps.

 

[Bobby_M]

Right, the autosiphon takes the place of a plain racking cane. All it does it give you a rigid end to your siphon hose so you can place it exactly where you need it. The autosiphon also has a black cap to help keep you from sucking up sediment at the bottom of the fermenter.

 

[Thalon]

Actually the autosiphon makes it incredibly easy to start the siphon as well. All you do is submerge the end, pull on the racking cane in the middle up until its bottom is level with the liquid level of the beer, then push it back down all the way. It creates its own suction and pushes the liquid up the racking cane. You may have to repeat a couple times to get it to really start flowing. Couldn't be easier.

 

[Bobby_M]

I didn't mean to imply that the autosiphon was JUST another racking cane. I was going on to generally describe why you need a rigid cane at all instead of allowing your soft tubing to float around in the wort. I can see where I wasn't clear though.

 

[Thalon]

Well I know YOU know how to use an autosiphon, but this is the Beginner's Forum and I don't want any newbies browsing this thread to get a limited first impression of what an autosiphon can do.

 

[demonrichie]

Right, the autosiphon takes the place of a plain racking cane. All it does it give you a rigid end to your siphon hose so you can place it exactly where you need it. The autosiphon also has a black cap to help keep you from sucking up sediment at the bottom of the fermenter.

regular racking canes either come with them or have them available too(if you have to get it seperate its next to nothing)