i hate siphoning

[bcryan]

i use a racking cane from my carboy to my keg. i use my stinky mouth to start the siphon. once the siphon starts theres beer spilling everywhere. getting a sample for my hydrometer is a mess. even sanitizing my racking cane is a pain. once the siphon starts it seems to take forever to siphon 10 gallons. i also have a 7 gallon stainless steel conical. what a dream. hook up sanitzied hose, open valve and forget about it. no mess. but unfortunately i'm not a millionaire so i have to settle for buckets or carboys. so......

what i'm wondering is what's the best bang for your buck for a siphonless fermenter. bottling bucket with a spigot? better bottle with a spigot? i really like the speidel plastic fermenters from morebeer but they never seem to be in stock. any thoughts would be great. one more thing. i dont really wanna siphon so an auto siphon is last resort.

 

[chumpsteak]

Auto siphon....cheap and easy.

 

[thatjonguy]

Auto siphon....cheap and easy.

Plus infinity. Worth the $10 every batch...

 

[nasa258e]

Plus infinity. Worth the $10 every batch...

Why is it costing you $10 per batch?

 

[Zamial]

gg he auto siphon is a waste.

The ONLY question to pose is WHY did you not use a turkey baster to start the siphon?? and think about it...and think about it... /facepalm

You really need an auto siphon like you need a blood transfusion... well at least YMMV but I gave up on sucking to transfer beer and I fully believe you can too... I mean just really think about how bad you want to put something in your mouth and suck on it... nuff said...

 

[chumpsteak]

You can clean 'em you know....don't have to throw them away after every use.

 

[Brew_Dog]

I find that if your carboy I above your fermenter. ie. On the counter and on the floor. You can fill you hose up by submersing it in your beer, then plug the end with you thumb and bring it to your fermenter. Remove your thumb and Gravity should do the rest..

Being clean is a must and hose length is important.

 

[Sock]

Being clean is a must and hose length is important.

I just thought I'd quote that for ****s and giggles :fro:

 

[Homercidal]

I use an autosiphon for cold side transfer, and the famous "T" method for hot side.

The autosiphon is so friggin easy and well worth the money. Just don't use it for hot wort.

 

[bad67z]

Auto siphons are well worth the few bucks. I see that you keg, I have been pushing my beer around with Co2 for over a year and am very happy with the process.

 

[mjohnson]

Since you keg, have you thought about fermenting in a sankey (since you're doing 10 gallons)? If you take the check valves out of a coupler, you can use it to keep the keg sealed, and vent excess CO2. Then when you want to transfer, hook the liquid out up to the liquid out of your serving keg and use pressure to transfer it over.

Added bonus is that your beer never touches O2 (assuming you purge the serving keg first).

Gotchas - you need to be able to take the spear in and out of the sankey. It doesn't look to hard (unless you have threaded spears). You'll need to dump the first little bit as it will contain trub and yeast. But if you transfer fairly slowly, you'll avoid most of it.

Full disclosure, I don't currently do this, but some local guys around me do and its pretty slick. I'd do it if I had the equipment.

----
edit - bad67z beat me to it.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Auto siphon....cheap and easy.

Yep, Auto siphon makes things a lot quicker & easier. I use mine all the time.

 

[ktblunden]

I love my auto siphon. So much that I upgraded from the 3/8" to the 1/2" to speed up transfers.

 

[GoldMiner]

My buckets have spigots.

I hate siphoning too.

 

[conpewter]

I use carboys, anyone use the carboy cap and racking cane to push CO2 and start your siphon that way?

 

[Zamial]

I use carboys, anyone use the carboy cap and racking cane to push CO2 and start your siphon that way?

YES!!!! Not only do I do it that way I also have a bucket lid with 2 holes and 3/8 grommets. The lid is from Home Depot (one of the translucent ones) and it seals nice + is easy to get it on/off the buckets.

 

[bad67z]

I use carboys, anyone use the carboy cap and racking cane to push CO2 and start your siphon that way?

Exactly what I was eluding to in my previous post, I continue to supply 2 psi or so during the whole transfer process. I sometimes use my chest freezer to ferment, rather than lift my carboy out I used this process will push all the beer out and into my keg in a couple of minutes.

 

[cheezydemon3]

TURKEY BASTER????? MOUTH??????

I fill a plain hose with no rinse sanitizer.

One end in the beer, one end in the bucket of sanitizer. When the sanitizer runs out pinch the hose and put it in the keg or bottling bucket.

Voila. No spit, no turkey baster.

 

[kraypd]

The 1/2" auto siphon is very easy and pretty damn fast on the transfer.

 

[amandabab]

TURKEY BASTER????? MOUTH??????

I fill a plain hose with no rinse sanitizer.

One end in the beer, one end in the bucket of sanitizer. When the sanitizer runs out pinch the hose and put it in the keg or bottling bucket.

Voila. No spit, no turkey baster.

that's the easiest fastest way to do it, works every time.
Some people seem determined to over complicate the process to the point where gravity out smarts them.

 

[acidrain23]

that's the easiest fastest way to do it, works every time. Some people seem determined to over complicate the process to the point where gravity out smarts them.

+1 I even just use distilled water to fill up my siphon hose, or- if you like to live dangerously- straight tap water. I've never had any infection issues (knock on wood)

 

[conpewter]

Exactly what I was eluding to in my previous post, I continue to supply 2 psi or so during the whole transfer process. I sometimes use my chest freezer to ferment, rather than lift my carboy out I used this process will push all the beer out and into my keg in a couple of minutes.

Question for you and Zamial... what is the easiest way to connect from my Co2 tank to a carboy or bucket? Just have a separate regulator I use for transfer, has a simple hose on it?

 

[cheezydemon3]

that's the easiest fastest way to do it, works every time.
Some people seem determined to over complicate the process to the point where gravity out smarts them.

Water flows downhill, lol.

Question for you and Zamial... what is the easiest way to connect from my Co2 tank to a carboy or bucket? Just have a separate regulator I use for transfer, has a simple hose on it?

Separate regulator?? If anything you might get a separate pin lock or whatever with the right hose.......Sounds like a bad idea with a bucket.

Someone is trying hard to make this complicated....

A keg is the cheapest and simplest fermenter for using gas to push beer.

I would ferment in kegs even if I bottled 100% of my beer.

The batches I do bottle from the keg go so much faster and easier with gas pushing the beer.

 

[rico567]

Auto siphon....cheap and easy.

From all the people who struggle with siphoning, I've always been thankful that I got a Fermtech autosiphon in the kit I bought from Midwest when I started brewing. Still using it five years later.....and not only do I not mind siphoning, I pretty much don't even notice it. I believe it to be one of the "unsung essentials," rather like a refractometer when doing all grain.

 

[Teromous]

Auto-siphon makes the job as quick as a pull and a push:

Siphon clamp makes it so you can hook it to your carboy and don't have to worry about holding it in place:

Tubing clamp makes it so that you can stop the flow in order to take gravity readings, switch containers, emergency stop, etc:

Easy day.

 

[thatjonguy]

Why is it costing you $10 per batch?

Its not. But I would gladly pay that if is was. Pays for itself many times over the first time you use it.

Way better than cleaning wort off the kitchen floor.

 

[forstmeister]

$3 for an auto siphon. Nuff said.

 

[Zamial]

I really try to limit my plastics/vinyl hose in my brewery. At this point ALL vinyl tubing is ONLY used for blow off tubes, everything else is silicon. It is a PITA to get that vinyl tubing on and off of racking canes or anything else. I do have some Ale Pails that get used from time to time but when those get too bad to use, I will not be replacing them. I have however included the pics for completeness.

On my system no oxygen is ever introduced to the beer and I HIGHLY recommend to NOT transfer with more than .5-1 psi, more is dangerous especially with glass carboys.

I do have a separate regulator and CO2 tank but I would guess it is not needed. I went to Harbor Freight and bought an air line quick disconnect set for dirt cheap. I had a spare valve from a different project and I made this "gun" :

I LOVE this device because I can use it to purge bottles and carboys if needed/desired. I can add a small piece of silicon tubing to it and that will allow me to use it for transfers as follows...

With a carboy/better bottle or sanke keg (not using the sanke coupler):

I have the previous mentioned bucket lid with extra grommet:

This allows the transfer like:

It is also a great way to add a back up blow-off tube w/ the airlock like:

The beauty of this is I do not need to remove the lid to transfer the liquid.

This is easy and allows me to push beer in a completely sealed way, reducing possible contamination exposure times. I do not even need the receiving vessel to be lower as long as I have the gas pushing it. Should the system have some sort of clog or issue the silicon tubing will just blow free as it is not clamped to anything. A quick spray from the Starsan bottle on the racking cane will allow it to go in the carboy cap stem/bucket lid with plenty of ease, yet still be tight enough to hold it in place and allow the pressure difference to start/push the transfer.

My autosiphon cracked and I did not want another plastic one. This was my solution.

 

[dutchoven]

I use this ... As good as an auto siphon and no need to push with CO2 ...

http://morebeer.com/view_product/18872/102286/Sterile_Siphon_Starter_-_For_5_and_6_Gallon_Carboys

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

If you're doing 10 gallon batches, you should ferment in a Sanke keg. I personally use this:

http://www.brewershardware.com/American-Sanke-Keg-Fermenter-Kit-with-Thermowell.html

I hook up CO2 to my blowoff port, push at ~5psi to my kegs, and all is well.

 

[bradpitt21164]

cheap and easy.

 

[rico567]

I use this ... As good as an auto siphon and no need to push with CO2 ...

http://morebeer.com/view_product/18872/102286/Sterile_Siphon_Starter_-_For_5_and_6_Gallon_Carboys

That's a neat gadget- but it's not suitable for buckets unless maybe that tip could be taken off the cane and / or a bigger hole in the bucket lid employed in the same way.....and its advertised ability to avoid contamination still isn't going to prevent potential exposure when I have to go in there and get the sample in the wine thief to check FG....

 

[bad67z]

I use this ... As good as an auto siphon and no need to push with CO2 ...

http://morebeer.com/view_product/18872/102286/Sterile_Siphon_Starter_-_For_5_and_6_Gallon_Carboys

It is a mater of safety in my case. Depending on where I ferment there may not be enough of a elevation differential between vessels to use a siphon. I don't want to reach in a chest freezer and try lifting 55lbs. of beer and carboy.

 

[bad67z]

Question for you and Zamial... what is the easiest way to connect from my Co2 tank to a carboy or bucket? Just have a separate regulator I use for transfer, has a simple hose on it?

Thanks for the pictorial Zamial, I have a hybrid setup that is a combination of Zamial's and the apparatus from More Beer that I use for carboys. I have the Co2 gas in where MB has the sanitary air valve. As for connecting to the Co2 regulator, i have put a splitter (a Y if you like) @ the outlet of the regulator, one side supplies Co2 to my kegs and the other is used for pushing and purging.

 

[rico567]

It is a mater of safety in my case. Depending on where I ferment there may not be enough of a elevation differential between vessels to use a siphon. I don't want to reach in a chest freezer and try lifting 55lbs. of beer and carboy.

Well, then, it's obviously a great expedient...for you. In my case, my fermenters don't even have to be budged to siphon down 4 feet to the bottling bucket, so an autosiphon is the K.I.S.S. solution.....for me.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Well, then, it's obviously a great expedient...for you. In my case, my fermenters don't even have to be budged to siphon down 4 feet to the bottling bucket, so an autosiphon is the K.I.S.S. solution.....for me.

I know you don't want to hear it, but I bottled a batch recently, primed as usual, but bottled from the keg (used as a bottling bucket) pushed with just 5-6 psi.

It was so EASY!!! I just used the picnic tap to fill each bottle, capped, bottle conditioned. Turned out great.

I then used it to bottle SWMBO's wine.

Less mess and so much less trouble.

 

[Falcor]

auto siphon for transfer, but i'm surprised no one has suggested a wine thief for the hydrometer readings. a siphon for such a small amount of liquid is overkill.

 

[Frankiesurf]

Auto siphons are awesome. Except when you are ready to bottle and the plunger has vanished into thin air. Looks like I will be using the hose today.

 

[H-ost]

Auto Siphon is probably one of the reasons I didn't quit in the beginning, I only used a racking cane for two brews and now it is my DIY beergun.

Instead of a hose clamp to cut the flow I just some pliers.

 

[rico567]

auto siphon for transfer, but i'm surprised no one has suggested a wine thief for the hydrometer readings. a siphon for such a small amount of liquid is overkill.

Oh, by all means! Thanks to a tip here on HBT, I bought a wine thief right away when I started brewing five years ago. Wouldn't do it any other way- it gathers the sample and floats the hydrometer, one go and done. It is to gathering a hydrometer sample what the autosiphon is to moving the beer. K.I.S.S. all the way.