Why do I have to siphon?

[L.bulach]

Hello, first time brewer. I recently had a beer making kit given to me with me knowing nothing about it. I bought an ingredient kit to keep it simple for my first time and I did not siphon any beer because I guess I didn't understand the purpose, not saying I'm right, but I would like to be educated, preferably without anyone being rude about it. I will describe how I did everything. (I have two plastic buckets with spigots in the bottom and a three peice airlock on top.)
I boiled the wort, let it cool and dumped it out of my kettle into a bucket but tried not to get too many of the solids into the bucket. I capped it and let it sit for two weeks. Then I set the bucket on my counter top and drained out of the spigot into the second bucket, (a lot of solids stayed in the first bucket as they were settled below the spigot) put the lid on it with the airlock and let it sit for two weeks. Then bottling day I set that bucket on a table, pulled the lid off and dumped my priming mix in the top, gently stirred it without touching the bottom of the bucket so I would bring up any remaining solids. Then I held my bottles under the spigot and filled them, capped them, and called it good. After reading a bunch I see that everyone siphons but I would like to know why. I sampled the beer when I bottled and it tasted fine, just flat. But it has only been bottled for four days so I don't know the end product yet. Just please don't act like I'm an idiot, this is my first time. I just always learn better by doing something and then learning about it so I have a better understanding of what I'm learning and why. Thank you.

 

[Beer Nuts]

You should at least understand the concept of packing a parachute before you jump out of a plane.

Once you add yeast you can't stop it from becoming beer.

 

[mongoose33]

The bottling bucket--the one with the spigot--is designed to fill bottles, but the idea is to have just beer in that bucket, no "solids." You don't want those solids in your bottles.

When people siphon from the fermenter, which presumably does not have a spigot, the idea is to get the beer out without any of the "trub," which is the name we give to those solids. (BTW, "Trub" is pronouced "Troob").

Now, my fermenter, a BigmouthBubbler, has a spigot, and I just draw off the beer which sits just above the trub, and other than an initial skim of yeast and hop residue, it's clear of trub.

So--people are siphoning to get the beer into the bottling bucket w/o the trub. If your fermenter has a spigot, then no need to siphon.

In your case, once the beer is fermented, the more than you keep pouring it from bucket to bucket, the more you'll oxidize the beer, with resulting damage to flavors. May or may not be noticeable, but most are trying to limit that as much as possible.

Another comment based on what I see above, you added the sugar solution and stirred carefully to avoid disturbing the trub. While this probably worked fairly well, it's unlikely to have evenly distributed the sugar solution everywhere, so that you'll have different percentages of sugar in your bottles. This will make the carbonation uneven. A better way to do that would be to put the sugar solution in the bottling bucket before adding the beer, so that it mixes up as you rack into the bucket.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Any splashing during transfers will introduce oxygen into the liquid, which is really bad after it's become beer.

 

[L.bulach]

Ok I appreciate the help guys. A couple more notes to say, when I transferred from the first to the second bucket, I used a hose that reached all the way to the bottom of the bucket so there was no splashing, it just gently filled it. Also there didn't appear to be any trub in the bottom of my second bucket during bottling, I think it all stayed in the first bucket, I just didn't use that bottom beer to be safe. As for learning to pack a chute before skydiving, all I had to lose on this was $32 for my ingredient kit. And I still have some medeocre beer to drink at worst. I just learn better if I at least try something first.

 

[L.bulach]

Another question, when I dump my wort into my fermenter, should I dump all of the trub into it? I tried not to, but now I'm wondering if it's necessary to have that in there.

 

[balrog]

Some dump all from kettle to fermenter (I do, and have, for 137 batches)
Some studiously avoid it at all costs, whirlpooling and setttling in kettle for 30 minutes, after chilling, in order to leave all hop matter and stuff in the kettle.

I do not make hoppy beers (max 3-4oz per 5gal batch) and some of the IPA folks use 3-4x that so that may be an issue I do not know.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Another question, when I dump my wort into my fermenter, should I dump all of the trub into it? I tried not to, but now I'm wondering if it's necessary to have that in there.

Opinions vary. I've done it both ways, dumping everything vs trying to filter out the trub. Not sure I've noticed any difference in beer quality. It may help to filter if you're trying to harvest the yeast afterwards(which you likely aren't thinking about doing yet)

 

[TwistedGray]

Another question, when I dump my wort into my fermenter, should I dump all of the trub into it? I tried not to, but now I'm wondering if it's necessary to have that in there.

That's a topic that's undecided. Consensus is to avoid bringing trub with the wort. If for no other reason than less to deal with when moving to a bottle bucket later.

As to bottling with priming sugar, consider individual bottle priming. That is, funnel in 1/2tsp of table sugar to reach bottle individually. That'll give you the right level of carbonation for most styles without having to mix anything in the bottling bucket.

The other guys already answered your questions about the siphon.

PS: I jumped out of there plane sans parachute

 

[mongoose33]

Depends on the altitude of the plane. If it's on the ground....

 

[ericbw]

What you did is what people call a "secondary" fermentation - moving it from one fermenter to another. I think it's unnecessary and adds to the possibility for errors. Leave it in the fermenter for 4 weeks, then move it to the bottling bucket and bottle.

Mix your sugar with a little water and dissolve it, then add it to the bottling bucket. Drain the beer into the bottling bucket and it will mix it.

I've done it this way, and it works well. There are people who will say it's the wrong way, but whatever!

 

[L.bulach]

What you did is what people call a "secondary" fermentation - moving it from one fermenter to another. I think it's unnecessary and adds to the possibility for errors. Leave it in the fermenter for 4 weeks, then move it to the bottling bucket and bottle.

Mix your sugar with a little water and dissolve it, then add it to the bottling bucket. Drain the beer into the bottling bucket and it will mix it.

I've done it this way, and it works well. There are people who will say it's the wrong way, but whatever!

Do I have to boil the sugar mix? That's what my instructions told me. But the beer instructions and the sugar packet had different directions so I went with the sugar packet

 

[madscientist451]

Then bottling day I set that bucket on a table, pulled the lid off and dumped my priming mix in the top, gently stirred it without touching the bottom of the bucket so I would bring up any remaining solids. Then I held my bottles under the spigot and filled them, capped them, and called it good. After reading a bunch I see that everyone siphons but I would like to know why. I sampled the beer when I bottled and it tasted fine, just flat.

Flavor problems from oxidation will show up later, so it might taste OK at bottling, but not so good later on. If you drink your beer up pretty fast then there's less chance that oxidation will be an issue.
If you plan on making IPAs then you definitely want to avoid oxygen exposure.
Three things I would suggest:
-Don't transfer your beer to secondary, its not necessary unless you are adding fruit, or doing extended aging. If you do use secondary, use a carboy that matches the size of your batch so you fill it up as much as possible.
-Put a small length of tubing on the spigot that will reach to the bottom of the bottle. That will avoid splashing the beer in the bottle. Fill the beer bottle to the top with the tubing inside, shut off the tap and then lower the bottle off the tubing. You'll have the perfect amount of head space in the bottle.
-Try domino dots sugar cubes instead of adding sugar solution to your beer. One domino dot for each bottle has worked for me.
The benefit is that you don't need to stir anything into your beer, the downside is you can't change the amount of carbonation.

 

[Leezer]

+1 to using domino dots at bottling time.
I also dump all from kettle into fermenter. It works out well for me, but others do prefer to leave the debris on the bottom in the kettle.

 

[ericbw]

Do I have to boil the sugar mix? That's what my instructions told me. But the beer instructions and the sugar packet had different directions so I went with the sugar packet

If you do it that way, you should boil it. You don't know what bacteria, etc. might in the sugar. Boil, cool, then add it.

I've never used sugar cubes, but I find it harder to add dry sugar (with whatever bacteria, as mentioned) to each bottle. I think mixing it into the whole batch ("bulk priming") is easier.

 

[Kealia]

It sounds like you are off to a good start. You've gotten some good feedback, but you've already latched on to one of the things that I think is most important - - a curiosity for WHY things are done. SO I commend you for asking now only WHAT to do, but WHY to do it a certain way.
Just be forewarned.....there are only a few hard and fast rules (IMO), everything else is open to interpretation or "Brewer's Choice". For example, I find batch priming (like you did) far easier and more reliable than individual bottle priming, but others prefer to prime individually. (I actually hate bottling which is why I switched to kegging long ago).

In any case: Welcome to the hobby and keep questioning things.