siphon bottling

samadhi · Post by **samadhi** » Monday Oct 23, 2006 8:29 pm

On the weekend I did two stupid things. On friday I racked my LCPA clone into a fermenter without a tap (i left the screw in stopper when I sanitised). Then on sunday I made a wheat beer.

Since I only have two fermenters I now cannot re-rack the LCPA into the first fermenter for bottling, and I'd rather not rush the wheat beer to the bottle just so I can re-rack the LCPA.

Is there anything I need to be aware of if I use a siphon to do the bottling (besides the obvious 'don't suck the siphon').

OldBugman · Post by **OldBugman** » Monday Oct 23, 2006 8:48 pm

sounds like a good reason to buy a 3rd fermenter.

lethaldog · Post by **lethaldog** » Monday Oct 23, 2006 8:53 pm

OldBugman wrote:sounds like a good reason to buy a 3rd fermenter.

Agreed

Schooner · Post by **Schooner** » Monday Oct 23, 2006 8:58 pm

Suck the siphon , start the siphon, pinch off the siphon hose to stop the flow,dip the end in sanitiser and rinse,attach the little bottler and unpinch the hose, bottle away

ACTbrewer · Post by **ACTbrewer** » Tuesday Oct 24, 2006 6:34 am

Buy a small piece of hose a bit bigger than the syphon, slip it over the syphon tube at the end. Suck, remove larger tube.
Presto.

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Tuesday Oct 24, 2006 11:18 am

Sanitise the syphon hose, inside and out, plunge the whole thing except the end into your beer, put your thumb over the end, pull it out, and there you go.

Alternatively, just wait for the wheat beer to ferment out, bottle it, and rack. The extra week will probably be good for your beer.

samadhi · Post by **samadhi** » Tuesday Oct 24, 2006 12:49 pm

thanks for the advice, I was planning on doing it similar to what you suggested rwh, but pinching the sides and using the bottling tool still, since I KNOW i'll make a mess doing it straight siphon. I think that'll be more hygenic than sucking and disenfecting.

I was planning on racking the wheat beer also, though I have heard they are cloudy no matter what, so is it pointless to rack that? I thought it best do the bottling the hard way and have two racked beers rather than bottling the wheat immediately.

ps I'd love a third fermenter but I am going to be gathering AG gear after my much needed holiday so i'll hold off on this for now. Hey Ed (or any other Perthians), if you're reading this, where do you get your grain from (and if applicable what are the shipping costs) and do they pre-crack it if necessary, since I doubt i'll be getting a mill any time soon.

cheers

breadnbutter · Post by **breadnbutter** » Tuesday Oct 24, 2006 2:49 pm

Try TWOC at Stock Rd Markets. Follow this link...
http://www.homebru.com.au/mashing_supplies.htm

Cheers, Mick

alangman · Post by **alangman** » Tuesday Oct 24, 2006 3:10 pm

Hi All,

I made the same mistake about 2 weeks ago!

But, there is a very easy and cheap solution..... put the tap in! This is not hard but it will disturb the settled yeast a little. Make sure the lid is firmly in place, then lean the cube back untill the plug hole is above the water/beer line. Simply unscrew the plug and screw in a (sanitised) tap. Then place the cube upright and leave. You may want to start the "racking time" again but the extra few days in the cube won't hurt the beer. They you can bottle as normal and not worry about siphoning.

Easy fixed

Cheers,

Adam L

ACTbrewer · Post by **ACTbrewer** » Tuesday Oct 24, 2006 5:57 pm

My cubes all had the plastic still in (not drilled out yet).

alangman · Post by **alangman** » Wednesday Oct 25, 2006 12:10 pm

Wash a suitable drill bit in brewer's detergent, boiling water then steralise. Fit to a cordless drill and the hole is complete

Any plastic left in the fermentor will rise to the top and shouldn't make it into a bottle. Probably want a friend to hold the cube at the required angle. An "oh sh1t" moment at the racking stage would be pretty heart-breaking.

Perhaps a bit of a pain, but not as much as siphoning could be.... Up to you.

Cheers,

Adam L