Newbie Question

[jsmurphy]

Brewed my first batch Sat. night, a West Coast Pale Ale from a kit w/ specialty grains, DME and liquid Wyeast. Everything seems to have gone well thanks to all the info I've gotten from reading these threads. My Ale is bubbling away in the primary.

I want to use an auto siphon to tranfer in to my secondary, (carboy), but the auto siphon doesn't fit into my drilled hole in the primary bucket lid. Should I mouth-siphon with my racking cane that does fit into the lid hole, or open the lid enough on one side, put the auto siphon in and seal the opening with foil?
Which would offer the least chance of contamination?

(I will be drilling a larger hole and getting a stopper for it for next time.)

[Jeff]

I say open the lid, and don't worry about the foil around the opening. Just make sure your auto-siphon, hose, and carboy are santized. There is enough alcohol in your beer at this point that it will fend off most contaminates.

[Beerconnoisseur]

The hole in the primary bucket lid is used for a stopper (w/ hole), and airlock. You should not need to do any drilling. Just open the lid, put the auto-siphon in, and siphon from bucket to carboy.

As long as everything that comes in contact with the beer has sanitized, the risk of contamination is not that great.

I have about 15 5 gallon batches under my belt now, and I have yet to ruin an entire batch from contamination. Knock on wood. :)

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by Beerconnoisseur

I have about 15 5 gallon batches under my belt now, and I have yet to ruin an entire batch from contamination. Knock on wood.

Ouch - that's a very brave thing to say ;)

[jsmurphy]

Thanks for the replies. Glad to hear that the risk of contamination is less than I imagined.

I'll be siphoning back to the bucket for priming & bottling, so opening the lid enough to put in the auto siphon is also OK at the bottling stage?

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by jsmurphy
I'll be siphoning back to the bucket for priming & bottling, so opening the lid enough to put in the auto siphon is also OK at the bottling stage?

Yes...

[jsmurphy]

Thanks...

[Beerconnoisseur]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
Ouch - that's a very brave thing to say

I didn't say they were all fantastic to drink, though... :D

[brewmonkey]

JS-

Why the move to bottle? The more you move a beer the more chances you have for problems (oxidation, infection etc...).

If you place the carboy on a table the night before you bottle, it will settle out and you can prime it and rig your racking cane to bottle from there.

OR....

Rack from primary to secondary, with the secondary being a corny keg and skip all the BS steps. I know this is more costly up front, but worth it IMHO.

Check your PM's.

Ed

[jsmurphy]

Originally posted by brewmonkey
JS-

Why the move to bottle? The more you move a beer the more chances you have for problems (oxidation, infection etc...).

If you place the carboy on a table the night before you bottle, it will settle out and you can prime it and rig your racking cane to bottle from there.



Ed

I agree on the downside to moving the beer, but I've heard a good way to prime is to dissolve the sugar in hot water , pour it in the sanitized bucket and then carefully siphon the beer in. My secondary is 5 gal. so in theory it would already be full with no room to pour the priming mixture. Other than getting a 6.5 gal. carboy, how would I do this? And does the primer mix well enough into the beer to produce proper carbonation if I were to do it that way?

[brewmonkey]

I would not worry about your priming sugar going into solution so much as I would worry about the factors of oxidation. You are going to move from primary to secondary to bottling bucket to bottles. Each time you do this you introduce oxygen to your beer, and this is bad. It is something you try to avoid at all costs.

The amount of space you are going into is also not a concern as is the amount of oxygen your beer will come into contact with. Unless you have CO2 to purge your carboys/buckets/bottles before filling then you will be in contact with oxygen.

CO2 is heavier then air and will purge air (not all of it though) from the vessel allowing for a little less worrying about the oxidation effects.

Your method for your adding priming sugar is probably about the same as everyone elses including me in the begining.

Let us know how it goes.

Ed

[wortchillergoal]

I can see your point but I move my beer to a bottling bucket from the secondary. My bucket has a spigot at the bottom for the bootle filler and makes bottling easier than a siphon fill. I have not had any problems doing this. As many of us have said there is more than one right way to do things in this hobby.

[Beerconnoisseur]

Originally posted by jsmurphy
I agree on the downside to moving the beer, but I've heard a good way to prime is to dissolve the sugar in hot water , pour it in the sanitized bucket and then carefully siphon the beer in. My secondary is 5 gal. so in theory it would already be full with no room to pour the priming mixture. Other than getting a 6.5 gal. carboy, how would I do this? And does the primer mix well enough into the beer to produce proper carbonation if I were to do it that way?

In theory, yes, you would have no room. In my experience, after the boil & cold break, you will lose some liquid due to it being full of protein/undissolved extract/etc., so you should wind up with ~4.5 gallons, which will leave enough space for the priming mixture. I've tried mixing the priming mixture in quite a few different ways, and in my experience, almost any way you add it will give good results.

However, there is another option you can go with, called Prime Tabs (MoreBeer has them). They are also corn sugar, but you just add 3-5 of them to each bottle after filling, instead of a corn sugar mixture. They foam, which should push much of the oxygen out, and you can use oxygen-absorbing bottle caps to remove most of the remaining oxygen.

Personally, I've never encountered horrible issues with oxidation. Just avoid splashing your beer, try to cool the corn sugar mix as quickly as possible, and purge with CO2 if you have it, and you should be OK.

[Tom C]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
I can see your point but I move my beer to a bottling bucket from the secondary. My bucket has a spigot at the bottom for the bootle filler and makes bottling easier than a siphon fill. I have not had any problems doing this. As many of us have said there is more than one right way to do things in this hobby.

You are 100% right. I would just transfer slowly into the bottling bucket to minimize to a great degree the amount of oxygen introduced. This will also help clarify the beer even further too because even though still in the secondary some material still falls to the bottom. By transfering into the priming sugar solution you ensure that it mixes well throughout all of the beer.

It amazes me when reading some of the posts how much people stress and worry over each and every step. They forget the cardinal rule....relax, have a home brew.

Brew on,

Tom C

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
I can see your point but I move my beer to a bottling bucket from the secondary. My bucket has a spigot at the bottom for the bootle filler and makes bottling easier than a siphon fill. I have not had any problems doing this. As many of us have said there is more than one right way to do things in this hobby.


Of course there is always more then one way to skin a cat, and I was offering one of my ways. Secondary in a bottling bucket is fine, it is one of the mothods I used when I first started homebrewing. My point was the third move (Primary in bucket, secondary in glass, tertiary in the bottling bucket) was not a needed move and could save time, energy and possible oxidation issues.

This is one of the reasons you see Uni-Tanks prevelant in breweries. The brewer has the ability to do everything in one tank rather and avoid a good majority of the potential hazards. Now if we could just find an economical way to make a 316SS unitank for homebrewers with the ability to control the temp for under $400 and were talking!:D

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by Tom C

It amazes me when reading some of the posts how much people stress and worry over each and every step. They forget the cardinal rule....relax, have a home brew.


I would not say stress Tom, but rather somewhat anal. We all have our methods, and this forum is a great place to share them and learn.

Remember when you were new? I probably was just as worried and stressed about everystep until I became quite comfortable and could do it in my sleep, just like most of the new brewers.

No worries is the word of the day when brewing. I have had an amber turn out as a pale, a pils turn into a Bock and a few others ending in a manner other then intended. This taught me to understand it is what it is (as long as it is drinkable). But how come when we mess up they taste SOOO GOOD, but they are impossible to recreate?

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by brewmonkey
... But how come when we mess up they taste SOOO GOOD, but they are impossible to recreate?

Sadly, that is so very true.

[jsmurphy]

Not stressed, just want my brew to be the best it can be. With all the conflicting data out there, I like to get you brewer's feedback.

I'm sure I'll throw more questions out there, not to be anal, but just to share info.

Cheers...

[brewmonkey]

I was refering myself with the anal remarks. Once I had the basics down and stopped worrying about everything, I became anal about it. Its the little things like, no perfumes, smoking, bbq etc around my set up when I am brewing or pitching yeast.

[Beerconnoisseur]

Originally posted by jsmurphy
Not stressed, just want my brew to be the best it can be. With all the conflicting data out there, I like to get you brewer's feedback.


As long as it tastes great to you, you have a success on your hands. :) Unless you plan to go into business, or are brewing mostly for someone else, who cares what others think?

That said, if you are truly serious about brewing your beer [you want more than just a hobby], then I'd pick a style that you like, and focus on consistently making that style, until you get it down. Then, enter a few samples of your style to a homebrew competition, and use the feedback from the judges to improve your beer. Two sites that will be of interest for competitions are the Beer Judge Certification Program (http://www.bjcp.org/), and The American Homebrewer's Association (http://www.aob.org/homebrewing/membership.html).

Good luck, and happy brewing!

[jsmurphy]

Ed, no worries.;)

Beerconn., I'm brewing just for myself and friends, so I only care how it tastes to me.

Looking at all the bottles I have to clean & sanitize, I'm already looking into draft systems. Plus, I love the taste and feel of draft beer.

What a great hobby!

[jsmurphy]

It's good, and in another week I think it will be very good. Thanks for all the good advice on these threads.

Now, time to brew again...;)