F***ing siphons!

[TimT]

Got a siphon recently from the local HBS assuming it would be simple enough and would, in general, improve on my normal cruddy methods of filtration - pouring out of the demijohn through a cheesecloth.

Well not only did the bloody siphon keep on coiling up and falling out of the pots I was siphoning from and too in the first stages of siphoning (I was siphoning sodium met/water through to clean out the whole thing) but when it came to actually siphoning out the beer from the demijohn to the pot, it did one third of a quarter of a tenth of a half-arsed job before quitting!

Seriously - it's a kind of hand pump siphon thing. To get it working you turn a tap on the bit where the liquid comes out blocking it up, pump the bit in the middle so it sucks up liquid, until you've got enough in the siphon to keep a regular flow, and then just turn the tap at the end again and it starts flowing. Last time I tried it (last week) I got the whole brew bottled in fairly short order.

Not this time. I got the flow working at first, though noticed it was churning up the yeast cake at the bottom a fair bit, which defeated the whole purpose of siphoning. Then on subsequent attempts at getting the flow back in action again, it wouldn't effing work at all - I turned the tap closed, pumped the pump in the middle with my hand, but nothing got sucked up.

At this point I swore, and you know how swearing always makes things work? Well, miraculously, this time it didn't.

When swearing fails, where else do you turn to?

 

[jimmy_jangles]

fermentor with a tap at the bottom?

 

[WitWonder]

Gelatine? Works for me.

 

[gap]

Got a siphon recently from the local HBS assuming it would be simple enough and would, in general, improve on my normal cruddy methods of filtration - pouring out of the demijohn through a cheesecloth.


At this point I swore, and you know how swearing always makes things work? Well, miraculously, this time it didn't.

When swearing fails, where else do you turn to?

A HAMMER!!!!!!

 

[Draughton]

Get an auto siphon. They actually work

 

[TimT]

Can't use gelatine because I do harbour the (admittedly odd) fantasy that my other half, the Baron, who is a vegetarian will want to drink my brews one of these days, though she's not big on alcohol.

 

[TimT]

I typically just use demijohns with no taps.

 

[TimT]

When swearing fails, where else do you turn to?

A HAMMER!!!!!!

Yes to that! I actually threw a former siphon out in a fit of pique and swore I'd get this one working. Well, as today's experiment showed it worked right up to the point when I really wanted it to work! Unfortunately at the HBS they didn't know much about the siphons and were pretty rushed so couldn't talk me through them anyway.

 

[TimT]

Get an auto siphon. They actually work

Draughton - that's totally what I want. Who sells them though? What do they even look like? How much do they cost? Don't think I've seen any at my usual haunts.

 

[CheekyPeakBrewery]

They look like this
http://www.cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/index.php/fermenters-spoons-accessories/accessories/product/263-auto-easy-syphon-65cm?search=syphon

 

[Bribie G]

I used to own a syphon in 1972.

 

[elcarter]

Had a customer with a similar siphon experience and I had just got some auto's in, looks the same as cheeky's. He asked me if they worked?

I had no idea either never used one. So we got a fermenter and filled it up with some water and gave it a try.

Worked well, easy to get going and petty much just rested it on the fermenter side and it and watched it do it's thing for a bit.
I'd go one if your going to stick the the demoj's

 

[wombil]

To stop the syphon falling out of the vessel,stick a piece of wire up it,400 mm should do it on most containers. 200 should do a demijohn.
Use thin tie wire so it doesn't restrict the flow too much.
When I use a syphon I just suck it.
I use one with a stainless steel wand on the suction end.
No worries.
Have fun with it.

 

[superstock]

Get an auto siphon. They actually work

Draughton - that's totally what I want. Who sells them though? What do they even look like? How much do they cost? Don't think I've seen any at my usual haunts.

This is the one I have. Have posted this pic several times before. The red cap on the bottom keeps the siphon enteriy above the yeast. Easy to use in every thing, except 5L demijohn, just insert into the FV, withdraw the centre tube about 150mm and push back in to start the flow. With mine I added a Brigalow bottling wand, the nipple has to be open when you start the flow.
With a 5L demi I take the centre tube out, fill the tubing with water to start the siphon and run into a glass until the brew shows. The reason the outer won't fit a 5L demi is because the outer is 28.5. The red cap on the inner tube is a 2L juice cap that has been drilled and split so I can adjust the height of the inner tube in a demi or a 3L juice bottle

 

[Blind Dog]

This works for me:
- fill your siphon hose with water (boiled and cooled in a sanitary way if your worried about bugs; don't use boiling water though as it gurgles and spits and f***ing hurts!)
- hold it in a U shape so the water doesn't come out
- fold the end that you want the liquid to come out of over on itself and hold with you thumb
- at the same time (or close enough) insert the open end into your demijohn below liquid level and the other into the receiving vessel
- release your thumb so the folded end flips free
- the water followed by the beer should flow and you can keep the beer end just below the level of the beer so shouldn't disturb the yeast

Try a few practice runs with just water first to make sure you don't waste beer

 

[thylacine]

Two hundred and nineteen batches to date. Have syphoned (longnecks) the past one hundred and ninety-two. No worries.

A metre length of clear hose from my LHBS. Bottling wand tube on the end placed into the fermenter (after cold crashing for up to a week; equals compact trub). Another bottling wand tube with spring loaded valve on the other end of the hose. After the hose soaks in cleaner, then rinsed, it is submerged and left in no-rinse sanitiser until required. The wands then fixed to each end of hose and ensuring that most of the hose is full of sanitiser. (but not so much that it flows into the fermenter, not that most palates would pick it).
Then after placing non-valve end into fermenter, place valve end of hose into a clean/sanitised receptacle (I use a pint glass). Depress the valve and allow the sanitiser to run into the glass. Stop when beer begins to enter glass.

The attached pic shows just a hose. With the spring loaded bottling wand valve you can stop/start the flow. I like a wand on the fermenter end as I find the hose easier to manipulate and seeing the wand end up against the inside of the fermenter.

Cheap and easy. Mind you I do 4x15L batches per month and only bottle 18 longnecks per batch.

Cheers

 

[jimmy_jangles]

I typically just use demijohns with no taps.

sorry mate, i'm one of those idiots that didn't read the first post properly....until no i had no idea what demijohns meant, hope you find something that works

 

[Tahoose]

Check out this other current thread.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/85811-easy-siphon/page-2