34 replies to this topic

[brewguy]

I hate auto-siphons. After my last one broke I told myself I'd never buy another one. I have something like this, carboy cap, and it is great when transferring from a carboy, but it does not work for transferring from the boil pot to the primary. I used to dump, but I just started all-grain and there is a lot more break material after cool down. I read some of the posts from KenLenard about chilling, whirlpooling, waiting about 30 minutes, and siphoning off of the top of the kettle. There were some debates as to whether or not this made a significant difference in clarity, but I thought I would give a try anyway. So in comes the auto-siphon. First the hose must have been too short because I never did get a good flow going. After the hose popped off the cane, I gave up and dumped. Does anyone have any good ideas for getting liquid from the boil pot to the primary? Is siphoning even worth the effort? Does it really effect the clarity of your beer? I have an 8 gallon pot, and this is almost too small for my 6.5 gallon boils. If I get a new 10 gallon boil pot, would it be worth getting one with a spigot? For those of you with a spigot, how do you avoid draining break material and hops into your primary?

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

I like to siphon for 10 gallon batches. The first carboy is incredibly clear, the second not so much. Using a 10 g pot is great for 5.5 g batches. Mine came with a spigot, but I usually siphon. I want to leave as much break as I can behind.

[CaptRon]

I just use the ball valve that is on the bottom side of my keggle, it has a barb on it that I put my hose on and just transfer that way. I don't mind some crap getting in to the carboy, it all settles out anyway. Then I just leave it behind when I either secondary or keg. I have been considering saving up for a false bottom for my keggle with a center dip tube to help reduce the crap, but they are kind of expensive and not high on my priority list.

[davelew]

how do you avoid draining break material and hops into your primary?

My belief: if it settles out in the brewpot, it will settle out in the fermenter.I have a spigot on my brew kettle, and I drain the beer through the spigot.

[MtnBrewer]

My belief: if it settles out in the brewpot, it will settle out in the fermenter.

Right but it will still be in the fermenter. A little break material is a good yeast nutrient but too much will cause early staling of the beer. Probably not such a big deal for ales but it can be for lagers.

I have a spigot on my brew kettle, and I drain the beer through the spigot.

This is the best option I think. Use a false bottom or bazooka if you use whole hops or whirlpool if you use pellets to keep the break out of the fermenter.

[ANUSTART]

Right but it will still be in the fermenter. A little break material is a good yeast nutrient but too much will cause early staling of the beer. Probably not such a big deal for ales but it can be for lagers.

For a lager, does the junk have make it to the secondary vessel, or is the damage already done by then?

[MtnBrewer]

For a lager, does the junk have make it to the secondary vessel, or is the damage already done by then?

Damage is already done is my understanding.

[ANUSTART]

Damage is already done is my understanding.

Sorry to go too far off track here... what flavors would be the symptom of this?

[brewguy]

I have a spigot on my brew kettle, and I drain the beer through the spigot.

Any recommendations on where to get a brew kettle? A place in town has a 9.2 gallon kettle for $200. Is this a good deal? I think I only paid $65 for my 8 gallon stainless steel brew pot, but it does not have a spigot.

[brewguy]

Sorry to go too far off track here... what flavors would be the symptom of this?

Not off track at all. One of the main questions I have is dump or siphon. Should I even bother with the extra trouble of doing a siphon?

[davelew]

A little break material is a good yeast nutrient but too much will cause early staling of the beer. Probably not such a big deal for ales but it can be for lagers.

I have a five year old Bohemian Pilsner that says otherwise.

[CaptRon]

Any recommendations on where to get a brew kettle? A place in town has a 9.2 gallon kettle for $200. Is this a good deal? I think I only paid $65 for my 8 gallon stainless steel brew pot, but it does not have a spigot.

KeggleThis is actually a good deal. 15.5 gallon kettle with 1/2" couplings all welded for you ready to accept a nipple and ball valve. I LOVE mine.

[MtnBrewer]

Sorry to go too far off track here... what flavors would be the symptom of this?

Staling, oxidation, maybe haze.

[davelew]

Staling, oxidation, maybe haze.

Here's a link to guy who's now a pro brewer in Europe, but when he was a homebrewer he did a side-by-side split test of trub and no trub batches of an APA. He preferred the beer with trub when young (slightly better hop aroma), and couldn't decide which he preferred after 4 months of aging.https://hbd.org/disc...0327/41534.htmlhttps://hbd.org/disc...0327/42496.htmlThere was also a different guy on the B&V board who won a couple medals at the 2008 NHBC who racks all of his trub into his fermenters. He basically said that it wasn't optimal to do that, but the differences were so small that it made more sense to expend energy on other parts of beer.Seriously, trub in the fermenter should be the least of your worries. Theoretically, trub can introduce some oxidized lipids and staling factors, but the fact is those compounds are not available to the beer because 99% of them stay in the precipitate and the effect of the other 1% is below the human threshold of perception.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I dump through a paint strainer bag into my bucket. It gets some stuff out (certainly most of the hops and some of the break material). I tried siphoning once and it clogged up on my almost immediately despite my best efforts to chill quickly, swirl, and let sit. It's also very hard to get my racking cane to stay upright when siphoning out of my somewhat short kettle unless I have someone to hold the racking cane up for me. I got so pissed when I tried to do it I probably wouldn't bother trying again.Adding a valve to the kettle is something I might be willing to try if the price was right and the risk of destroying my kettle was low.

[CaptRon]

Adding a valve to the kettle is something I might be willing to try if the price was right and the risk of destroying my kettle was low.

This place seems to have alright prices on full stainless weldless+SS ball valve setups. I think they also have a bit you can use to drill the hole you need for the bulkhead. I think I'm going to order a cooler weldless kit from them to replace the plastic spigot that is currently on my coller so I can hard pipe my FB to hold it down better.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

This place seems to have alright prices on full stainless weldless+SS ball valve setups. I think they also have a bit you can use to drill the hole you need for the bulkhead. I think I'm going to order a cooler weldless kit from them to replace the plastic spigot that is currently on my coller so I can hard pipe my FB to hold it down better.

so people that drain from a bulkhead - do you have a screen or something on the inside of the kettle to filter out hops that won't clog up?

[CaptRon]

so people that drain from a bulkhead - do you have a screen or something on the inside of the kettle to filter out hops that won't clog up?

If you use whole hops, you can use a screen or a FB. I don't use anything though, I just stop when it looks like it is getting a little thick in the tube.

[Recklessdeck]

so people that drain from a bulkhead - do you have a screen or something on the inside of the kettle to filter out hops that won't clog up?

I have a SS braid a la Denny at the bottom of my pickup tube in the keggle. I think the idea is that if you use whole hops, they will collect around the braid and act as a filter bed and catch break material, although the process isn't perfect. I rarely get perfectly clear wort in my primaries.

[lowendfrequency]

I brew 5.5 gallons at a time, specifically for this issue (as do many others). By whirlpooling, I can pull off my intended 5 gallons while leaving behind a half gallon of trub, hops and other various muck. I also have an angled pipe with a mesh screen over the end built into the bottom of my boil vessel. Not really a false bottom but built more with whirlpooling in mind. It clogs if I use too many hops however, so I don't always use it.