Due to the risk of contamination and oxygenation, siphoning is one of the most delicate moments of homebrewing. What are your favorite techniques and accessories for doing it? I also welcome some nice videos about siphoning.

Recently I replaced my cloudy old 1/2" i.d. siphon hose with one that gives a better view of what I'm siphoning. The trouble is, this new hose is far more kink-prone than the old one, to the point where even moderate bends can forms kinks that stop the flow. Supply catalogues never tell you how kinky a hose is, so I'm hoping someone can point me to a sturdy, relatively kink-free solution. Going down a size would solve the problem, …

I am on the 10th day of fermentation, and tried to get a sample to measure gravity with siphon. However after a few pushes, it stopped working and I noticed that the tip got into the carboy, which I cannot recover I believe. See the picture below What should I do now? I cannot wait for another siphon, it is a lame brand, broken on the first attempt. I have a bucket with spigot. I am considering to hold the …

I've been using buckets, taps and hoses so far but want to start using carboys so I need a siphon. Since there are several types around, what do you suggest? I've heard that automatic ones are a bit tougher to clean, what's your experience with them? I'd buy it here (posting the link so you can see what I can choose from): https://www.brouwland.com/en/our-products/bottling/siphons-and-accessories/complete-siphons

I brewed my very first batch of extract (Brewer's Best Amber Ale) yesterday morning, and I'm still not seeing any bubbling in the airlock. I'm running through a list of things that could I could have done wrong, and one of them might have been from when I racked the wort from the (cooled) brewpot into the plastic "Ale Pale" fermenter. Yes, I confirmed the wort was chilled down to 110°F before I racked. And yes, I racked using a …

My friends and I are just getting into homebrewing, and we've been throwing around some ideas to try to simplify things. One of those ideas is to use glass carboys with a bottom spigot in order to eliminate siphoning. We would either do this by getting custom carboys made by a glassmaker (we're thinking of something with a bottom that mirrors the top) or by modifying an existing carboy using glass-cutting tools. I'm wondering if someone with more experience could …

So i got everything in my fermenting vessel last night and i got up this morning to find that the siphon lock was pushed in. I tried to slowly pull it back up through it's opening but the siphon lock's o-ring came off in the botton and now its in tje beer. Should i reach in and get it? I am concerned because i think i pitched it too hot. I was a bit tired when finishing up. But i …

My tube was flat in some parts of it, is there a way to make it more round so the liquid smoothly flows thru? I think that was the reason I was seeing air bubbles in the tube.

I know that some people say that PVC is fine for racking tubes, but I have someone who is looking for an alternative--HDPE or PP would be acceptable but not preferred. Since PVC is the only type of plastic tube our local hardware store sells, are there some DIY alternatives that have worked well for people? (Caoutchouc? Sheep's intestine? What'd we use for this before plastic came along?)

I'm a beginner. This is my second batch (and the first made from my own recipe idea). The equipment I have is the standard starter kit, made up of two large plastic buckets with spigots near the bottom of each one. Last batch, I lost a huge amount of beer due to poor siphoning from fermenting bucket to bottling bucket. I wonder if siphoning was necessary at all! Palmer's book says that the spigots are good enough to use instead …

I had thought that the point of using a siphon when moving wort/beer is to prevent agitation and aeration and a ruined beer. So we use the siphon when moving cooled wort to the carboy for fermentation, when moving the fermented beer to the secondary fermenter and then lastly when moving the beer to the bottling bucket. However, I recently talked to another homebrewer who would strive for maximum agitation when pitching their yeast so the yeast is really integrated. …

Not having kegged, I don't mind what some people call the 'hell' of bottling. However, after bottling a 10% BGSA last night where I used a 2 quart starter (leading to a massive yeast cake) and whole leaf hops (which made it into the primary), a clogged/slow-flowing autosiphon, a slow-flowing bottle wand, all leading up to a 3+ hour bottling session, I have a new maxim and a question: Maxim: Always strain out whole hops or use a muslin bag. …

I recently brewed a 5.5 gallon batch of witbier. After primary, I bottled 3 gallons of it and racked the other 2.5 gallons into a 3 gallon carboy atop 24 ounces of raspberries. After the secondary fermentation had completed and the beer fell clear, there was a good bit of now-beige raspberry gunk in the bottom of the carboy, and just as much floating at the top. I had a hard time siphoning the beer off of the fruit. I …

I am in the process of adding a ball valve to my brew kettle and am designing a diptube to transfer wort to my primary. I've always brewed in 5-gallon batches so picking up the kettle and dumping it has never been a problem, but I would like to automate this process as much as possible and am wondering if I can just rely on gravity to drain the kettle as long as the kettle is higher than the primary …

While racking beer to kegs today, my autosiphon started leaking air. Bubbles started at the bottom, and went throughout the tube. I assume that this is due to a poor seal between the pump portion and the housing portion of the stiff plastic pump. Has anyone else had this experience? Is this a common failure mode for autosiphons?

Right now I am using the standard fermtech plastic auto siphon, but it already broke and it's a pretty flimsy and poorly designed way to siphon beer (the plastic piece in the tip broke and it can't force any pressure to start the siphon). Does anyone know of a better siphon that might actually last longer? I was trying to search google and forums for a metal auto siphon, but couldn't find anything. I like the ease of using an …

I can't seem to find a local supplier that stocks a racking cane or siphon in my area so I'd like to have a go at making my own. I could find an online supplier but most US stores won't ship to AU & I want to use it in a few days. I know I can just siphon with tubing but I'd like to use a cane with that rubber nozzle that reduces the muck that comes up. Can …

I'd love to hear the creative ways which folks have come up with to sanitize the outside of their racking cane. Sanitizing the inside is straightforward - siphon some sanitizing solution through the cane, then let it sit for a while. Getting the upper part of the outside of the cane in constant contact with santizing solution seems less straightforward. I don't really want to fill an entire 5gal container with solution just so that I can get the racking …

I'm considering purchasing a couple of these plastic ported carboys. From reading the description, it seems that I'd be able to rack directly into secondary and/or bottles without the need for siphoning. Does anyone use these and can anyone recommend for/against the use of ported carboys as opposed to siphoning? Thanks!

I got an auto siphon as a gift recently. Unfortunately, it only reaches about half-way down into the carboy. All the brew supply sites and the fermtech site, itself, aren't exactly clear about the exact dimensions of the various auto siphons and about whether or not they'll reach the bottom of a 6.5 gallon carboy. Which one should I buy? Edit: I think I may have been given the mini model. Mine is 24" long when fully extended, but 13.5" …