Siphoning Question

[kyleb]

Do most of you just start the siphon with your mouth? It seems like it would ruin all the work I put in to sterilizing the equipment...

 

[rawlus]

many use an Auto-siphon from Fermtech available just about anywhere.

 

[1st Timer]

Auto Siphon is definately the way to go, well worth the $15.00! You can get them at most Brewmaster Shops as well as online.

 

[gonzo46307]

Another + for the auto-siphon.

Peace,
Bob

 

[upper]

I never start a siphon before noon Upper

 

[Malkore]

barring using an auto-siphon (I own two!), just fill your racking hose with sanitizer (like Star-san), put one end in the wine bucket, then let the other end flow into a small jar until the sanitizer's gone and the tube is full of wine, then move the tube to your second vessel and let it flow.

auto-siphon is a whole lot easier.

 

[smurfe]

Auto siphon here as well. I have each size they make. If you have to siphon with the mouth though, don't freak out about it. Many do it. You could always gargle with Listerine first for at least 30 seconds and preferably a minute to kill as many germs as possible. That's what the piercing studios do when they pierce your tongue.

 

[Wade E]

Auto siphon is very nice but the electric vacuum pump is even better!

 

[xanxer82]

I don't have glass carboys yet. All of mine are better bottles so a pump wont work without collapsing the BBs. I had to start by mouth the first couple times I racked but then I got an Auto Siphon. Best investment ever.

 

[Green Mountains]

Auto siphon is very nice but the electric vacuum pump is even better!

OK.....officially jealous of Wade's setup.

 

[Wade E]

Its an aspirator pump that you can buy on Ebay for usually round $100 shipped. ValleyVintner now sells these also which are nore expensive but brand new. I can degas, rack up hill(from the floor to the counter), filter, and also bottle with this. I have a bad back and picking up or dropping down a full 6 gallon carboy is not good for me!!!!!!!

 

[NSwiner]

The lady at our store told me The Buon Vino MiniJet can have a piece of hose added to it to do the siphoning so thats another reason I want to get one . I start my siphon now by running water into it then clamping off until i put it the wine then run into a container until the wine comes through then stop and putin clean carboy . i don't like the idea of starting it by mouth either because of the germ thing .

 

[Wade E]

Ive heard those get pretty hot and ill ned a coold down period, just what Ive heard.

 

[Hillbilly Bill]

Folks have been siphoning using their mouth for many, many years... but the human mouth is a nasty thing. When I was a young working in the Emergency Room at South Georgia Medical Center, we would get people who had been bitten by a dog. The Good Doctor would usually sanitize it, stich it if necessary, and bandage it. If it was a human bite, yes we got plenty of those, the Good Doctor would sanitize the wound as best he could, but he would not stitch it up until he was sure that there was no staphylococcus infection. Once again, the human mouth is a nasty thing... especially ArcticSid's.

 

[arcticsid]

Thats fine and dandy for you that have these fancy pumps! But, I, like kyle have to wonder if siphoning the old fashioned way by using a tube and your mouth is really that critical of a concern. At what point do we get "over concerned" about the whole sterilization and sanitizing aspect of brewing our own?

PleaseAdvise

Troy

 

[NSwiner]

Yes Wade i read that somewhere also but only if you do more then one batch at a time I think what they said .

 

[arcticsid]

Say Bro', my bark is worse than my bite. But then again, it has been a while since I bit myself, so I can't be sure!! LOL

 

[Hillbilly Bill]

Say Bro', my bark is worse than my bite. But then again, it has been a while since I bit myself, so I can't be sure!! LOL

Ha-Ha!... Gotcha.

 

[rawlus]

i have to go with wade here. i think the minijet is overpriced for what it is.
an oilless continuous duty vacuum pump off ebay is going to be way more versatile for 1/2-1/4 the cost.
you can rack with it with minimal O2 exposure.
you can vacuum bottle with it
you can filter with it.
you can degas with it.

mine was $50 + shipping on ebay. gomco model 3001. quiet, compact, portable, with vacuum gauge, regulator, overflow canister with tubing, filter and auto-shutoff overflow valve.

 

[Wade E]

Ive done the mouth thing before and must say I worried but never had a problem. If I were you Id use some sulfite solution or even distilled water and let that start the vacuum though cause its just a matter of time before it does create problem IMO, I would never do it again thinking n how I can screw up a precious batch of my wine.