I brewed my first batch of beer 6 weeks ago and I had a terrible time racking from the carbouy to the bottling bucket. Can someone please describe how to properly rack so the next batch goes easier?
-Nick
P.S. The beer turned out fine but bottling day was very frustrating.
If you're racking from a carboy, you use a racking tube and siphon it out. A racking tube is a J shaped stiff tube with flexible tubing attached. The long end of the J goes into the carboy (there's a little plastic tip that keeps it from resting on the very bottom and sucking up trub).
To work the siphon: Put the fermenter on a higher level than the bottling bucket. A waist high counter top for instance . . . Put the bottling bucket on the floor (make sure the valve is closed - I use a tray to protect the floor in case I do something stupid)
Your siphon tube should be long enough to reach down into the bucket a way so you can direct the flow against the inside of the bucket (less splashing means less oxidation).
To start the siphon, the racking tube must be filled with water. Completely filled: minimal air. (you'll have to keep the long end of the J and open end of the flex tube high and leave a hanging loop to fill it) Once the tube is filled, put your finger over the open end and keep both the open end high and long J high. Walk over to the fermenter. Keeping your finger over the open end of the tube drop the long end of the J into the fermenter. Keeping your finger over the open end lower the open end into the bottling bucket and remove your finger.
The siphon starts. (the weight of the water falling down the tube creates a vacuum and pulls liquid from the fermenter)
You can, of course, build a racking tube from hardware store parts, but the cost is pretty nominal.
It is very easy. It is harder to describe the procedure than it is to do it.
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