Transfers with silicone tubing

[Celiacbrew]

Did a transfer using 1/2 inch silicone tubing tonight and didn't use a racking cane/autosiphon. I don't think I will go back to the old way ever again. I used a turkey baster without the bulb on it to get the siphon started. I just sucked on the baster until the beer was in the tubing and then pulled off the baster and put the end in the keg. Seems sanitary enough. Also I used the microwave to sterilize the tubing. From what I read online that should work fine. All told I have transferred three carboys this way and it seems less messy and more sanitary than using the racking cane/autosiphon.

[CorneliusAlphonse]

i'm with you for everything except the microwave sanitizing ... seems a bit crazy. if it worked well i'd assume hospitals etc would use it instead of autoclave. where'd you get info on it?

[RubberToe]

I've heard about using the microwave for sanitizing before. From what I've read it's legit. Microwaves heat up water and there's water in bacteria. I wouldn't mind finding some more technical and hands on info though.

Also, using an autoclave is sterilization which is a level above sanitization.

[Celiacbrew]

I saw it in a few places but the CDC has a summary on disinfection and sterilizing techniques. 1-5 minutes depending on the bug and the study. in the study I saw for dentistry appliances times were 5-7 minutes. But that was for sterilizing the spores of some pretty hardy bacteria like s. Aureus.

http://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/Disinfection_ ... thods.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And for why hospitals don't use it, I would guess if is because they have great big giant autoclaves that do huge batches of bundles of instruments which are mostly pointy metal. The metal would cause issues for the microwaves.

[CorneliusAlphonse]

I've heard about using the microwave for sanitizing before. From what I've read it's legit. Microwaves heat up water and there's water in bacteria. I wouldn't mind finding some more technical and hands on info though.

Also, using an autoclave is sterilization which is a level above sanitization.

Sorry yeah he was talking about sterilizing, I mistyped

[GAM]

Can you take a pic. I can't see how you could avoid yeast/hop pickup.

S

[Celiacbrew]

I will take some pics on the next transfer(beer is going to lager so it will be a few weeks). Personally I don't find the end of the racking cane keeps yeast and hops out. It might work better for other people but for me I always end up with a ton in the first bit of the transfer. Usually a thick plug of yeast is the first thing pulled up. With the tubing I lowered from top to bottom and then when it gets to the bottom the tubing laid flat so it was sucking sideways and not from straight down. I still end up with some in my keg but I don't think I am getting much more than I was with the racking cane. And since it is in a keg in a fridge I don't worry too much about picking up yeast. It is more the hop debris blocking the poppets that I worry about. Time will tell if it becomes a problem.

[Andre]

My fermentation bucket has a spigot on the bottom. I simply fit silicone tubing over the spigot (all sanitized in starsan of course, spigot included).

The spigot is high enough to be over the trub but low enough to get most of the beer. At the end I need to carefully tilt the bucket to get the last of the beer.

There's always a bit of trub for that initial running, but taking a sample for a hydro reading takes care of that.

[Celiacbrew]

Spout would definitely make transfers so much easier. I think a fermentation vessel like the speidels might have to be in my future.

[Celiacbrew]

Can you take a pic. I can't see how you could avoid yeast/hop pickup.

S

So it looks like I will need to do some brainstorming. The technique worked great on my pilsners but my APA with 4 grams of dry hop pellets kicks up some hop debris into your glass when pouring. The first couple glasses were chunky, which is normal for me with my kegs. Then it is only a few particles but it ruins the appearance of the beer to have some floaties at the bottom of the glass.

My ideas are to either transfer with a nylon hop bag on the end of the hose which ruins the simplicity of using the tubing by itself. On the plus side I can heat sanitize the bag at the same time I do the tubing which is still better than the racking cane.

My second idea is to use gelatin to get a firmer and more compact trub/yeast/hop pile at the bottom of the carboy before transfer. Or in the keg to minimize the pick up of hop debris.

my last idea is to use a narrower gauge of silicone tubing so that the slower flow won't kick up as much debris. Well I guess my actual last idea is to use a combination of all three but I can't find a source of narrower tubing with thick walls (needed to prevent kinking)

Anyone have any input or suggestions that I didn't think of?