Quick Tip: Starting a Siphon

Let's face it. Starting a siphon is a pain in the ass. Beginning brewers are always tempted to start it with his or her mouth, which is a big no no. Even attempting to sanitize your mouth with vodka, or some other alcohol will not work. You will infect your beer. There are techniques for starting a siphon that are much better.

One way to start a siphon is to fill the vinyl tubing with a no rinse sanitizer, crimping it off, and putting it in the beer. Allow the sanitizer drain into a container, to be discarded, until the beer is sucked up and pushes out the end. Crimp the vinyl tubing again, move it over to the container you are siphoning to, and take off the crimp. You only have to be careful not to let the sanitizer flow backwards into the beer.

The easiest way to start a siphon, however, is to use one of the self starting racking canes. These act as a plunger to push the beer through it until the siphon is started. I've been using one of those for several years, and will never go back.