I recently brewed a porter and, for the first time, left it in primary for the entire time, rather than moving it to secondary as I’ve done in the past. When I siphoned the finished product into my keg, I had trouble with the residual particles of yeast, hops, etc. mixing into the beer I was trying to move into my keg. Any advice on good ways to ensure the end product is as clear and particle-free as possible? I was pretty careful with the siphon and didn’t end up with too much junk, but I did miss out on the last 1/2 gallon or so of beer in the fermenter because it had too many floaters. Sad.
If you tilt the fermenter up on one side before starting your siphon and let it rest for a few minutes so everything settles again you can get most of the clear beer off the cake. also, if you give it some time undisturbed in the keg any junk should settle to the bottom and get drawn off in that first pint.
A good way to mitigate this problem is to allow the beer to sit in a bright tank or a keg for at least a week and then rack into a keg.
Although I would caution you to the detrimental effects of oxygen. Use proper transfer techniques to avoid oxidation. One good way is to force the beer from the bright tank into the keg using CO2.
Good Luck!
…and welcome to the AHA Forum
The cheap $1 for 4 pair L’eggs knee high stockings. I use a twistie tie to secure a sanitized stocking to the racking tube- be sure to leave excess dangling so the junk can exit the tube. Catches all sorts of stuff.
whenever I where L’eggs I always have excess dangling too.
You, Sir, owe me a keyboard… And I am proud of you for not adding the “junk” to the equasion… ;D
ROFLMAO! I got light-headed laughing! Love it. Although you must have been looking
down, a new monitor would be just a cool.
As fas as answering the question, I too tilt my primaries on a 2X4 chunk. and when I rack
I level the primary so that the trub is now slanted, I put the Autosiphon in the deep end
of the “pool” made of trub(where the trub is almost barely there). A change in my process,
is that I now have a brew work bench. I will ferment on it. It sits high enough that I can
rack off it and won’t have to move the fermenter stirring up the trub. Might be an option
if you have the space…
I hadn’t thought of tilting the fermenter during primary but that is a really good idea! Ah to have a dedicated brewing area. I boil on my kitchen stove and ferment in the corner. This weekend I brewed a barley wine and after adding 7 gallons of hot water to 25 pounds of grain in my mashtun I realized that I now had to lift it up to the counter. Guess I don’t need to go to the gym this week.
My aha moment was when I tried to deadlift 14 gallons of hot wort up to the stove. Ever since then I’ve used grants. 
I bring the bucket or carboy up on the table and then let it sit again for another hour. Tilt as I get to the bottom.
Why the hell have I never thought of this? Way to make me feel dumb, sir.
Sorry, didn’t mean to. Just a newb myself. Will be for the foreseeable future.