I’m having trouble with a seemingly simple process and really am not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’ve tried this four times now, three times using co2 to push the beer and once using an autosiphon, and have only achieved success one time (the second try using co2 - I have no idea what made it work that time). Each time I have gotten the beer to start flowing into the keg, but then it just stops. I can usually restart it, but then it will stop again. Before last night (when I used the autosiphon instead of using co2) I thought it was a problem with my process using co2 to transfer, but now that I had problems with the autosiphon it leads me to believe it’s simply an issue of filling through the liquid out post. I would like to be able to do this (at least with the autosiphon) to avoid exposure to oxidation, especially for my hoppy beers.
Place carboy on fermentation chamber (chest freezer) with keg on ground
Connect end of autosiphon tubing to liquid ball lock disconnect
Connect disconnect to keg
Place autosiphon in carboy
Unscrew PRV
Start autosiphon
It sure seems like that should work, but since it isn’t, maybe there is something clogging the keg dip tube? Why not just run the siphon hose to the bottom of the keg?
I can do that but would like to be able to transfer with minimal exposure to oxygen, ideally with Co2. IPAs get pretty expensive to make so would like to take all the preventative measures I can. And this time I transferred to a brand new keg that I had just pushed star san out of.
When pushing with CO2, do you have the fermenter sealed off and are you leaving the gas on the entire time (good)? When using the autosiphon, are you sealing off the fermenter (bad)? What pressure are you using to push?
If you are purging the keg with co2 prior to transferring then you should be good with putting the house straight in the keg. If you want to use co2 to transfer out of a carboy you can do it but you have to be extremely careful since the carboy is not built to hold pressure. You should be able to find it by searching online, but essentially you use a regular racking cane stuck through one hole of an orange carboy cap and push co2 in the other hole of the cap. Very low pressure - like 2 psi. Attach the end of the racking tube like you have to a disconnect in the beer out from the keg,and open the relief valve out the gas in side.
All this being said. If you are not getting flow into the keg, and you are pressurizing the carboy, you better hope the carboy cap pops off before the glass explodes into shards. You probably will have bigger problems to worry about than oxidized beer at that point.
I’ve read everything on transferring with co2 and know the risks. I do have the carboy sealed for co2 transfer and there is a slight leak of co2 coming out of the carboy cap, but I’ve read this is fairly normal and there is still pressure inside the carboy. I do transfer with very low pressure (1-4 psi). I did not seal the carboy for the autosiphon transfer. I know the dangers of using glass carboys for co2 transfers, the funny thing is I believe the only time it worked I used a glass carboy.
Yep, and if the two vessels are at different heights, the CO2 could be turned down as it is only filling space, gravity is taking care of the transfer.
I use a conventional syphon but my FV is always about 3 feet higher than the keg, which I think helps with having a greater pressure head for the transfer. I have had issues with the disconnect not being properly connected to the post but assume this is not your issue.
Are you releasing the pressure fully in the keg first before starting the auto siphon? If there is remaining pressure than the auto siphon will not push the beer through gravity into the out post of the keg…
And not just at starting! Every so often, pull the PRV to keep the beer flowing. Once the pressure equalizes in the receiving keg, no more beer will flow.