Siphon

[Beer Please]

Is it normal to have bubbles when siphoning? Or is my syphon dead?
Tia.

 

[Rodcx500z]

That,s not good all them bubbles are full of oxygen which is what you don't want, i would say it's crackered

 

[Jim Brewster]

Must be drawing in air somewhere as it's transferring

 

[Stevieboy]

Normal. They are CO2 bubbles.

 

[Agentgonzo]

In my experience, it could be either.

After fermenting, even though beer is not 'fizzy', it will have CO2 dissolved in it. When it is siphoned out of your fermenter, the reduced pressure in the siphon tube will cause some CO2 to come out of solution, which will rise to the top of your siphon tube. This could be the bubbles that you see. If that's the case, then there is nothing to worry about.

On the other hand, any crack in your siphon tube or racking cane, or any join in your siphon that is not fully sealed can be a place where the reduced pressure in your siphon tube can suck in air (which contains oxygen) and this could be the bubbles that you see. If this is the case, then this will slightly oxygenate your beer. This isn't the end of the world, but isn't desirable. There are threads on oxygenation you can read-up on.

In short, I don't know, but you have more information now (my siphon tube is opaque, otherwise I'd tell you whether it's normal to see bubbles or not)

 

[The Baron]

I think Agent is correct I sometimes get bubbles in my syphon but mine is a simple set up no autosyphon just the tube and a Syphon racking cane which has a very good connection.
It is either CO2 coming out or nucleation points in the syphon tube which do get a bit murky at times as they are not easy to keep scrupulously clean inside although they will be sanitised.

 

[RichardM]

If it's an auto Syphon pour a drop of water, or beer, down between the outer and inner tubes just after starting the Syphon.
You could also apply a bit of food grade silicon grease to the seal before you start