To suck or not to suck

[Irishwizard]

That is the question
Do you suck your syphon tube?
Do you give it a little suck.
Or a big one
or maybe in-between ?

 

[Slid]

That is the question
Do you suck your syphon tube?
Do you give it a little suck.
Or a big one
or maybe in-between ?

Assuming that this is not merely a euphemism, I would favour a good suck to get the flow going. As the beer is usually fermented at this stage, some basic precautions are likely to be enough.

 

[ElvisIsBeer]

A fisherman's friend?

 

[Fil]

if using a tap at the end of your siphon tube, simply cut a few inches of tube from the main length, Then when it comes to starting the siphon you can keep your sanitised siphon assembly pristine and gingivitis bacteria free by sanitising the short length of tube and slipping it over the tap out spout and using it as a temporary mouthpiece to start your siphon with a slobbery lipsmack and suck

one good suck is best as otherwise your risking the possibility of sucking foul contaminated brewers breath back into the tube... yuk!!

 

[Gunge]

Suck, every time. I also take a swig from bottles which I've accidentally over-filled before placing the crown cap on. I do believe that this over-zealousness to sanitation is unnecessary. I am by my own admission pretty sloppy but I've never had an infected brew, be it beer or wine, in 35 years. Perhaps I've just been incredibly lucky I dunno.

 

[strange-steve]

Fil's method is a good un, or you can prime the syphon tube by filling with water or starsan then letting it out into a jug or something. I certainly wouldn't risk sucking the syphon.

 

[Irishwizard]

all good advice chaps..Im going to suck it and see
Ive got a long w/e here in Eire so will make my mind up wot with all the sage advice.
Gunge sems to be pretty un conventional but no problems... who knows??

 

[AdeDunn]

A 2.5 ml syringe outer makes a perfect sleeve to fit over the end of the plastic syphon taps I found. Get the siphon going, dump the first bit that comes out. Turn the flow off, remove the syringe, and off you go with NO nasties from your mouth anywhere near your beer... So basically a slightly different version of Fil's suggestion. I happened to have a box of 100 already from another hobby. lol

 

[Irishwizard]

A 2.5 ml syringe outer makes a perfect sleeve to fit over the end of the plastic syphon taps I found. Get the siphon going, dump the first bit that comes out. Turn the flow off, remove the syringe, and off you go with NO nasties from your mouth anywhere near your beer... So basically a slightly different version of Fil's suggestion. I happened to have a box of 100 already from another hobby. lol

Brilliant advice

 

[The Baron]

Suck, every time. I also take a swig from bottles which I've accidentally over-filled before placing the crown cap on. I do believe that this over-zealousness to sanitation is unnecessary. I am by my own admission pretty sloppy but I've never had an infected brew, be it beer or wine, in 35 years. Perhaps I've just been incredibly lucky I dunno.

I don't think you have Gunge I do follow cleanliness protocol and have always sucked my syphon with no probs for years and years I do cringe at the anal cleanliness of some people in the hobby who go to what i think is ridiculous amounts of spraying and dunking even when using adjuncts that are in sealed packaging which have to meet hygiene criteria from the factory but will still boil/soak in vodka etc
well thats me off the soap box now

 

[Covrich]

Not since we got married

 

[pvt_ak]

I’ve always been a sucker !


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[johnnyboy1965]

Im with Gunge on this one. Ive only ever lost one brew to a infection and that is because I was very drunk at all stages. I always suck on the syphoning tube, the reason being that there are more good bacteria on your lips than bad, if there wasnt your lips would rot and fall off. Its all about knowing when to sanitise, when to sterilise. If you saw the inside of my FV you would be shocked, its never been cleaned, just a wipe with a soft cloth and a quick spray with sanitiser and a kettle of boiling water to rinse.
I also believe that wild yeast infections are a myth. Though I cant prove this, you cant prove that you have lost a beer through wild yeast infection.

 

[Hoddy]

I’ve always made sure my filling/siphoning tube is full of starsan and then when I’m filling a keg and bottles I just open the tap and the starsan starts the syphon off all by itself. No need for sucking at all.

Although I do like a suck every now and then. But that’s a different topic for a different sort of forum [emoji6]


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[The Idiot]

Suck. If you are going to get an infection it is inevitably before fermentation is complete. I've tried to capture wild yeast for experiments and it's difficult with raw wort, so fermented beer isn't going to be easy to infect!

 

[Clint]

..capture wild Yeasts. ...I had visions of that old Toblerone advert with that chap running round with the big net.....

 

[chub1]

+ one for a sucker:mrgreen:

 

[Saisonator]

You could stick a smaller diameter tube into the end of the siphon tube a yank it out one the tube is full.

 

[Flocculator]

using a tap on your syphon tube, make sure it is open and submerge 2 thirds of it without disturbing any sediment and close the tap. put the tap end where it needs to go and gravity should take care of the rest

 

[strange-steve]

I'm of the opinion that if an infection risk is easily avoidable, even an admittedly small risk, then why chance it. It takes literally seconds to prime a syphon tube compared to the time and effort involved in brewing a batch of beer, so it's a no brainer to me.
As for the comment about good bacteria in the mouth, we're not talking about health risks here but spoilage organisms and I've never heard of any bacteria which is good for beer (unless you're brewing a sour beer). Two of the most common bacteria strains in the mouth are streptococcus and lactobacillus which will grow in beer, so the alcohol/low pH is no guarantee that it'll be fine.