It wasn’t creating the appropriate vacuum to pull from my elevated kettle to my fermenter. 5-6 pumps would get it going but it would stop immediately. I don’t think the internal plunger was keeping a good seal.
The siphon is probably clogging with hop debris going from the boil kettle to the fermentor. I only use my auto siphon to go from fermentor to bottling bucket. I pour from the boil kettle to fermentor. This helps aerate the wort before pitching the yeast.
You can pour all the hop debris that is in the boil kettle into the fermentor. It will not cause problems with the yeast or contribute off flavors to the finished beer. I pour through a mesh bag to capture hop debris just for harvesting cleaner yeast.
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I bet that’s it, as it worked grandly in my water test. Many thanks!
I have a fine kitchen strainer. Might sanitize it and use that next time.
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This is my set up now so I can pour solo.
This is what I used to do but my wife would have to sit on a stool to hold the strainer and bag.
Be ready to clean and resanitize the strainer. The amount of debris may surprise you. We used one a few times along with a funnel. We use a nylon bag on the end of the drain hose now or our hop spider.
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Keep a bucket nearby. When the strainer stops draining smack it on the buck to clean. I takes 2 people. I line my fermenter bucket with a sanitized paint strainer bag then squeeze it out
Great tips, they are all appreciated! Cheers!
I would also look at a hop spider. I use a SS basket from Utah Biodiesel… One time I didn’t use it, put in ginger root… Plugged up the chiller and the pump… I really like my basket… I also enjoy using whole cones too! Sneezles61
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First time brewer as well. I have the same kit, but I wasn’t impressed by the siphon either. I second all the notions about using a strainer. What I did for my setup was bought one of those handheld, 8" (probably could go with a 6") double mesh strainers and used it when pouring the wort from the kettle into the little big mouth bubbler. Easy to clean and so far works great.
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You should be pouring the wort in the fermenter to airate the wort. If using a bottle fermenter use a funnel
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