Festival beer kit syphon filter question

timtoos · Nov 4, 2014

Hi guys,

Just transferred my Pilgrims Hope to the secondary fermenter. Quick taste and wow, this is a great kit beer. Lighter than what I thought - real IPA like. Colour and taste quite Bishops Finger-esque.

When I transferred it to my carboy I ended up taking the filter bag off my syphon tube. It kept blocking and pulling air through. Since its going in a secondary I thought a few bits wouldn't harm as it will just settle out - there was lots of yeast and hop sediment left in the bottom of the FV.

Now the question I have is, will the potential O2 pulled through when I syphoned the beer cause issues? I could see the bubbles accumulating inside the syphon tube. When I took the filter bag off from my syphon it required another good pump which ultimately pushed a bit of air into the carboy. Is this something that you guys have experienced and will it cause cardboard/stale like tastes due to this?

PS, ABV was spot on at 4.98%. Really happy with the fermentation progress.

Cheers all

Hopping_Mad · Nov 4, 2014

Any unnecessary exposure to air increases the risk of infection, but what you're describing is probably very little extra risk to be honest!

Can I give you a tip though - I read those instructions about using the bag as some sort of filter. I thought it was a crap idea, and anticipated exactly the issues you described. I thought I would use it as a hop bag for dry hopping. It's just the job. Stick the pellets in the bag and they stay together whilst imparting the hop flavours with very little extra, if any, particles in your brew. They come out still in the bag, albeit expanded considerably due to the retained liquid (squeeze it out if you can be bothered). When binning the hops, simply turn the bag inside out into your bin!

I now use Festival bags (sanitised of course) for all my dry hopping weighted down with a sanitised marble!!!

timtoos · Nov 4, 2014

Many thanks, love that idea. I will definitely be using that from now on.

Is there any way of testing for oxygen issues or is it a waiting game?

Hopping_Mad · Nov 4, 2014

Having left it in secondary for a few days, have a trial jars worth before you bottle/keg it. That will probably be soon enough to tell if it's ok!

I'm very confident you will be fine.

Don't blame me if you kegging/bottling sanitation isn't up to scratch though!

stout les · Nov 4, 2014

same thing happened to me with the stag & it never imparted any off flavours.
thats a good tip using the bag to dry hop, i'll try that:clap:

Hopping_Mad · Nov 4, 2014

Les, I see you are a Youngs Craft Kit fan like me.

I'm slightly disappointed (given they are top of the range) with my Amber Ale, but I've only had one bottle that's three weeks old. The Pale Ale was really good after the same period, and just got better.

Have you supped the Oak Rum Ale yet? I really fancy doing that! Will try their New World Saison I suspect too!

Joeyriles · Nov 4, 2014

I agree to a point, and Hopping_Mad is entitled to his opinion about the sack being a waste of time but I have found it really helped with racking from primary to secondary (it's also good to add on the end of the siphon tube so as to catch any rogue bits.)

As for the O2: I wouldn't fret, personally. Not had a problem with this myself, yet. I've taken to racking and then fining not long before bottling to try and get the beer to clear up faster. Some people prefer just keeping it in one vessel. It's a broad church!

dbg400 · Nov 4, 2014

I've had no problem with the Festival filter bag on all but one of the their brews - Golden Stag - which caused issues with the bag getting sucked into the syphon holes and then blocking up. The Young's New World Saison kit I've recently done was the worst though, with constant blackages and as a result the sediment at the bottom of the FV got stirred up and the bottles have quite a bit of sediment in them

Tastes fine though. I'll either try Hopping_Mad's trick with the filter bags (I have loads now) or make up a wire coil to stretch the filter bag and keep it away from the syphon.

stout les · Nov 5, 2014

Hopping_Mad said:
Les, I see you are a Youngs Craft Kit fan like me.

I'm slightly disappointed (given they are top of the range) with my Amber Ale, but I've only had one bottle that's three weeks old. The Pale Ale was really good after the same period, and just got better.

Have you supped the Oak Rum Ale yet? I really fancy doing that! Will try their New World Saison I suspect too!

my amber ale & oak rum are still fermenting so i've not tried them. i've brewed the APA & that has to be the best kit i've done so far. it was at its best around the three month mark. i had a sample of the IPA at my lhbs & that was very nice as well quite similar to the APA only a bit stronger alcohol wise.

Hopping_Mad · Nov 5, 2014

stout les said:
my amber ale & oak rum are still fermenting so i've not tried them. i've brewed the APA & that has to be the best kit i've done so far. it was at its best around the three month mark. i had a sample of the IPA at my lhbs & that was very nice as well quite similar to the APA only a bit stronger alcohol wise.

Give us an update when you've given them a try.

So many kits, only one liver! *sigh*

stout les · Nov 5, 2014

Hopping_Mad said:
Give us an update when you've given them a try.

So many kits, only one liver! *sigh*

i will do:drink:

stout les · Nov 5, 2014

Hopping_Mad said:
Give us an update when you've given them a try.

So many kits, only one liver! *sigh*

i will do:drink:

louis macneice · Nov 6, 2014

I stick a sparkling wine wire cage on the end of the syphon tube, squeeze it into a longer flatter shape and then put the bag over the whole lot (all sanitized of course). This works really well.

Cheers - Louis MacNeice

jamie72 · Nov 7, 2014

louis macneice said:
I stick a sparkling wine wire cage on the end of the syphon tube, squeeze it into a longer flatter shape and then put the bag over the whole lot (all sanitized of course). This works really well.

Cheers - Louis MacNeice

Do you syphon straight into bottles or a second bucket for bottling? Curious as I will be bottling my first dry hopped beer next week and I want it to go as smoothly as possible!! :-)

timtoos · Nov 9, 2014

Hi Jamie

I filtered into a carboy and then left to cold crash to get the yeast to settle out. I then used an auto syphon and little bottler to fill the bottles. Seems to work well for me.

I used to bottle straight from the FV but its really easy to disturb the sediment.

louis macneice · Nov 11, 2014

jamie72 said:
Do you syphon straight into bottles or a second bucket for bottling? Curious as I will be bottling my first dry hopped beer next week and I want it to go as smoothly as possible!! :-)

I use a bucket and batch prime...much easier.

Cheers - Louis MacNeice

jamie72 · Nov 13, 2014

Thanks lads for the replies. Quick update. Bottled straight from the fv last night. Decided against the muslin bag but instead tightly wrapped some tin foil over the sediment trap on the racking cane. pinned a load of holes in it and it worked like a charm! No hop debris in bottles. :thumb:

Joeyriles · Nov 13, 2014

jamie72 said:
Thanks lads for the replies. Quick update. Bottled straight from the fv last night. Decided against the muslin bag but instead tightly wrapped some tin foil over the sediment trap on the racking cane. pinned a load of holes in it and it worked like a charm! No hop debris in bottles. :thumb:

That's a bloody excellent idea; why didn't I think of that?! :doh:

Hopping_Mad · Nov 13, 2014

Now that's my kind of lateral thinking. Tell me you sanitised the foil first?

swayney91 · Nov 13, 2014

Can the filter bags be cleaned and reused?

Festival beer kit syphon filter question

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