To suck or not to suck

[dad_of_jon]

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 ?

yuk,

I use an auto syphon! - there are other cheaper methods available, - turkey baster, syringe etc. why risk £20+ worth of ingredients. :nono:

 

[Irishwizard]

yuk,

I use an auto syphon! - there are other cheaper methods available, - turkey baster, syringe etc. why risk �£20+ worth of ingredients. :nono:

Do you remember Jeremy Beadle? Shame he is no longer with us, though had the pleasure of meeting him once...jeez he liked a drink!:mrgreen:

 

[Graz]

Always sucked, never had any problems.

On a side note I was trying to empty the kids swimming pool a few weekends back to put it away for the winter. Trying to get a syphon flowing through 20m of hose pipe wasn't happening with mouth suction alone. I resorted to using my wet and dry workshop vacuum cleaner to get it going. Maybe use that on the beer syphon

 

[dad_of_jon]

Do you remember Jeremy Beadle? Shame he is no longer with us, though had the pleasure of meeting him once...jeez he liked a drink!:mrgreen:

live fast, die young is my motto only i'm not that fast

 

[AdeDunn]

yuk,

I use an auto syphon! - there are other cheaper methods available, - turkey baster, syringe etc. why risk �£20+ worth of ingredients. :nono:

Mine arrived earlier today. Which is why until now I've been putting a syringe over the end whilst I sucked, then whipping it off once the flow had started. Just need a smaller auto-syphon for my demi-johns now. :thumb:

Even ignoring the infectious bacteria that can live in the mouth (not forgetting lovely ones like MRSA and the bacteria that causes bacterial meningitis), you have to wonder what the effect of salivary amylase on the wort is too....

The videos I have seen on Youtube though, with blokes brewing with filthy dirty finger nails, whilst lecturing about sanitising your equipment.... :sick:

 

[Covrich]

Does anyone remember Bruin_tuns?

He tried literally everything and his beers were all fine until he bottled, forum suggested everything and all he could whittle it down to was the fact he sucked

He did some research and apparently he found some people contain more and different bacteria which could be harmful...

Anyway he had 160+ bottles of poison he said.. and sadly I think he packed it in after 5 or 6 brews..

I did it in my first few days but wouldn't do it now..

I know people will say I done it for 150 years and never had a problem which is fine if it works for them obviously, but there is a possibility others might.. Everyone's setup and environment is different so I personally advocate if it takes a few mins to draw it another way why take a risk??

I know many do not like them but I got an auto syphon and it has been brilliant for me.. never had any problems and one of the best pieces of equipment I have ever bought I dare say.

 

[IainM]

I've always sucked and never had a problem in almost 100 brews.

 

[AdeDunn]

He did some research and apparently he found some people contain more and different bacteria which could be harmful...

I used to be a nurse, and have worked with people with a very wide variety of infectious bacteria (including MRSA) that will incubate in the throat and mouth. I've had swabs done many times since and been clear every time, but I have no desire to chance it (hence the sterile syringe mouth piece trick). So yeah, I now have a large auto-syphon, and will get a small one for deminjohns at a later date. If it misbehaves I'll use them just for moving must/wort where air getting in isn't a problem, and go back to my syringe trick with a normal syphon+cane for racking.

Your mouth and throat though are permanently warm and moist, usually with a nice helping of yummy food (for bacteria that is), a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I wont drink after other people either though (with the exception of my wife, for obvious reasons).

Me, if somebody is sucking without using some kind of mouth piece that keeps the beer away from where they suck then fine, I don't want to drink their beer though (they're probably very happy with this too I should think). :lol:

 

[GerritT]

Solved that: I cut 10 cm of the end of the tube and cut that in 2 x 5 cm again.
So, modus operandi:

Connect long tube + open tap + short tube.
=> BIG SUCK on short tube until mouth full
=> close the tap
=> remove the 'dirty' 5 cm and attach the 'clean' 5 cm
=> open tap and good to go.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Does anyone remember Bruin_tuns?

Here is the thread he started -

Before my first brew I did tons of on-line research about all aspects of home brewing despite this I still made several serious newbie blunders, and it made me realize just how much bad advice and 'myth-information' is out there.

My first four brews - 160 pints of beer! - are ruined because so many blogs, posts and tutorials claim that it's perfectly safe to start your syphon by sucking the tube but for me it isn't, some people obviously get away with it but others either have more natural bacteria in their mouths or else they simply have a particular strain that beer is especially susceptible to, either way I'm 90% certain that syphon sucking was what infected all my brews.


DON'T start your syphon by sucking it, you could easily get an infected brew. I got four in a row before I realised. Instead buy an auto-syphon or try the method in the video below.

Edit by Chippy_Tea - Before new members rush out and buy an auto syphon read the full thread there are cheaper ways of starting the syphon with no danger of contamination.

DON'T start to fill your fv without double checking that the tap is in the 'off' position! Sounds stupidly obvious but it's so easy done. (I did it )

DON'T rush a brewing session. If you know you have to collect your daughter from school at 3.15 then don't start a brew at 2.00 pm.


Full thread - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51684

 

[Fil]

Solved that: I cut 10 cm of the end of the tube and cut that in 2 x 5 cm again.
So, modus operandi:

Connect long tube + open tap + short tube.
=> BIG SUCK on short tube until mouth full
=> close the tap
=> remove the 'dirty' 5 cm and attach the 'clean' 5 cm
=> open tap and good to go.

Thats a grubby tap!! wouldnt let that within 5 ft of on of my prepackaged beers..

if you have a sanitised and latex gloved hand a fist tube can make an impromptu mouth piece for a siphon suck keeping your siphon nice and sanitised.

 

[GerritT]

Thats a grubby tap!! wouldnt let that within 5 ft of on of my prepackaged beers..

if you have a sanitised and latex gloved hand a fist tube can make an impromptu mouth piece for a siphon suck keeping your siphon nice and sanitised.

No, that's a stock picture of a tap. My own tap is rinsed, dishwashed and sanitised as often as the rest of my equipment. I don't have a picture of mine and am not going to take one because it's stored in a clean place and stays there.

And hey, if you feel comfortable brewing with latex gloves... be my guest :whistle:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Just spray your gob with star san job sorted. :wink:

.

 

[MyQul]

Just spray your gob with star san job sorted. :wink:

.

It's doesn't actually taste of anything. You might wonder how I know. I've had a little taste just to see :lol:

 

[GerritT]

It's doesn't actually taste of anything. You might wonder how I know. I've had a little taste just to see :lol:

._.but it says on the lid you shouldn't do that

 

[MyQul]

._.but it says on the lid you shouldn't do that

Pfft. Just because it says not to do it isnt going to stop me :lol: (tbh I think it means undiluted)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I did the same with Milton stereliser when I was told it would not hurt my wine (I poured half a cup full into the DJ when topping up by mistake)

 

[Norfolk79]

I’ve read you shouldn’t sniff Camden tablets. Yea from experience I wouldn’t do that either! [emoji23]


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[MyQul]

I’ve read you shouldn’t sniff Camden tablets. Yea from experience I wouldn’t do that either! [emoji23]

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You mean have smell of them or like do a line of it or something?

 

[Norfolk79]

You mean have smell of them or like do a line of it or something?

Yep one tablet for my brew water and one for me [emoji23][emoji43]

Smell is awful, makes your nose hurt, saves anybody trying [emoji6][emoji23]


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