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Siphoning/Racking Cider?
Hello Homebrewers,
I am fermenting some cider as we speak, and wondered how to go about racking (or siphoning). I know the concept and how it works. But the purpose is to get rid of what?
I have a tube and have practiced with water. One end of the tube sits submerged at the bottom, the other to a (lower) clean container. Is this a correct? Will i have to avoid any unwanted product at the bottom, or will it just be the stuff on top?
(I also understand that getting a little unwanted sedement on a first rack doesnt matter too much as you need to rack again anyway.)
If i have to avoid sedement from the bottom I will have to invest in better siphoning gear as I am a first timer.
Would appreciate any helpful responses.
Cheers
Danny
Danny - The point of racking to a secondary is to, as you've pointed out, separate the cider from the sediment at the bottom of your fermenter. This sediment is the yeast and is also pulp and other non-fermentable material from the apples. If you rack into another container and wait you can get your cider to drop to crystal clarity. Also, as your yeast ages in the bottom of your fermenter it will autolyse and can result in off flavors leaching into your cider. Cider tends to ferment out really fast but still needs time to condition before bottling, so this is a perfect time for transferring to secondary or even tertiary containers.
Thanks for your reply, It has cleared up a few things for me.
I still have a while before i need to rack. So i will look at it closer to the time. Hopefully most of the junk will be on the bottom 
Cheers
Danny
Are you going to try to rack with a flexible plastic tube? Or, do you have a racking cane with tubing.
You will have more control with a racking cane with the cap on the end & then tubing into your secondary.
& they are cheap.
Flexible plastic tube with a sort of tap thing on the end. Its old. I got it from my girlfriends dad, but ive time to get something else. I'll look into getting a racking cane to add.
Thanks for the tip!
Danny wrote:
Flexible plastic tube with a sort of tap thing on the end. Its old. I got it from my girlfriends dad, but ive time to get something else. I'll look into getting a racking cane to add.
If it's real old then I'd look for some new tubing whether it be from a LHBS or even FDA approved vinyl tubing from Home Depot or Lowe's. Old tubing is a great place for mold and bacteria to live in. If it has spots on it or is more than 6 months old then I usually replace it. It only cost cents per foot and well worth the investment to avoid infecting a batch.
And +1 on the racking cane; or even better pick up an auto siphon. http://store.itsallwine.com/autosiphon.html
Ok i'll look into the auto siphon with a new tube. Unfortunatlly i cant use your reccomended site, as im from England. But il find something
By the way the tube is probably a good... 20 years old hehe. But dont worry i have only used it to practice on water at the moment.
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