Auto Syphon and nylon straining bag

dc.grace

When I brew a Festival beer kit I use the supplied nylon straining bag over the end of the auto syphon and I have no problems. When brewing a Crafty Fox 1 gallon all grain I use the same bag on the same auto syphon to transfer the brew from pan to demijohn and the syphon will not work. Only when I remove the straining bag will the syphon work. Can anyone help me with this? Could it be my auto syphon is too long for the demijohn?

HBO_Staff

The length of the syphon shouldn't really make much difference, once the flow is started it should flow. If it works without the bag then this may suggest the bag is clogging up or causing too much resistance, possibly due to more sediment and suspended matter in the all grain brew than you get with most refill ingredients.

The Festival refill is syphoned after fermentation when much of the yeast and sediment has settled, but transferring from pan to demijohn there may still be quite a bit more particles in the liquid.

Presumably you are putting the bag on the syphon itself and the sediment trap inside the brew, you might consider putting the bag on the flexible tube end as it goes into the demijohn, but just keep an eye on it as the bag can become full and clog up, so you may need to stop and start it and clean the bag as you transfer it over