Racking simply means transferring your beer from your primary to your plastic or glass carboy to let your beer clarify. There is still some fermentation occurring in this stage but it has slowed down considerably.
Outline
- Put primary pail on the counter, and carboy on the floor directly below.
- Fill it up with water, place your thumb on the open end of the hose and lift the racking cane in an upwards position.
- Put racking cane in the primary pail.
- Lower the open end of the hose into the carboy and release your thumb.
Description
Clean and sanitize your plastic or glass carboy. Don’t forget to rinse the carboy if you are using a bleach solution. You can do this by pouring several cups of the bleach or star san in the carboy and roll it around on the counter. If there is debris, use the scrub brush that comes with your kit to remove the debris.
Place your primary pail on the counter and the carboy directly below it on the floor. Put a phone book under the primary pail, under the edge closest to you to create a slant.
If using a racking cane, fill it up with water, place your thumb on the open end of the hose and lift the racking cane in an upwards position. This will keep the water in the line. Put sterilized auto siphon or racking cane in the far side of the primary pail. Lower the open end of the hose into the carboy and release your thumb. Your siphon should start pulling the wort out of the primary pail. If you do not want the extra water in your wort, then just have an extra pot on the floor beside the carboy and let the water drain there until the wort comes out and move the hose back over to the carboy.