Siphoning

Siphoning is one of the tasks that a brewer has to do many times and will have to become very comfortable doing.  There are many different techniques but I will explain the one I use and think is the easiest to do.  First have your racking cane and hose sanitized and then get two buckets.  I put one bucket on my kitchen floor close to the sink and the other where I will be transferring my beer.  Take the hose and coil up so that it is very small and attach to the racking cane.  Then rinse with water on the outside of both.  Extend the hose and racking cane so that the racking cane tip is pointed downward toward the bucket on the floor.   Hold the hose under the facet and let the water run though to the bucket for a minute to flush any sanitizer out.  Then cap the end under the faucet with your thumb and turn the end with the raking cane upward.  Then put the racking cane into the liquid to be siphoned and the tube pointed into the other bucket.  Remove your thumb and let the water in the tube run into the bucket.  When the beer starts to enter the bucket, stop the flow with your thumb, and put the tube end into the transfer bucket or carboy.  This step is really not necessary but I do not like to add any extra water to my beer that my contaminate it.  This process works well for me.