So I was racking my oatmeal stout and I have a little tape mark on the siphon for when it is close to the bottom, but I still couldn't tell how close to the bottom I was so I had this idea. Why not put a float on the end with a enough weight on the bottom to make it stand straight much like buoy. I'm not exactly sure what food safe material I can use. I'd like to hear what you guys think about it
I think that accidentally hitting the cake once or twice isnt a huge deal and this probably isnt worth the effort, but let us know if you end up doing it
How would the float know that are or are not close to the bottom any better/easier than pre-marking your siphon? Maybe I'm not picturing what you mean very well.
Is there a reason why you can't hold the siphon a few inches under the surface and gradually advance it as the beer is siphoned?
If your siphon is like mine (i.e. an auto-siphon) it has a tip device that allows you to put it about three-eights to a half inch into the trub before it hits the bottom of the carboy. Usually the center of the carboy's bottom is higher than the outer portion so the trub is not so deep there. Sure, I get a little bit of trub picked up in the first few seconds, but then the area around the siphon's bottom is cleared (or nearly so) and no more trub gets lifted as long as I don't move the siphon. (If you are using a bucket, then what I said above doesn't work as well, nor does it work at all if you are using a racking cane for your siphon, at least if it's a racking cane like mine with no protective tip.)
I usually rack from the top of the beer. Gravity pulls a little harder that way. I get close to the bottom and I tilt my fermenter and I can see how close I am to the bottom by about this point.
I can't directly respond to anybody directly on my phone but it isn't really a big deal it's just a way to kill time and save me the annoyance of lowering it a little bit at a time and that way I don't really have to pay attention to it.
