There are three different ways that I know for emptying  my carboys full of cleaning solution. I’ve never been happy with tipping it on its side to glug glug out splashing all over creation. I also wasn’t too fond of holding a full five gallon carboy on its side while it did that.

The easiest way I do it is to put it above the level of the sink and siphon out the cleaning solution. That way both my auto-siphon and my carboy gets sanitized.

Once it gets about half way drained I like to pick it up and tip it upside down, give it a swirl. The resulting eddy within the carboy lets air in through the center while the contents spin around and out. I’ve done that with full carboys as well but frankly, I’m not getting any younger and 5 heavy gallons of bleach water in a glass container starts to freak me out a bit when I’m holding it.  I’ve had a few slip in my hands a bit and that was enough to put the fear of God in me.

The last way is to tip it on its side and stick a racking cane in to let the air in so it doesn’t glug glug. I’ve only heard this way but never done it. I honestly don’t even know where my old racking cane is. I know I still have one somewhere just in case, but where?

I suppose this would be a good argument for a ported carboy or one of those better bottle things. I recall seeing a how to drill a carboy in Brew Your Own a few years ago but man, that would be an expensive learning curve. Besides once there is a hole in the bottom with a spigot, that adds one more thing to disassemble and sanitize. I’m all for economy of process.

Cheers!