Racking the Beer

Five days later, the airlock stops bubbling, which means the yeast is done doing its fermenting.  A couple days later I sterilze the 19L (5 gallon) keg we have and all the tubing, and Arthur helps me siphon the beer  from the fermenting jug into the keg.  The two key elements during this step is to prevent aerating the beer (which introduces contamination from any airborne microbes that will spoil the beer) and to keep all the equipment sterile throughout the process. We have a couple bubbles during the transfer, and I end up sticking my arm in the keg to get the siphon going, so we'll see (in several weeks!) if we have contaminated brew.  It needs to sit for at least 3 weeks, with longer waiting producing tastier beer.  For now, the keg sits in the corner in our office, the one room with full-time air-conditioning, that has the right temperature for the brew.