Spigot in a glass carboy

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rohanski

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Has anyone out there put a spigot in a glass carboy? The only thing I see as a problem is getting a nut on the inside but is there anything made that will expand when tightened from the outside similar to how a molly bolt works? Or maybe a rubber grommet that a spigot threads into. How would you cut the hole?
 
I would never, ever, ever dare cut a hole in a glass carboy; they don't strike me as being terribly robust, you know? You'd likely destroy the structural integrity of it. If it didn't shatter when you drilled it, I'd be worried it wouldn't take the pressure of five gallons of beer.

Get yourself a Better Bottle - lightweight, safe, sanitary, negligible O2 permeability, and some people swear by the (somewhat expensive) racking arms that you buy as an accessory item.
 
I'm trying to stay away from plastic. Is the better bottle a higher grade plastic than those ale pale buckets?
 
Don't get all EAC on buckets. Many of us LOVE the convenience and low cost of the bucket (which is completely food grade AND opaque).
 
Yeah, absolutely, it's PETE. They're absolutely fine for most fermenation. I'd hesitate to use them on something I was going to age for a year, but they'd probably still be fine. I've seen the O2 numbers, there's a link around somewhere that talks about this issue in some details. Personally, I still use glass for secondaries, but that's just because I already own carboys - I won't buy another. I use both Better Bottles and regular old Ale Pails for primary.
 
Just racked for the first time from my new better bottles.. wow is this thing easy to clean! I will not go back to glass..
 
the_bird said:
Yeah, absolutely, it's PETE. They're absolutely fine for most fermenation. I'd hesitate to use them on something I was going to age for a year, but they'd probably still be fine. I've seen the O2 numbers, there's a link around somewhere that talks about this issue in some details. Personally, I still use glass for secondaries, but that's just because I already own carboys - I won't buy another. I use both Better Bottles and regular old Ale Pails for primary.
Click to expand...

I just kegged a Guiness clone that aged in an "ale pail" for 8 mo. Tastes great, and as soon as the fizz is done, i'll be a mellow dude....... :) Glass, plastic, better plastic, just keep her clean and scrach free........
 
You can drill glass but you need a diamond coated bit which cost more than a glass carboy. Also the glass can not be tempered or it will shatter. I dont know if the glass from 5 gallon bottles is tempered or not.
 
I just read this article in BYO the other night, the process sounded like a PITA

Put a Spigot in a Glass Carboy: Projects (May, 2003)
 
rohanski said:
The only thing I see as a problem is getting a nut on the inside?
Click to expand...


That really the only thing you can see as being a problem?

Better Bottles are PET. Who is PETE, bird? :D
 
We were installing a glass ledge on SS posts above our kitchen peninsula, and I went to the local glass shop to see what they'd charge to drill 8 tiny holes for mounting. $250. We ended up using super-strength glass tape.

And these were maybe 1/4" holes, in glass that's flat and more robust than a carboy. I imagine that if you took your carboy into a glass shop and asked them to drill a 1-2" hole in it, they'd laugh at you. "Sure buddy, we can try, but I can almost guarantee you we'll crack it". Drilling glass is a fools errand in most applications, and even worse in a situation like this where there's pressure exerted on it at all times, and it's curved.

I'd even be skeptical that many glass shops have a diamond bit that large in the first place...
 
Go to your local fish aquarium store and ask them if they could drill it for you. Holes are drilled in the back of the tank for an overflow. You dont actually drill the glass, you are actually grinding a ring into it. Having holes drilled into tanks usually cost about 20.00 each. So that being said, I think it would be cheaper to buy a carboy with the hole already installed.
 
I would think it would also make the carboy less structurally sound. As hard as I have set some of mine down on occasion I bet if I had drilled them they might not be with me now.
 
I've seen a few glass implements with spigots (for milk), but never one one that was not cast/blown into the glass at it's creation. IMNSEO, for a stable bottle you'd be looking at a cut, polish, and re-glaze (melt) all of which carry significant risk of breakage.
 
Kayos said:
That really the only thing you can see as being a problem?
Click to expand...
Kayos said:

Better Bottles are PET. Who is PETE, bird? :D
Click to expand...

I've seen it written as PETE and PET.

Polyethylene terephthalate (aka PET, PETE or the obsolete PETP or PET-P) is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination with glass fiber. It is one of the most important raw materials used in man-made fibers.

Depending on its processing and thermal history, it may exist both as an amorphous (transparent) and as a semi-crystalline (opaque and white) material. Its monomer can be synthesized by the esterification reaction between terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol with water as a byproduct, or the transesterification reaction between ethylene glycol and dimethyl terephthalate with methanol as a byproduct. Polymerization is through a polycondensation reaction of the monomers (done immediately after esterification/transesterification) with ethylene glycol as the byproduct (the ethylene glycol is recycled in production).

The majority of the world's PET production is for synthetic fibers (in excess of 60%) with bottle production accounting for around 30% of global demand. In discussing textile applications, PET is generally referred to as simply "polyester" while "PET" is used most often to refer to packaging applications.

It is manufactured under trade names Arnite, Impet and Rynite, Ertalyte, Hostaphan, Melinex and Mylar films, and Dacron, Diolen, Terylene & Trevira fibers. [1]
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_terephthalate
 
They make these really cool racking canes that are rumored to lessen the risk of destroying glass carboys (please read being humours not smartarse) Really, the better bottles are the better option in this case. Why risk it on a 20.00 piece of glass.
 
OK, ya'll beat me to death on this one. I see the light. Just thought there was at least one crazy person out there that tried this.
 
rohanski said:
Just thought there was at least one crazy person out there that tried this.
Click to expand...

There is. He's healing nicely, and the stitches come out in a few weeks! :p
 
Here's mine. It's made by symbio Canada. (out of business I believe) I'd love another one. It's a bulkhead fitting with a "Drum Tap"
Threaded in. Easy to clean and racks almost perfect every time
If anyone knows how to get one of these please PM me

image-2475366584.jpg


image-2555471176.jpg
 
#1 Why would you want a spigot in a carboy? That really sounds like a PITA!
#2 That sounds like the best way to ensure the need for a visit to the O.R.!

Get a ported Better Bottle. Thousands of brewers use them with no ill effects.

Do you eat your deli foods out of plastic containers?
Do you drink bottled water out of plastic bottles?

It amazes me the paranoia about plastic!
 
kh54s10 said:
#1 Why would you want a spigot in a carboy? That really sounds like a PITA!
#2 That sounds like the best way to ensure the need for a visit to the O.R.!

Get a ported Better Bottle. Thousands of brewers use them with no ill effects.

Do you eat your deli foods out of plastic containers?
Do you drink bottled water out of plastic bottles?

It amazes me the paranoia about plastic!
Click to expand...

Spigot in Carboy makes racking WAY easier. No Cane, no siphon starting needed, no accidental sucking up of yeast cake, no chance of siphon getting jammed from trub etc. Save several minutes of time and hassel..

now for plastic paranoia.. After 25 years of brewing and being a wine sommelier my palate is pretty refined. I decided to do a test. I did 3 batches in a row, split between a glass fermenter (in pic) and a standard plastic one. Each batch was a different beer too. I triangle tested each beer after kegging and conditioning and I was very surprised when I picked the plastic all three times as the inferior beer in each case.. Let me say this...the difference was very minimal between each, almost imperceptable, but still just enough to convince me that there is a difference. Is it necessary to ditch plastic fermenters? I doubt it... Is glass better? IMO yes, minimal but yes..
Do I want the best of both worlds? Ease and better taste.. Yup
trying to open a professional craft brewery as we speak so quality right now it everything to me.. (SS conicals obviously is the next step but this is my home brewery)
 

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