Spigot On Primary?

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cheezydemon

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I believe it was Ed Wort who said that he had spigots on primaries, secondaries, bottling bucket, you name it.

This now makes good sense to me, except for the oxidation potential. Maybe it is insignificant, but it seems that a spigot pointed down will inherently have air in the spout, not to mention the hose, that may not be cleanly pushed out.

Even if the spigot was pointed upwards, you would have to hold the hose up until it was filled with beer, and then lower it into the secondary or bottling bucket, whichever.

Anyone else do this? Any tips or findings? Thanks.
 
I flush my kegs with CO2 before transferring. What little air there is in the line gets diluted so much, I can't see it mattering.
 
Well one way to test your theory would be to bottle a 6 pack with the spigot and another with a racking cane. Then test them in about 1 1/2 years or so. I am not sure how much a difference it makes though. However, I have personally switched to the O2 absorbing caps as a failsafe.
 
I use spigots on some of my fermenters. When I do this, I rig a line from the inside hole of he airlock to the spigot on the secondary (which is also equiped with an airlock. This will purge the secondary of any "outside air" and fill it with CO2. When it comes time to transfer, I rack through the spigot on the secondary leaving the airlock on. This ensures a better enviroment inside the secondary and can help prevent infection. I saw a picture on this forum of someone who uses the same practice and I decided to steal the idea.
 
I believe this is the picture:
racking_schematic_carboy.jpg



It's basically an O2 free transfer system. I use nothing but BB's and hope to upgrade to this when I can afford the extra fittings. I find the spigots work perfectly and have had zero issues with oxidation.



Dan
 
AHHHH! But that does still leave O2 in the line initially, right? I have witnessed bubbles constantly from that little bit of 02.
 
from those diagrams - it looks like you'd face the problem of inadvertently transferring a bunch of trub with your beer as well as any air inside the line.

I think worrying about that tiny amount of air left in the line is a little neurotic. Relax and drink a little more.

: )
 
All my bucket fermenters have spigots. I crash cool my beers down to 36 degrees for several days before kegging. The yeast compacts nice & firm at that temp.

I bring the buckets into the kitchen (turn off any heating/cooling) and set them up on the counter. I then put a Rubbermaid bus pan on the floor to catch any drips. I will spray the spigots with starsan a couple times over a few minute period. Next, I pull the airlock and then pour off enough sample to fill a hydrometer jar. After that, I push on a sanitized section of silicon hose (It hangs straight down) after I lowered the other end into a sanitized and CO2 purged corny. Open the valve and let'er rip. I will also place a inch thick cutting board under the far side of the bucket to get all my beer.

Pretty simple, yet very effective single stage fermenting without siphoning and all the headaches that go with it.
 
Am I missing something here? I use better bottles and a bottling bucket all with spigots and never had an issue with oxidation or contamination (I don't even have a racking cane or auto-siphon). I sanitize everything that touches wort/beer with iodophor or 70% Isopropyl alcohol. When transferring from primary to "secondary", or the bottling bucket, I use a length of sanitized tubing attached to the 'supply' spigot and long enough to reach the bottom of the receiving container. I just keep the top of both containers covered with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. When bottling, I attach the bottling wand with a 1 or 2 inch piece of tubing which allows the wand to be in direct contact with the spigot. Yeah, there are a few bubbles at the start of the transfer, but I don't think it's enough to worry about.
 
Maybe I am being anal mensch, but when I do that I see tiny bubbles circling around just under the spigot in the line. Maybe it isn't enough to do any damage.
 
cheezydemon said:
Maybe I am being anal mensch, but when I do that I see tiny bubbles circling around just under the spigot in the line. Maybe it isn't enough to do any damage.

And maybe many of the bubbles you see are actually CO2 coming out of suspension.
 
yeah, I have spigots on everything as well, all primaries, secondaries, and bottling. Never had a problem. Just make sure to sanitize spigots well before and after each use.
 
cheezydemon said:
Maybe I am being anal mensch, but when I do that I see tiny bubbles circling around just under the spigot in the line. Maybe it isn't enough to do any damage.

I wonder if that means there is a leak in spigot or that the tubing isn't sealed onto the spigot and is drawing in air. Once the transfer is in full flow (which happens almost immediately), I don't have any bubbles.
 
cheezydemon said:
Maybe I am being anal mensch, but when I do that I see tiny bubbles circling around just under the spigot in the line. Maybe it isn't enough to do any damage.
It isn't. I've done some sloppy bottling that introduced more O2 than it should and had zero problems. One of those beers I kept around for over a year with no oxidation. This, much like many other topics, is overkill and over analyzing. RDWHAHB.




Dan
 
Willsellout said:
I believe this is the picture:
racking_schematic_carboy.jpg



It's basically an O2 free transfer system. I use nothing but BB's and hope to upgrade to this when I can afford the extra fittings. I find the spigots work perfectly and have had zero issues with oxidation.



Dan

Yeah, thats the picture. Thanks! :mug:

The only thing it's not showing is the initial purging of the the secondary. just put an airlock on it (or at least, thats what I do)

I don't think you need a "special" cap, I just use a small piece of tubing that fits over the inside vent on the airlock, then reduce it to the line that filts on the spigot.

I'm sure all of this is overkill, I have used and still use (only have a few ported fermenters) a traditional racking cane and siphon and haven't had a problem yet. But once you get used to using this system, it is actually quite simple and adds another level of insurance on spoilage.

I agree, relax and have a home brew!:tank:
 
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