unwanted mold on spigot..

hello, well I just checked my wheat that has been fermenting in the basement for a raspberry wheat. I was going to go and rack it to secondary and add the raspberry puree, when I noticed that the spigot on the bottom of the plastic bucket had mold on it....!!!!!

I opened the bucket, smelled it...nothing nasty inside.... i dont have too much experience with brewing so Im not sure what is supposed to smell like really. but it seemed fine.

I was careful about taking the spigot apart to see what was wrong. It seems I didnt push the red part, in all the way, there was no mold on the inside and there want anything dripping out. it was just on the outside...

I went ahead and racked it to secondary with the raspberry... do you think its going to be ok....or did I just waste some expensive raspberries not to metion the beer!!!!!!

Ah a local...welcome to the HBT.

I'd clean it with some oxyclean then sanitize and feel comfortable using it assuming the plastic is in good shape with minimal scratches for nasties to hide in.

you're probably good. It was on the outside of the spigot, no biggie. just oxyclean and sanitize and you'll be good to go again.

I have had mold on the outside of fermenter lids, did not cause a problem.

well that makes me feel a little better. i have to get better at storage and cleaning after im done...

do you guys even use the spigot if you have one.... i always use a hose to rack into my bottling bucket, that is the only bucket im using the spigot on... im going to just buy new buckets without the spigot on them.... iv actually never tryed because I was always afraid to still up the sediment if I just opened up the spigot to drain my bucjet into the bottling bucket... do you guys use it, if you use buckets to ferment_

When it is ready to bottle I use a racking cane to transfer it to the bottling bucket, then I set up the bottling bucket like shown in this thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

When I bottled I would take apart my spigot every time I used it because I too found mold in mine. Now I keg so I don't really use it.

tagz said:

When I bottled I would take apart my spigot every time I used it because I too found mold in mine. Now I keg so I don't really use it.

Click to expand...

I do this too. It only takes a minute to clean and put back on. A quick rinse and wipe and then soak in the little dish of star san while I clean the bucket.

You'll never get a pigot entirely clean by just opening the valve and letting water run through it. Stuff remains.