Spigoted Secondary Fermenter

[colinwilson]

For my next batch of beer im going to do my first secondary fermentation. I have decided that I would get a bucket for the secondary fermenter because it is easy to use and clean. How much luck have people had with having a spigot on their fermenter?
My train of thought was that the yeast would settle under the spigot and it would be much easier to just drain out the beer than to siphon it out.

 

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

That is a great question. I have been wondering the same thing for a little while. I wish I could help, but I am excited to see the answer. :rockin:

 

[JnJ]

I use a better bottle with spigot for my secondary and it works great.

 

[TCHDNSD]

All of my buckets have spigots. No problems at all for me. Take them out when needed to clean, they flow well, and I don't get to much trub during my transfers.

 

[Big Al]

I just recently bought a Better Bottle with the spigot for this very thing. It works great. The spigot is adjustable on the BB so you can move it above your trub line for ease of bottling. I've found that bottling the 1/2 Trub 1/2 beer into a clear bottle is a good way to show how well the beer is carbonated without risking a perfectly good beer out of the batch.

 

[Whelk]

I use spigoted buckets for all my primaries (in particular), I love 'em. Works great, no problems.

 

[fins2rit]

Hello
I have a sanitation question about the spigots. On my primary and secondary fermentors I have spigots on them and was wondering how you guys sanitize them. I plan on transfering my wort from the primary to the secondary through the spigot and I am worried that there might be bacteria in there?

 

[Whelk]

I don't, actually. Well, not once my fermenter is in use (I do sanitize it before I fill the fermenter). But I guess you could try to dip it into some sanitizer, or put a cup of sanitizer up to the fermenter. But I wouldn't worry about it. Once you've got mostly fermented beer, the active yeast and alcohol will take care of any errant beasties that get in.

 

[david_42]

Cleaning & sanitizing spigots can be done without taking them apart. You need a baby bottle brush for the inside (unless it has an elbow) and a nipple brush for the outside. I put about a gallon of no-rinse sanitizer in the bucket, scrub the spigot both ways, put the lid on and shake it up. Then drain through the spigot. Open and shut the spigot several times while draining to get sanitizer into all of the parts. Every 3-4 batches I'll take the spigot apart and clean it completely.