1st brew bottling mishap

[trottier80]

So I just bottled my 1st home brew and lost about a 1/4 of the batch due to a bottling mishap. I siphoned from the carboy to the bottling bucket...and all the sudden there's a slow leak where the spigot screws into the bucket. I kept trying to tighten it, but it wasn't working. Slowly but surely I was losing my 1st homebrew down the drain. As I was frantically trying to stop the leak, all the sudden the whole spigot comes off and falls into the sink...now my beer is coming out like crazy. I grab the spigot and quickly screw it back in. I lost about a 1/4 of my batch. Not happy. I just started bottling although there was still that slow leak. Not a good 1st experience, but I have now fixed the spigot so that it no longer leaks. So my 2nd batch should be glitch free. I am waiting for an Austins Home Brewing Oatmeal Stout kit to come and I"ll brew that next weekend. It will be ready for St. Patty's. Hopefully my 1st batch isn't contaminated from the spigot falling into the unsanitized sink. I'll be pissed. I still am happy despite my 1st brew bottling mishap.

 

[size]

Hopefully my 1st batch isn't contaminated from the spigot falling into the unsanitized sink.

It shouldn't be, I wouldn't worry too much about this. We all screw up every once in awhile, don't sweat it too much.

 

[Gonefishing]

It'll probably be fine.... too bad it happened though, losing 1/4 of a batch sucks.

 

[Nurmey]

I bet that's the last time you fill your bottling bucket without checking the spigot.

Congratulations on your first bottling! (even if you did have a little hiccup)

 

[winzerz]

humans learn best by doing

see you already learned something

I tested my bottling bucket with starsan during sanatizing first to see if it

was gonna leak

 

[Parker36]

When shiit happens, make lemonade or something like that

 

[trottier80]

Since this is my 1st homebrew and i need to wait 3 weeks or so before I can crack one open...I guess I'll crack open a Cooperstown Brewing Co. Stout. That'll do for now. Thanks for teh positive feedback.

 

[bpugh1975]

You've got nothing to worry about. We've all had screw-ups.

 

[Revvy]

You've got nothing to worry about. We've all had screw-ups.

Been there done that...I'm collecting stories...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

 

[KDM]

Best advice I've received so far is to make "dry runs" with plain water first, to test equipment and learn how to work it. Thanks for the post, I'm fixin' to bottle for the first time very soon indeed.

 

[Homercidal]

Last time I brewed I made sure that the darn spigot was on good and TIGHT! Well, sure enough, the darn thing was leaking. Not too terribly, but still leaking.

As it turns out, overtightening caused the washer to deform and twist out of the way. Now I know to only tighten enough to seal up the spigot. Also, I learned a ways back that you should put the washer/seal on the outside of the bucket.

 

[jacketsfans]

Relax. Have a....um....beer.

 

[dagrar]

Broken spigot then a spigot that wouldn't stop leaking. So about six batches ago I started adding the priming sugar straight to the secondary and a little swirl with the raking cane and viola bottling bucket and secondary all in one. I don't know if what I'm doing is good or bad but it seems to be working.

 

[ChshreCat]

I had the same slow leak in the spigot when I bottled my first batch. And I'd tested it before hand, it didn't start leaking until I set it up on the counter above the dishwasher to start bottling. Nothing I did would stop it, so we just bottled as fast as we could. I think I only lost a bottle or so of beer though.

 

[SudsItUp]

That's no good.

 

[kgs]

Ok, n00b question about this. I haven't bottled yet. (Just brewed my first batch two nights ago.) But wouldn't the leak show up when the bottling bucket is sanitized?

(Homercidal, a long time ago I learned that overtorquing is just as bad as undertorquing.)