Anyone use a valve on their plastic fermenter?

[arnobg]

I'm pretty sick of using an auto siphon to be completely honest. Since I have swapped to kegging I have to say my least favorite part of the brewing process is racking from the fermenter to the keg. Having to sanitize and clean the racking cane, it just a pain to me and I can never get the siphon to work smoothly the entire transfer.

I have read a lot about the plastic valves on buckets "harboring bacteria" so people tend not to use them. If you were to use a stainless one like this would it be better?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MRH813C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Does anyone use a valve on their fermenter and never have issues, if so how long have you been using it? I am hoping I can just put one in at around the 0.75-1.0 gallon mark and it should be well above the yeast cake. I wouldn't mind brewing a little more volume into the fermenter to compensate for the loss below the valve if it would make things more convenient transferring.

 

[ImNoExpert]

I don't think there is anything inherent about plastic that it would harbor bacteria. I think it's more about the nooks and crannies in the valve itself.

I use valves and have little issue with sanitation. Once I noticed one of my valves had some dried beer in the outflow. Luckily I was going to put the whole thing in the swamp cooler anyway, so the dried beer dissolved before it was time tor transfer.

If anything, I have more of an issue getting them not to leak.

 

[Stillraining]

Ditched the racking cane a long time ago. All 6 of my plastic buckets have plastic valves...never had an issue with either an infection or braking one or an actual valve leaking. I have had gaskets leak from not getting them tight enough. I always unscrew them from the bucket after each batch and clean thoroughly ...also I never keep any buckets stored with out enough star-san to flood the entire valve bulk head connection and I always squirt star-san in the spigot end before and after taking a sample or transferring beer to flush it out. Around 50 batches and no issues so far.

I would bottle right from primary if I could figure out a way to mix priming sugar with out stirring up yeast and trub... So Going straight to Keg as your doing is a no brainier in my book and a bit envious of that fact.

 

[arnobg]

That's helpful information. Any tips on how to make sure I don't have leak issues? Is this a long term issue or something you would notice right after filling the bucket? When I used to bottle from a bottling bucket I never had a valve leak while it was full for 15-20 minutes but I'm not sure if that would be different over 2 weeks.

Any recommendations on how high to place the valve as to not waste a lot of beer and also not get trub from any fermentation I may do in the bucket?

 

[Stillraining]

That's helpful information. Any tips on how to make sure I don't have leak issues? Is this a long term issue or something you would notice right after filling the bucket? When I used to bottle from a bottling bucket I never had a valve leak while it was full for 15-20 minutes but I'm not sure if that would be different over 2 weeks.

Any recommendations on how high to place the valve as to not waste a lot of beer and also not get trub from any fermentation I may do in the bucket?

As stated I always fill mine partly with star-san..if you didn't get the valve bulkhead nut tight enough it will leak then and you can just reach in and tighten it. I personally have never had the actual valves spring a leak. One of my buckets in quite old too. All my beers sit for 3 weeks in my buckets....never had a leak.

Most buckets have a dot on them where to drill the hole, but about an 1" off the bottom of the inside of the bucket to the bottom of your hole is about right. You just tip the buck at the end of things to get all the beer you can, its easy to see through the white plastic as to what is beer and what is yeast/trub...I only loose/leave maybe a cup or 2. Just about the right amount to mix in with the yeast cake to be able to pour it out of the bucket into a jar. Most of the time my yeast cake and trub is 1/2 or less in the bottom of the bucket. I don't do huge beers.

 

[ImNoExpert]

That's helpful information. Any tips on how to make sure I don't have leak issues? Is this a long term issue or something you would notice right after filling the bucket? When I used to bottle from a bottling bucket I never had a valve leak while it was full for 15-20 minutes but I'm not sure if that would be different over 2 weeks.

Any recommendations on how high to place the valve as to not waste a lot of beer and also not get trub from any fermentation I may do in the bucket?

Agreed. I've only been using mine for the past few brews, but I've been cranking my spigots as hard as they can go-- even making them go slightly inverted. The beer still flows like wine...

 

[DurtyChemist]

Ice ever heard of someone complain about an auto siphons but I guess if you want to ferment in a bottling but key you could or just buy a valve and drill a hole (lol a hole) and put in a bottling valve. I just cold chill then pump the auto siphoned de or twice and it's flowing freely.

 

[Queequeg]

I have stainless steel valves on my fermenter. I would recommend them over plastic because you cant take a plastic one apart and you can't connect a bsp or ntp fitting to it.

 

[arnobg]

I have stainless steel valves on my fermenter. I would recommend them over plastic because you cant take a plastic one apart and you can't connect a bsp or ntp fitting to it.

Where did you get your stainless valve. Does it have a bath in the end?

 

[Stillraining]

Agreed. I've only been using mine for the past few brews, but I've been cranking my spigots as hard as they can go-- even making them go slightly inverted. The beer still flows like wine...

That's so weird. I just introduced two buds to home brewing using my methods...We just had 20 gallons ( 4 new buckets) go through 3 weeks fermenting, conditioning, dry hoping...not a drop of leakage. And I pulled samples from all mid way through so they all got actuated full of beer.

May I suggest possibly trying a new 5.00 valve and see if yours might have been defective from the get go? I know my LHBS would swap mine out in a heartbeat if I had a bad one. Just a thought.

Also you want to make sure the gasket is on the outside of the bucket not the inside..and the hole should be sized so the valve almost threads itself into it when installed..If to large of hole was drilled there will be little room for the gasket to seal.

 

[ImNoExpert]

That's so weird. I just introduced two buds to home brewing using my methods...We just had 20 gallons ( 4 new buckets) go through 3 weeks fermenting, conditioning, dry hoping...not a drop of leakage.

I should clarify, by cranking on them I did not get any leaks. The action simply slightly inverted the spigot from a down position to more of an up position. Maybe not a 180 degree turn but more like 100 or 120 degrees. I did not have any issue with beer flow despite the slight uphill disadvantage.

I think my problem has always been treating it like a kettle's weldless fitting: if you crank too hard, it can deform the gasket resulting in a poor seal. I'm finding that with these spigots, you really have to tighten it as much as you can.

These are the spigots I'm using.

 

[Wooden]

I have heard the same thing re:sanitation but I am currently trying it on a batch of wine right now.

Using my 6.5 gal Bottling Bucket (with spigot)
as a primary for my wine, as my largest carboy/fermenter is only 6 gal. I have the spigot turned "up" so that it is out of the way.

Prior to fermentation, I took the spigot apart as much as possible and soaked in Star-San for a long time both open and closed.

During fermentation I guess I am not all that concerned about anything getting in.

Now, I mean wine is higher ABV and rises real fast using the aggressive yeast they include with most wine kits.

One other reason I am not all that concerned is, I think a big source of contamination w/plastic stuff is the fact that it scratches easily, and bacteria find nooks and crannies there to hide in. However, in the valve itself, you are unlikely to scratch it unless you go up in there w/a wire brush that could scratch it.

However, prior to transferring to secondary I will douse it liberally with Star/San.

We'll see how it turns out!

 

[Stillraining]

I should clarify, by cranking on them I did not get any leaks. The action simply slightly inverted the spigot from a down position to more of an up position. Maybe not a 180 degree turn but more like 100 or 120 degrees. I did not have any issue with beer flow despite the slight uphill disadvantage.

I think my problem has always been treating it like a kettle's weldless fitting: if you crank too hard, it can deform the gasket resulting in a poor seal. I'm finding that with these spigots, you really have to tighten it as much as you can.

These are the spigots I'm using.

Ah...I understand now...Yes when they are full of beer that's about all you can do and hope the nut doesn't turn... It appears you have different valves then most I have seen on buckets now that I look closer It does not look like you can rotate yours once tight. Mine are just two barrels slipping by one another with a seal, totally separate from the lock nut and gasket bulk head connection...so once the nut and gasket form their required task of sealing and are tight, you can rotate the valve all you want and it does not loosen the connection...At least that's the way theses valves work. If yours can not do that then I would spend the 6.00 and change it out to the kind I have as its very handy being able to turn them back and forth from pointing straight down to 90 degrees so they don't strike the floor or counter. I actually rotate mine to about the 10 or 2 0-clock position when flushing with star-san and then rotate back horizontal or actually slightly downward. They probably get rotated 6 to 8 times during a batch so each of my valves have been rotated dozens and dozens of times in their life with out ever a glitch. They are semi transparent as well so you an see if there is a piece of trub or yeast stuck in one which helps greatly cleaning them.

Rotating them also keeps the bugs on the move..

I have ran so many batches through my buckets trouble free that even if I ever have a major failure and a huge mess to clean up and/or an infection, I would not change my program...There are just too may pluses to out weigh the negatives...YMMV
Who could pin point the valve as the culprit of an infection anyway? ...It would just be a hypotheses that makes sense to them....it could come from anywhere.

 

[Wooden]

Ah...I understand now...Yes when they are full of beer that's about all you can do and hope the nut doesn't turn... It appears you have different valves then most I have seen on buckets now that I look closer It does not look like you can rotate yours once tight. Mine are just two barrels slipping by one another with a seal, totally separate from the lock nut and gasket bulk head connection...so once the nut and gasket form their required task of sealing and are tight, you can rotate the valve all you want and it does not loosen the connection...At least that's the way theses valves work. If yours can not do that then I would spend the 6.00 and change it out to the kind I have as its very handy being able to turn them back and forth from pointing straight down to 90 degrees so they don't strike the floor or counter. I actually rotate mine to about the 10 or 2 0-clock position when flushing with star-san and then rotate back horizontal or actually slightly downward. They probably get rotated 6 to 8 times during a batch so each of my valves have been rotated dozens and dozens of times in their life with out ever a glitch. They are semi transparent as well so you an see if there is a piece of trub or yeast stuck in one which helps greatly cleaning them.

Rotating them also keeps the bugs on the move..

I have ran so many batches through my buckets trouble free that even if I ever have a major failure and a huge mess to clean up and/or an infection, I would not change my program...There are just too may pluses to out weigh the negatives...YMMV
Who could pin point the valve as the culprit of an infection anyway? ...It would just be a hypotheses that makes sense to them....it could come from anywhere.

1. I too have found you have to have it tight enough. I woke up to mysterious puddles of liquid one day when I used it full of starsan one brew day to soak my gear in. Oops! Fortunately it was just Star-San , not beer.

There's an easy way to prevent this though, just test it before hand with some Star-San to make sure there's no leaks, then brew.

Also, if it makes you feel any better, with these spigots were talking, what, a $3 item? Different than over tightening stripping the metal threads on something like, say, your car.

2. If you're that worried about inflection, maybe you could take a cup and fill it with Star-San and place it underneath the opening of the spigot, so the spigot is immersed in it. That way no (new) bugs could get in through it, at least while you're fermenting.

3. They sell better bottle and BMB with a spigot, I know this is an objection a lot of people have against them, but if the risk was that huge than I doubt there would be much of a market to them. I mean, I know there's a lot of marketing out there directed at us, but still.

In closing, RDWHAHB

Cheers,

Wooden

 

[arnobg]

I went ahead and installed it today. The bottom of the valve is around the 0.75 gallon mark or 1.5"-1.75". I decided this was a good spot to be on the safe side and not waste too much beer in the fermenter. I can always tip the bucket to get more out, but there is no going back if the trub line is above the valve. Had star san sitting in it all day and no leaks yet. I did put teflon tape on the threads though. I plan on replacing the tape every time I break it down to clean.

 

[m1k3]

I only replace my valve once a year. The buckets are 5 years old and I take good care of them.

To keep some yeast and trub out of the valve I have this on the inside of the valve.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463023005.399783.jpg
https://www.williamsbrewing.com/mobile/INVERT_TUBE_BACKNUT-P179C104.aspx

Also, if you have a batch the has a huge amount of yeast/trub just run a few ounces into a cup and discard it before racking your beer.

I was never good with a siphon. I think you'll be happy with the valve. Just heat your tubing and it goes on easy... I do half a coffee cup of water in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. And I avoid the barbed spigots (like the ones from More Beer).

 

[Wooden]

I went ahead and installed it today. The bottom of the valve is around the 0.75 gallon mark or 1.5"-1.75". I decided this was a good spot to be on the safe side and not waste too much beer in the fermenter. I can always tip the bucket to get more out, but there is no going back if the trub line is above the valve. Had star san sitting in it all day and no leaks yet. I did put teflon tape on the threads though. I plan on replacing the tape every time I break it down to clean.

Just an FYI if you use Teflon tape, do not use PBW. I never thought of this,(and fortunately don't have any teflon tape on things that may come in contact with the beer) but I noticed today while cleaning something on the back if the jar it says in bold letters NOT FOR USE ON TEFLON or something along those lines.

I never noticed this and could have easily done this accidentally.

Cheers,

Wooden