Bucket in water to cool - spigot contamination?

[Redpiper]

Couldn't find this by searching. If I control temps by placing bucket in water and floating frozen water bottles, am I risking infection if I use the spigot when to move to bottle bucket?

I could spray starsan up there and wipe with a Q-tip, but not sure if this is enough. Could also just siphon.

Do others cool this way, use the spigot, and not have problems?

 

[RCCOLA]

Place the bucket in a trash bag and then put it in the water to keep water out of the spigot.

But also spray star-san up the spigot hole b4 racking--just to be safe.

 

[impur]

I ferment in an ale pale without a spigot. I use the bucket with the spigot, bottle bucket, for bottling. But i would just drop maybe a 1/4-1/2 cup of unscented bleach into the water that the bucket sits in. Should kill anything in there. Just be sure not to get any of that water into your bucket.

Or you could use starsan or something similar as well. I think you'd have to use more of it though, and it costs more.

 

[vacax]

I have just poured and sprayed the spigot with sanitizer before taking any beer out. It has worked for me so far.

 

[Redpiper]

Good suggestions - especially the trash bag - so simple. Could probably incorporate all of them, but that would be overkill. RDWHAHB, right? Thanks.

 

[nanofreak]

I would really look at fermenting in a bucket without a spigot. I would hate for there to be any leak in the seal in or out while fermenting, and not catching it. Even the smallest of leaks. For less than $15, I would play it safe.

 

[tvtoms]

I just bottled a batch that had been in a swamp cooler for 19 days in a primary fermenter with a spigot. I keep a sprayer with star san handy, so just sprayed the water once in a while. I used an autosiphon on the beer, but I did use the spigot to harvest some yeast later on. Cleaned it really good like you described and hopefully that was good enough.

Before doing the batch, I took the spigot apart and cleaned and sanitized it, put it back together and went ahead. I'd found the advice posted in some threads on swamp coolers earlier.

I also thought about it and decided to just keep the water level in the swamp cooler lower than the wort. There is absolutely no way the liquid on the outside could enter against the pressure of the wort inside.

 

[Teufelhunden]

Some people have luck doing this with a spigot and some don't, i am in the don't group. I now have a temp controlled fermenter, but when I first started I used coolers and ruined my first batch by using a bucket with a spigot. +1 on just spending the extra 15 bucks on a bucket without a spigot,

 

[tagz]

Before doing the batch, I took the spigot apart and cleaned and sanitized it, put it back together and went ahead. I'd found the advice posted in some threads on swamp coolers earlier.

I would highly recommend doing this. I had some off flavor issues and took apart all my equipment. I found some slimy residue in my spigot that was probably the culprit. Now I take the spigot apart after every use so it can dry out completely.

 

[RCCOLA]

I have used spigoted fermenters for years.

I take my spigots apart (push the handle out of the body) clean them, and store them in a tupperware dish filled with starsan. Never had a problem.

They are either on a fermenter or in starsan always.

 

[devilishprune]

I have used spigoted fermenters for years.

I take my spigots apart (push the handle out of the body) clean them, and store them in a tupperware dish filled with starsan. Never had a problem.

They are either on a fermenter or in starsan always.

After reading your post, I realized that you have to PULL that darn spigot to get it apart! It took some serious brute strength to pull mine out, but I did it. I was wondering if it was even possible, but I'm glad that I did because I noticed some beer residue in the spigot that was probably not the best thing to have in there.

Anyway, just wanted to thank ya for the hint!

 

[RCCOLA]

After reading your post, I realized that you have to PULL that darn spigot to get it apart! It took some serious brute strength to pull mine out, but I did it. I was wondering if it was even possible, but I'm glad that I did because I noticed some beer residue in the spigot that was probably not the best thing to have in there.

Anyway, just wanted to thank ya for the hint!

Easier way to do it is to hold the spigot body in your hand, push down on the counter with the tip (colored part) and twist the handle back and forth--pops right out.