Carboy slight leak

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KStick

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Will this contaminate my beer and cause noticeable off notes?

I’m about to keg my second 5 gallon batch. My first was a pale ale and was good, but a very very slight sour note when I licked my lips after taking a sip. No one but me noticed it. I noticed a small amount of liquid at the bottom of my keezer but attributed it to condensation the first batch.

This second go is a stout and since it’s darker, the liquid at the bottom of my keezer is definitely from the inside of my carboy. Probably 2 table spoons of liquid escaped over 2 weeks fermenting. I added a photo of my spout on the carboy.

Is this enough to ruin a whole batch? I’m going to soak the spout in a star San before transferring. Any other advice?
 

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If that spigot is not thoroughly cleaned before transferring to a bottling bucket or keg it certainly could introduce a bacterial infection into your beer. Clean it with a cleaner first, then the sanitizer. StarSan is not a cleaner.
 
The leak itself isn't really a problem. The spigot sitting in and near the pool of leaked brew is. Any unwanted bacteria growing here could easily be transferred to your packaged beer.

Since you are kegging and not bottling, any bugs that are picked up will have little chance to significantly impact your beer which is why maybe only you noticed it in the last batch.

As was mentioned, clean then sanitize.
Or don't use the spigot at all when transferring. Siphon from the top with a racking cane or auto siphon.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the responses, I’ll post follow up notes and let you know how it goes. The spigot was not sitting in a pool, just had some dried liquid on the outside. I cleaned and then disinfected as recommended.

Also, I tasted a bit while transferring and it was great. No noticeable contamination inside the carboy.
 
Thanks for the responses, I’ll post follow up notes and let you know how it goes. The spigot was not sitting in a pool, just had some dried liquid on the outside. I cleaned and then disinfected as recommended.

Also, I tasted a bit while transferring and it was great. No noticeable contamination inside the carboy.
I hope you also cleaned and sanitized the inside of that spigot spout. Use spray bottles or small brushes.

Once it's empty, you may want to find out why it leaks and fix it.

Those spigots need to be taken apart, cleaned and sanitized each time before refilling the fermenter. This includes any washers/nuts on the inside. They can become real bug harbors, especially over time.
 
I hope you also cleaned and sanitized the inside of that spigot spout. Use spray bottles or small brushes.

Once it's empty, you may want to find out why it leaks and fix it.

Those spigots need to be taken apart, cleaned and sanitized each time before refilling the fermenter. This includes any washers/nuts on the inside. They can become real bug harbors, especially over time.

Yep, I cleaned the inside of the spigot too. Then used a plastic bag and some rubber bands to soak the spigot upside down for 30 mins. My fingers are crossed, because I hate using a siphon and still ran the beer through the spigot.
 
To keep the spigot cleaner you could tie a plastic bag with some Starsan in it around the spigot before putting the carboy in the ferm chamber. Then a regular Starsan spray inside and out should resanitize it before you're transferring to package.

But find out why it leaks. Is shouldn't.
 
So I just cracked into it and there were no issues with contamination. The cleaning and sterilizing worked.

Also, I made sure to put a little extra effort into hand tightening the spigot for the next batch and there was no leakage.

Thank you all!
 
Also, I made sure to put a little extra effort into hand tightening the spigot for the next batch and there was no leakage.

If that is the same plastic spigot that I have, watch it for leakage for a few weeks. Tightening it too much will stress the threads and being plastic the material may stretch, then crack.
 
How about putting the spigot in a shot glass with some vodka or something? That should sanitize it and also remove any dried drips before you drain it
 
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