Is there a better alternative than the Italian bucket spigots?

[slayer021175666]

Here about a week ago, I made a thread asking if lactobacillus could give you diarrhea. Well, that was one bucket out of the 10 gallons. Now, I decided to put the other bucket in The keg because it didn't seem to taste funny and lo and behold! It seems fine. I can glean from this that, my yeast was not infected. I think one of the buckets was infected because it didn't affect the other one at all. I hate the little Italian plastic bucket spigots that we use. I think that they harbor germs. I don't like it that you have to boil them to pop them apart and I don't like it that when you put them back together they always seem too tight and also, the handle bends almost till it breaks trying to open and close it. Does anyone have any insight on this matter and can anyone tell me of a better bucket spigot that doesn't have so many nooks and crannies for germs to hide in and is built better so that, when you pop it apart and put it back together, it doesn't bend the handle from being so tight?
Thank you guys.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I use a racking syphon starter for racking from my pot to fermentor, from my fermentor to bottling bucket and from bottling bucket to bottles (with bottling wand).

 

[Sammy86]

Here about a week ago, I made a thread asking if lactobacillus could give you diarrhea. Well, that was one bucket out of the 10 gallons. Now, I decided to put the other bucket in The keg because it didn't seem to taste funny and lo and behold! It seems fine. I can glean from this that, my yeast was not infected. I think one of the buckets was infected because it didn't affect the other one at all. I hate the little Italian plastic bucket spigots that we use. I think that they harbor germs. I don't like it that you have to boil them to pop them apart and I don't like it that when you put them back together they always seem too tight and also, the handle bends almost till it breaks trying to open and close it. Does anyone have any insight on this matter and can anyone tell me of a better bucket spigot that doesn't have so many nooks and crannies for germs to hide in and is built better so that, when you pop it apart and put it back together, it doesn't bend the handle from being so tight?
Thank you guys.

You could always spend some money and switch the SS ball valve like they do for mash tuns...expense for a plastic fermentor sure, but easier to clean.

 

[AkTom]

I use the allinonewinepump.com vacuum pump. I love it. I rack and bottle with it.

 

[AkTom]

https://allinonewinepump.com/Here is a link that should work. Steve, the owner is a great guy. And no, I don’t personally know him or get any kickback.
Cheers

 

[CascadesBrewer]

When you say "Italian bucket spigots" do you mean the plastic ones that spin? I switched from those to the more simple ones (Plastic Spigot For Bucket | MoreBeer). I felt that they were much easier to pop apart and they have less hidden areas for crud to hide.

That said, I wish there were some better spigots. I am a HUGE fan of using spigots over something like a racking cane. I am a bit paranoid about oxidation these days, and spigots significantly help with that. But even the "simple" plastic spigots have lots of little crevasses that are hard to fully clean. I have started tossing my spigots in near boiling water as an extra step to ensure they are sanitized.

You can get one of the Ss BrewTech Brew Bucket spigots (Replacement Valve and Racking Arm for Ss BrewTech Brew Bucket Fermenters | MoreBeer). I have one of these fermenters. The spigot is easier to clean, but you still cannot fully disassemble it to fully clean around the ball valve (at least without damaging the nylon washer that holds the ball in place). It is also not fit the same size as a standard spigot, so I would not be able to use them on my Fermonsters that already have the spigot hole cut.

 

[mashpaddled]

I've never taken a spigot apart and I'm not sure I would want to boil them. I do run them through the dishwasher as part of my cleaning process though. I've never had an infection issue with one.

 

[hotbeer]

Buy these in bulk and just use one time. I have taken them apart to rinse, clean and sanitize. But at just a $1.62 USD each, it seems hardly worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z1HJ36Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Search Amazon and elsewhere carefully and you might find a better deal. Pretty sure when I bought mine I found a dozen for about a buck each.

 

[slayer021175666]

Buy these in bulk and just use one time. I have taken them apart to rinse, clean and sanitize. But at just a $1.62 USD each, it seems hardly worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z1HJ36Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Search Amazon and elsewhere carefully and you might find a better deal. Pretty sure when I bought mine I found a dozen for about a buck each.

Those are the ones I have.

 

[Broken Crow]

Those are the ones I have.

I've got a bag of those ones too but I've only used them for my bottling bucket as I feel your frustration; I was going to replace mine with stainless fittings, but ended up moving to kegging [with occasional bottling done with a beer gun]. I found the boiling both a hassle and I didn't like how much I felt it compromised the nylon, so instead, I just shoved a wooden chop-stick up the spigot and gently used a heat-gun on the body while applying force to pop it apart, then left the pieces soaking in Star San a few minutes before assembling and installing it. I found that method caused less distortion and the valve easier to operate than with boiling. As mentioned by others here, racking pumps and siphons are some options that work well for many and I've tried those as well, and they all work, just with their own 'different' annoyances.... Try everything at least once if you can.

 

[wsmith1625]

I don't like it that you have to boil them to pop them apart

Never heard of that. I pop mine apart by pushing the bottom opening on a solid countertop and pushing down. With some force, the handle assembly will pop out for cleaning. Flip it over and push it the opposite way to put it back together. Even with this method, I have had them get tight over the years.

I like the white ones that @CascadesBrewer suggested better. They disassemble differently than the Italian spigots. For those, you need to open the handle and just put the handle on a solid countertop. Leave the spigot body hanging over the edge and pull it down. The handle assembly will pop out for cleaning.

After cleaning the parts, air dry and assemble when fully dry. On brew day, sanitize your fermenter bucket and be sure to open the valve and run some StarSan through the spigot to sanitize it. I've never had an infection with this method.

 

[hotbeer]

I have used a few of those spigots multiple times. I didn't boil them though. I just rinsed them off after taking them apart after their use. Next brew day they just got dipped in iodophor for the requisite amount of time, reassembled and then back in the iodophor again since I might have gotten something on them while trying to push the two pieces together.

Never had any issues with infection from them. Though if infection has been and issue for you, then use some Clorox or other chlorine bleach for your sanitizer.

Still, they are so inexpensive, I've become happy to toss them in the re-cycle bin after the first use.