Second batch disaster

[butler1244]

I brewed a Blood Orange Hefeweizen with 1lb Raw Orange Blossom Honey. It smelled great and was fermenting for a week. I was planning on transferring on Sunday but when I got back from a local brewpub late Saturday night I found that my bucket was leaking through the spigot. My carboy was tied up at the time so I used the bucket instead...never again. Once I saw that my beer was leaking, I tried to gently tighten it, which made it come out 10x faster. At that point it was 2am and I was in no condition to try to sanitize a siphon and my carboy to try to save it...nevermind the fact that it was leaking all over everything in the laundry room. Bad news is I lost a 5 gallon batch of beer, good news is now the SWMBO will let me buy an extra carboy.

Blood Orange Hefeweizen Round 2 this Saturday. Then brewing a Dry Irish Stout on Sunday.

This hobby is definitely going to take its toll on me...I love it though

 

[itsme6582]

I've got a spigot on my bottling bucket. I wish I never had it drilled. No matter what I do, I can't get the thing to stop dripping. I quit fighting it. I just place a towel under the bucket. By the time it's empty, I might lose a whole ounce. I won't have another bucket or Better Bottle, for that matter, with a hole in the bottom.

 

[butler1244]

I ordered another spigot since I found a large crack on it. Funny since I only used it once before. It did leak a little the first time but not much at all. I read that if you put a gasket on both the inside and outside it does the trick. I'll test it with water before I trust it with my beer again

 

[superjunior]

a ruber gasket on both sides of the bucket is an absolute must, also they'll almost always drip unless you rotate the spigot to face upward when holding wort. I haven't had a drip issue since and I ferment using seven bottling buckets with spigots

 

[NorthRiverS]

I have a spigot on both my fermenting and my bottling buckets. I have had them for over one year. No leaks for me, so far. Not having to siphon is a dream. My 2 cents.

NRS

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Typically speaking it's not a good idea to ferment in a bottling bucket. There's just soooo many nooks and crannies for bacteria to hide. Even with solid sanitation practices you might not get it all. Switch to a big bucket with no holes in it.

 

[zepolmot]

I've always got a slow leak from one of the spigots (don't ask me which one), by the end of the day though the water in the wort that dripped out evaporated and the drip has sealed itself with sugar

 

[butler1244]

I've always got a slow leak from one of the spigots (don't ask me which one), by the end of the day though the water in the wort that dripped out evaporated and the drip has sealed itself with sugar

That's basically exactly what happened with my first batch. It dripped a little then dried up and the dripping stopped. I'm definitely going to add another gasket and hopefully that will do the trick.