Fermenter question

It's not a bad idea, however, you're better off having the spigot on the bottling bucket, to make it easier when that time comes. Some of the companies are putting spigots on both buckets, but this is pretty rare.
I don't know what other equipment you have, but you could do a gravity siphon with the racking cane through the grommet on the lid of the plain bucket, for enough to get to fill your gravity tube.
Personally, I just get the gravity by (carefully) opening the top, and just spinning my (heavily sanitized) hydrometer in the bucket itself. I usually leave it in there for the couple days to get the second gravity.
(yeas, I know a lot of purists are gasping in horror and clutching their chests right now, but I've never had a bad batch that I can remotely connect to doing this.)

 

It is a very practical thing to do, but two reasons that I can think of for not putting a spigot into a plastic bucket fermentor:

1. Your beer stays longer in a fermentor than a bucket, thus more time for a spigot to leak. I always get a few drops that leak around the gasket during my 40-45 minute bottling session, so given a fermentation period of 10-14 days, you could lose a fair amount of beer and make a mess while doing it.
2. It's hard to prevent some trub getting into your fermentor, so when you open a spigot near the bottom of the bucket you'll pick up some of that stuff, and it could be enough to cause a partial clog in the spigot so that you'll create a leak from that source.

 

I have spigots on all of my primary buckets. I haven't experienced any spigot related problems.

 

If the only purpose of a spigot on the primary is to take samples for specific gravity readings, why do you want to attach it at the bottom of the bucket where you might run into problems with sediment in your samples? Just attach the spigot well up from the bottom, at least half a foot up, or even higher.

 

A spigot on a primary is ideal for transferring beer to a keg.

 

Biggest disadvantage to having a spigot on your bucker is that you can not nest buckets with spigots. So when you are insane and have 7? 8? Who know, a lot, they need space man.

Other than that, no problem. Yes, spigots can leak but not all of a sudden. Only time I have any leaks is after reassembly if not tightened correctly. Hint, don't over tighten and deform the gasket. Just hand tight is enough.
Cheers.

 

Another option is to take a 3 or 4 foot length of hose, drill a hole in the fermentation lid that is a little tighter than the diameter of the hose, insert one end of the hose tightly through the lid far enough so that it sits below the level of the wort in the pail. Sterilize the lid and hose before you close the lid, and block the other end with plastic wrap and a tight rubber band, or other means. When you later need a sample to test, start a vacuum by sucking on the end of the hose, and transfer a little into your specific gravity tube for measuring purposes, or take a little for a refractometer.

You might have to remove (or loosen) your fermentation lock for a few seconds while sucking on the hose, in order not to suck the liquid in the fermentation lock back into the wort.

 

What the hell did I just read?

I'm pretty sure a spigot is better option than sucking on a hose.

 

It was a creative solution - it's no problem at all sucking on a hose, and since it's far removed from the source, it doesn't have any chance of infecting the beer. Also, a simple hose is MUCH simpler to install. I've installed several spigots and it's a nightmare each time. The curvature of the bucket just asks for leakage.

 

It takes 45 seconds to install a leak proof spigot. You just don't know how to do it right.

 

No, it's never worked right for me. I have a natural-born spigot deficiency syndrome. But it takes less time and less money to install a simple hose. See my avatar for a pictorial representation of the hose. Even the Egyptians were using the "sucking hose" solution centuries ago.

 

After you suck out a sample, what are you doing with the hose? If you're not removing it, and it remains filled with beer, it's not too far away to infect the beer.

 

A spigot costs $3 and takes less than a minute to install. You just need to use a forstner bit instead of a spade bit to get it right every time.



After you install your leak proof spigot, there is nothing preventing you from sucking it before you drain it.

 

Simple. You simply "start" the flow with the sucking. After that, the beer flows into your container, rinsing out any "nasties" that you might have infected the end of the hose with. Then you raise the tube to stop the flow, spray a little StarSan on the end, plug the end again, and you're ready to go for the next time. I think homebrewers have become a liittle TOO paranoid about infection. I haven't had one infected beer in 25 years.

 

Yes, the spade bit wobbles and won't create a perfect hole. But the problem lies with the type of gasket you use. It has to be thick and soft enough to account for the curvature of the bucket.

 

The standard red and white Italian spigot is sold with the proper gaskets.

 

Here's a spigot that doesn't leak.

 

And they're only $3.00? Here they cost $5.75 plus tax.