Fermenter question

Isn't that a little overkill for a plastic bucket?

 

Leave the beer in primary for three weeks and screw the gravity readings! The only valid reason to check it during fermentation is to see if it's done fermenting. Unless you're making a big beer, it'll be done long before three weeks.

 

Looks like Edward Scissorhands.

I want one.

 

Did this when i started. It wasn't until my third batch that i found out you had to take gravity readings with something called a hydrometer.

 

be careful with spigots.

best place for bacteria to hide and infect a batch.

i have 3-4 four different spigots, but I always detach and disassemble them after use and clean, dry and sanitize them.

most people who end up with infected batches or off flavors in their beers haven't used proper procedures with spigots on bottling buckets and or their fermenters.

 

No, you don't. It will give you a handy approximation of the state of the fermentation, and it's nice for calculating a ballpark ABV number to put on the label, but it's not a necessary step. If you're consistent enough in your process, you can estimate these numbers from the recipe. As I said, if you leave the beer in the fermenter for three weeks, it'll be done. No need to check the gravity and risk infection - minimal as that risk is if done properly.

 

I'm pretty sure this method is the reason I have a batch of gushers right now. I bottled at 3 weeks, but I suspect it wasn't quite done. They are way over carbed from 4 ounces of sugar in a little more than 4.5 gallons of beer. I'm going to let a sample go completely flat, and take another gravity reading to confirm/disprove my theory. My last batch (a lager) was still dropping gravity at 3 weeks.

As for the original post, my fermentor and bottling bucket are identical, they have spigots very similar to the one posted by brew_betty above. I always worried that once I opened and closed the spigot, I would have sticky wort/beer on the spigot internals collecting nasties to be introduced to the beer the next time the spigot was opened. Until my last batch I never had an issue with leakage, this time a leaked a little bit. I plan to replace the o-rings before I use it again, I doubt its really necessary but they are cheap.

 

Yes @redmaw , contrary to the socially irresponsible ramblings of MH, the hydrometer reading is a critical step before bottling.

Regarding your other point, after taking a sample from the spigot, rotate it until it points upward. Fill it with StarSan using a spray bottle. Rotate to dump it. Refill with StarSan once more, dump it, then cap it.

I have never replaced the o-rings on my spigots. I have made sour beers with brett and used the same buckets for clean beer without contamination problems. My motto is "Clean and sanitize well. Worry about infections, if they ever happen". I've been waiting a long time to infect my beer by accident.

 

My bad. I assumed you were using an Ale yeast which typically reaches final gravity in two or three days. Three weeks is plenty of time for that to finish up. Lagers are a different beast, but since I've done so few, I don't have any consistent results with which I can cobble together a recommendation. You'll hear opinions to the contrary, but, with Ale yeast, gravity readings are not a necessary step.

 

I wouldn't see any harm in it, and always trust the word of a bearded woman. Always.

 

I'm still a newbie (I've only brewed 5 batches), but I have the Speidel fermenters with the spigot and I haven't had any issues yet. I bottle directly from the primary. I put a block of wood or something under the fermenter to tilt it back during fermentation so the yeast mostly settles away from the spigot. There's usually still a little bit of gunk that has to run off before it starts coming through the bottling wand clear, so I just run it into a sanitized cup until it's clear enough to start going into the bottles.