Tasting spigot in glass carboy

[Rzlblrt417]

So i got an idea of putting in a spigot about halfway up my glass carboy for the purpose of tasting and checking gravity on beers that need to age for a while since i am expanding into imperial stouts and brett beers.

Other than potentially breaking the carboy, could anyone think of any downsides to doing this that i am not thinking of?

I was going to drill the whole with a diamond drill and then put the spigot in with a food safe sealant, like RVT. I personally don't see why this would be a problem but I am just checking before embarking.

 

[day_trippr]

No.
Just...
No.

 

[FrozenOcean]

If it can be done (which I doubt), why not put it about an inch off the bottom? Then when you go to rack it to a keg or bottle it, you can just stick a tube on the spigot, and rack from there. I do that with a plastic bucket. No more siphons!

But a glass carboy... That's ballsy. Please take pictures.

 

[passedpawn]

Ye be lettin ye blud out soon lad.

(subscribing so I don't miss the pics for the broken carboy horror stories thread)

 

[RevKev]

It being a pain to clean may be an issue. Also what kind of spigot? It may leach oxygen into your beer

 

[jerbrew]

Yea I want to that too. Keep us posted on your success or failure or hospital visit. That carboy glass is very sharp when it breaks. I call it danger glass.

 

[Rzlblrt417]

I was thinking of the ones that go onto bottling buckets and bucket fermenters.

It think the cleaning will be fine as i fill them up with hot water a PBW every time i clean so ill just run pbw through it when I do

 

[passedpawn]

[duplicate threads merged. please don't crosspost]

 

[Sadu]

Those diamond drills are pretty great. I use them to make LED lamps out of interesting recycled glassware. I have only done small holes but would think you have a better than average chance of getting a good clean hole. The main issue I think would be cleaning the inside since you can't easily get a cloth in there.

 

[Kharnynb]

Posting to sub to this epically bad idea thread....

1. it weakens the glass, bad idea as carboys aren't that lovely when they break to start with.
2. you're removing the one real advantage glass has, that it won't let oxygen in.

 

[mongoose33]

To see whether you really want to do it, why not get one of these?

http://www.northernbrewer.com/big-mouth-bubbler-evo-2-siphonless-6-5-gallon

Already ported w/ a spigot, and has the wide mouth to make it easy to clean.

I have 5 of the plastic BigMouthBubblers, all are spigoted. They work very, very well. When it's time to rack to the keg, I draw off a half pint or so of liquid which helps clear the spigot of trub and yeast, and from which I can check gravity. I spray the spigot inside and out with Star San, put a sanitized tube on the spigot, and fill the keg through the OUT post using a QD (also cleaned and sanitized).

BTW, the horror stories of glass carboys is why I don't have any.

 

[Weezy]

Assuming you get it drilled without breaking it or weakening the glass,

The rough edge and/or food safe sealant is going to be a harbinger of bacteria. At least exposed glass could be torched to kill bacteria.

Just don't do it, imho. Too many potential downsides, like slit wrists from broken glass, with only one upside... Saving a few bucks on a proper fermenter with a spigot included.

 

[BrewRunning]

Even if you were to get the hole cut without ruining the carboy, I can't imagine putting in a spigot will be easy. You normally have a nut and washer on the inside, not sure how this would be accomplished through the tiny carboy opening.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Subb'd.

I think it's possible, but the hole will have to be pretty much perfect, and you won't know if it is until it either holds up to use or it doesn't (which could result in a catastrophic and dangerous structural failure).