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Bottling Bucket Modification
When I bought my equipment the spigot on the bottling bucket had a thin plastic nut that tightened on the inside to hold the spigot on. It was always hard to get it tight enough so it wouldn't leak without over tightening it to the point where it would slip a thread. The thread looked like pipe thread so I took the spigot along to the hardware store to see if I could find something that would work better than the thin plastic nut. Looking around I found a 3/4 inch PVC threaded elbow and I had a flash of inspiration. I had to cut off about 1/4 inch of one leg of the elbow, and then I had a dip tube for my spigot. No more tilting the bucket to get the last couple bottles filled. When I am done bottling there isn't hardly a taste of beer left in the bucket.
I am sure I am not the first one to think of this, those of you that have been brewing a while probably already have, or at least found another solution that works just as well.
Anyway, it is a cheap solution and makes bottling easier. And anything that makes bottling easier is a good thing.
I did something similar when I was still bottling. I got a bung that fit the inside of the spigot and inserted a piece of siphon hose into it that curved down to the bottom of the bucket. I trimmed the end in an angle that held it just slightly off of the bottom of the bucket.
Bob
Bottling is the bane of my existence. I wish kegging was in my current budget.
Rural, that's a really great idea, I'm still tipping the bucket and scrambling around for a phone book to wedge under it sI I can do two things at once. I'm sure I wouldn't be the only person who'd enjoy pictures of your mod. If possible.
Does anyone else have a problem the spigot itself leaking, I'm assumin we all know the spigot, red valve with the hole and breather drilled in it. You know the one. Mine leaks around the red plastic and just continuously drips. Has anyone replaced the spigot with a different valve?
I too would like to see a picture. I think I'm always going to bottle, but that's because I do more cider than beer, and use 750mL bottles. Kegs are good and quick, but also not portable, I like to be able to bring a six pack to my friends house, or a party, or give 22 oz bottles as gifts, too much to hoard 5 gallons to myself in my basement. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking kegging, I can see it's benefits all the way; It's very desirable with beer because the amount of work you put in to a 5 gallon batch, you can drink it all in the time it takes you to get the next 5 gallons done...I know I could; to spend an extra two hours or more bottling becomes a hasstle to say the least...
But for me, the convenience of having my beer already seperated into bottles outweighs the inconvenience of the bottling. I also think there is something medative about bottling, and if you get a good system down, it really doesn't take that long. I wash out my bottles as soon as I'm done drinking the beer (I also prefer drinking out of a glass, so it's quick and easey, pour, rinse, put away) so I don't need a bottle brush, just a quick rince with hot water and I put it in a bucket with three gallons of idophor solution; by the time I take 5 bottles out and put them in the drying rack, replace them in the bucket with 5 more bottles, the other 5 bottles in the bucket have soaked long enough to do the same, and so on. I also gave up long ago on peeling and washing the labels off, whatever, it says long trail or Sam Adams and I mark the cap with the type of beer it really is and if I can the date I bottled. I tend to find bottling day as soothing and inspiring as brew day, where you easily spend as much or more time on the boil, and need to concentrate more on time and such.
To each his own, cheers all.
I would post a picture if I could, but I don't have an account set up anywhere online that I could post one and link to. It is actually pretty simple. Just take your bottling spigot with you to a hardware store and look for a 90 degree threaded PVC elbow that will thread on to the back end of the spigot. You will probably have to take a hacksaw and trim a bit off the end you don't screw on to the spigot so it will point to the bottom of the bucket. You don't need much clearance between the bottom of the elbow and the bucket, mine basically touches, I think the closer you can get it the cleaner it will suck the bucket dry.
It is nice not needing three hands to get the last out of the bucket. I also got rid of the tip on the racking cane and just use a hose clamp to control the flow. Without the tip the bottles fill faster, and once you get the hang of working the clamp you can fill the bottles full without overfilling. It works especially well on wine bottles with a punted bottom, it is about impossible for me to keep the tip on top of that hump on the bottom of the bottle.
e_mott - I wonder if your spigot isn't a vented one, to be used on plastic jugs? On an open top bucket it probably would leak. If you picked up a non-vented one your leaking problem would probably go away.
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Primary - Porter, Cranberry Cider
Secondary - Malted Cider, Chardonnay
Bottled - Oktoberfest Ale, Fixed Sprocket Red Ale, African Amber(only one left 
), Rye IPA
Up Next - African Amber, Rye IPA
ruralbrew wrote:
e_mott - I wonder if your spigot isn't a vented one, to be used on plastic jugs? On an open top bucket it probably would leak. If you picked up a non-vented one your leaking problem would probably go away.
I'm not positive I know 100% what you mean but I believe mine is vented. When you open it to align the hole in which the goods flow through a small pin sized hole also aligns to the out side, I'm assuming to vent. If you saw where exactly its leakin from you'd probably chalk it up to a faulty spigot. I have. I was more so curious in seeing if this is common. I'd love to add the dip tube to it, so when it's all apart and I've got pieces at the hardware store I may just see if I can find a replacement that will work.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/drum-tap-spigot.html
[urlhttp://www.midwestsupplies.com/easy-on-off-spigot-with-locking-handle.html][/url]
you could try one of these if your spigot is leaking.
Cool, thanks.
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