Glass carboy with Spigot

[jamesngalveston]

when you bottle what do you do...hold your finger on the spigot are is the spigot used just for racking...
curious...
thanks for reply.

 

[Runningwolf]

You would use a bottling wand with a spigot and it would work well. My preference would be no spigot for the very reasons listed above.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I agree 100 percent...love my bottling wand...I use it with all my small batches....6 gallon are bigger, i have a bottle filler.

 

[GlennK]

when you bottle what do you do...hold your finger on the spigot are is the spigot used just for racking...
curious...
thanks for reply.

I hold my empty bottles under my spigot( in my case a open/close tap) and fill as desired.....I can do 30 bottles in no time and very little waste(of course the carboy has to be tilted for the last 3-4 bottles.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Fellas, everyone like to do things a little differently, be more flexible. There is a maniac on a sister site to this one, www.homebrewtalk.com that uses a diamond head hole saw on a drill to drill holes in thick glass carboys for making beer. If you wanted one bad enough all you need is to find the right hole saw, keep it lubricated while cutting and have some patience. My personal preference by the way is only 1 bucket with a spigot, I used more but I kept forgetting to check to see if it was on or off, we had different kinds and sometimes the nuts on the inside would just pop off and the whole dam thing would open up and gush. Your local well stocked homestore should have the right hole saw or be able to get you one probably. WVMJ

Sorry for any confusion on the pic example I used to show someone what I was referring to. It's a glass carboy with a hole fdilled and a spigot installed using a long nut holder gadget to screw the inside portion of the spigot. I've been using one(for years) as my final rack container and thus avoiding the need to use hoses and bottle fillers to complete the bottling stage.

 

[Runningwolf]

Good idea Jack. I think if you can't find them in the hardware dept at Big Box stores the drill bits might be in the flooring dept to drill through ceramic tile.

 

[sour_grapes]

There is a maniac on a sister site to this one, www.homebrewtalk.com that uses a diamond head hole saw on a drill to drill holes in thick glass carboys for making beer. If you wanted one bad enough all you need is to find the right hole saw, keep it lubricated while cutting and have some patience.

I was going to offer to do just this for the OP gratis. However, he indicated he wasn't interested in paying shipping from BC to PEI, so I figured it was a bad idea.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

SG, out of curiosity, not that I would ever do such a think to one of my beloved glass carboys plus my inability to check to see if a spigot is on or off, how exactly do you do this. I would think a drill stand, some blocks of wood to keep the carboy steady and some oil for the bit and a lot of patience are required? WVMJ

I was going to offer to do just this for the OP gratis. However, he indicated he wasn't interested in paying shipping from BC to PEI, so I figured it was a bad idea.

 

[iVivid]

I fit my bottling wand on the end of my racking cane. If I'm home alone it's a little tricky to push it into the bottle to get the siphon going, but once you have it going it's no different to using the bucket when I do beer. I just have a plastic bin on the floor with all my bottles, and I use the wand and fill from bottle to bottle. Quick and easy, and it stops at the right place/time for the wine level with the wand on it.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Glenn, good luck, if this is something that you are comfortable with, then I hope that you can find a few. Me personally, I'd make sure that if they are standard carboys, make sure that they are the Italian carboys, I've seen a few Chinese carboys shatter without even being touched, on their own.
Post a few pics when you get the carboy set up.

 

[sour_grapes]

SG, out of curiosity, not that I would ever do such a think to one of my beloved glass carboys plus my inability to check to see if a spigot is on or off, how exactly do you do this. I would think a drill stand, some blocks of wood to keep the carboy steady and some oil for the bit and a lot of patience are required? WVMJ

That was certainly going to be my approach! The bit and lubricant are very important, of course. I was going to try with a slurry of abrasive particles (Al2O3 or SiC). Believe it or not, one of the best "bits" you can make is a thin sheet of brass wrapped around a cylindrical form; then you operate this in the slurry of abrasives. The brass is soft enough that the abrasives dig into the brass, and then wear on the glass. The slurry replenishes them.

The curved surface of the carboy would present a challenge, of course.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I would imagine that the hole to be drilled would be like 1/2 are 5/8 depending on the spigot...
Not a very big hole....I would use a hollow diamond drill bit, and some water for lubricant...

 

[GlennK]

Thanks for all those updates to this thread....My previous supplier had a deal with a local glass company(http://www.oconnorglass.com/) to cut the holes as specified and they would use a homemade gadget to install the plastic tap. I guess I'll have take my bottle to this company and make my own gadget.


GlennK

 

[JohnT]

I use an enolmatic bottle filler. Expensive, but you do not need to tilt your carboy, do not need to drill any holes, and also get the benefit of degassing.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I agree with John -
Go vacuum and get all the additional benefits from it -
degassing
racking without lifting
Consistent liquid height and no overfill spillage
Can be used to bottle with any shape or size bottles

See my website for more details or you can PM

 

[WI_Wino]

I just bottled my a batch using the technique outlined here for the first time. Basically you use a bottling bucket with spigot, attach your spring loaded bottle filling wand to the spigot with a short piece of hose, sit down, and bottle. I found this easier than using the bottling wand with an autosiphon. I would have issues with the hose swinging around and had to hang on to the bottle being filled lest it tip over on it's own.

 

[Runningwolf]

I use an enolmatic bottle filler. Expensive, but you do not need to tilt your carboy, do not need to drill any holes, and also get the benefit of degassing.

I agree with John -
Go vacuum and get all the additional benefits from it -
degassing
racking without lifting
Consistent liquid height and no overfill spillage
Can be used to bottle with any shape or size bottles

See my website for more details or you can PM

These guys are right on. If you look at the $200 investment for the All in One compared to what you'll be spending on the carboys, in my opinion it's a no brainer.

With that said you may have other idea's, like lifting heavy carboys and building breeding grounds for bacteria around the leaky valve. LOL OK that was a bit harsh and I really didn't mean it but you might have other ideas we don't know about. I just wanted to give you something to think about before you violate your carboys.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I go with steve....vacuum bottle filling is the way to go.....

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I go with steve....vacuum bottle filling is the way to go.....

James -
I actually cleaned sanitized and bottled and waxed 20 cases of wine today !!

The really nice thing = I did it all by myself !!!

 

[GlennK]

Sounds like a lot of noise over the vacuum pump......I heard the same about the air pump for removing gas......whatever works for you!