[majorvices]

I was complaining to my assistant brewer about how I hated to harvest yeast from my Speidel fermentors, how it was messy and unsanitary to pour yeast from the top into jars. He suggested taking off the bottom port completely, and just pouring the yeast from there. Viola! Ingenious! The yeast poured perfectly right into the jars! So the final major problematic aspect of these fermentors has finally been solved for me!

[tommymorris]

Did you flame the port before pouring?

[Iliff Ave]

I did this exact same thing the other day. The spigot quickly got plugged so I just unscrewed to the whole port. Last time I used harvested yeast I got an infection which has me worried this time around. Hopefully my sanitation is good...

[beersk]

Well, thanks for sharing. This was one of the reasons I stayed away from the Speidels. I may look at them as an option again in the future. I do pretty well fermenting in kegs

[majorvices]

Well, thanks for sharing. This was one of the reasons I stayed away from the Speidels. I may look at them as an option again in the future. I do pretty well fermenting in kegs

I used to ferment in sanke's but such a PITA to clean, and I never trusted if it was truly clean or not. 5 gallon cornies are too small. I'd need a 15 gallon corny. Love the speidels because they are so easy to clean. Can't see why you would get an infection if you took the cap off. Do agree that harvesting yeast through the valve would be both close to impossible and bery risky.

[klickitat jim]

When I harvest yeast from my 30L Speidels that's how I do it. I figure the cap and everything under it was sanitized when I put the beer in, so it should be just fine. I rack, then swirl, then remove the cap and pour into a sterile 1/2 gallon mason jar. Spigots give me the willies and they are a potential leak point.

[pete b]

When I harvest yeast from my 30L Speidels that's how I do it. I figure the cap and everything under it was sanitized when I put the beer in, so it should be just fine. I rack, then swirl, then remove the cap and pour into a sterile 1/2 gallon mason jar. Spigots give me the willies and they are a potential leak point.

I don't trust spigots either. The only thing besides my cooler mash tun ithat has a spigot is my bottling bucket  andI have gotten in the habit of cleaning it and sterilizing it after taking it apart each time I use it. The fewer spigots and hoses on the cold side the better IMO.

[beersk]

Well, thanks for sharing. This was one of the reasons I stayed away from the Speidels. I may look at them as an option again in the future. I do pretty well fermenting in kegs

I used to ferment in sanke's but such a PITA to clean, and I never trusted if it was truly clean or not. 5 gallon cornies are too small. I'd need a 15 gallon corny. Love the speidels because they are so easy to clean. Can't see why you would get an infection if you took the cap off. Do agree that harvesting yeast through the valve would be both close to impossible and bery risky.

I use cornies and ferment around 4.75 gallon batches, usually lagers. My ales, I've been using a bucket lately, but the only ales I typically brew anymore are hefeweizen and I want a bigger head space for those. Been using lager yeast for most styles including IPA and black IPA. Just like the malt balance it provides. Thus, I don't need as much head space since lager yeast doesn't tend to produce big krausens. So I almost never have any blow off from 4.75 gallons in 5 gallon kegs.