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Author Topic: Will pulling a sample from fermenting spigot lead to infected batch?  (Read 1613 times)

Offline banjo-guy

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I took a sample out of the spigot. The batch has 4 days ( about) left to ferment. I sprayed Starsan into the spigot tube a few times afterwards in an attempt to clean it.
 Do you think I can still use this spigot to rack the finished beer into a keg or should I syphon it into the keg to avoid a possible infection?
« Last Edit: February 01, 2019, 10:38:18 am by banjo-guy »

Offline Joe T

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Re: Will pulling a sample from fermenting spigot lead to infected batch?
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2019, 10:14:20 am »
You'll be fine. That's my SOP and I've never had a problem doing that.

Offline BrewBama

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Re: Will pulling a sample from fermenting spigot lead to infected batch?
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2019, 01:21:51 pm »
I think you’ll be OK. But I recommend sanitizing the spigot before you take the sample in the future.

When I take a sample I spray sanitizer into and around the spigot, allow to drip dry a cpl minutes, take the sample, then spray sanitizer into and around the spigot again. I haven’t had any issues with this process.


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Offline banjo-guy

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Re: Will pulling a sample from fermenting spigot lead to infected batch?
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2019, 07:33:43 pm »
Thanks.
I’ve racked using the spigot before but I don’t usually take samples from it to monitor fermentation. I use a tilt  and I’ve been getting strange readings. These readings are probably caused by trub on the Tilt throwing off the angle of the device.

I pulled a sample from the spigot. I thought that once I used the spigot it couldn’t really be cleaned  and would be a likely place for a contamination to begin if I used it again. I’m interested to see if this an issue in practice or if other brewers have been doing it with no problems.

Offline Robert

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Re: Will pulling a sample from fermenting spigot lead to infected batch?
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2019, 11:57:14 pm »
Racking through a spigot you've previously used for sampling presents a non-zero chance of infection in the keg.  Opening the fermenter and racking by siphon presents a 100% chance of oxidation,  in addition to a non-zero chance of infection due to this environmental exposure.   Ideally you would configure your equipment to avoid all such risks, but the choice right now should be fairly easy.
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline banjo-guy

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Re: Will pulling a sample from fermenting spigot lead to infected batch?
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2019, 02:39:11 am »
Racking through a spigot you've previously used for sampling presents a non-zero chance of infection in the keg.  Opening the fermenter and racking by siphon presents a 100% chance of oxidation,  in addition to a non-zero chance of infection due to this environmental exposure.   Ideally you would configure your equipment to avoid all such risks, but the choice right now should be fairly easy.

That’s where I ended up in my thinking. I rather take he smaller risk of an infection than the 100% certainty of oxidation.
I don’t pull sample anymore. That’s why I love the Tilt.

Offline JT

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Re: Will pulling a sample from fermenting spigot lead to infected batch?
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2019, 12:00:47 pm »
Racking through a spigot you've previously used for sampling presents a non-zero chance of infection in the keg.  Opening the fermenter and racking by siphon presents a 100% chance of oxidation,  in addition to a non-zero chance of infection due to this environmental exposure.   Ideally you would configure your equipment to avoid all such risks, but the choice right now should be fairly easy.

That’s where I ended up in my thinking. I rather take he smaller risk of an infection than the 100% certainty of oxidation.
I don’t pull sample anymore. That’s why I love the Tilt.
Love my Tilts.  A friend just helped me get them fully "wired" up to record and graph data points.  I no longer have to wait until I'm home from work to check on progress.  Time will tell if that's a good thing or not!