Taking a sample for checking gravity

[Dutto]

.......... A properly cleaned and sanitised tap will not go rank during fermentation, in the same way the rest of the fv doesn't. Likewise, the bottle bucket tap in the photo would have only gone mouldy if it wasn't cleaned properly after the last bottling session, not during it.

I agree entirely ... :thumb:

... which is why I cannot recommend taps on FV's. :whistle:

Here's why:

A) In ten days time I will be transferring a partially fermented lager to a second FV and leaving it in the fridge at 10 degrees for 10 weeks. Why should I risk having a tap in the FV knowing that it may leak or go mouldy?

B) Maybe it's laziness on my part, but I just don't want to be taking a tap to pieces, cleaning it, sanitising it and then reassembling it every 14 days. Even if it properly sanitised, every time I take the tap apart and reassemble it I increase the chances that it will leak; in which case I will have to transfer it to a second FV and thereby increase the chances of infection.

Sorry, but it's still "No Tap" for me! :thumb:

BTW, since taking the photograph and cleaning the tap on the Bottling Bucket it has leaked! Not a lot, just enough to make me worried as the drips run down the outside of the bottling wand and into the bottle or MK!

As a result, I may go back to the old "syphon and tap" system or attach the bottling wand to the end of a syphon tube instead of a tap.

Either way, the Bottling Bucket is destined for other service! :whistle: