Infection Via Tap

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Guys,

Why would sticking something in your beer be better than sampling from the tap?

If you are concerned about the tap, a squirt of sanitiser after sampling is all that is needed.

cheers

Darren

I have to agree :) . Much safer to draw a sample from the tap than keep opening up your fermenter to the elements & sticking things in the wort. Plus i don't like dislodging the condensation that forms on the lid back into the brew.

Cheers Ross
 
Is there a difference between readings taken from the tap and from the top, might need to ask this question of some of the more experienced brewers on the forum. Would there be a difference in readings due to density as alcohol is produced? If thats the case this could be the reason for my attenuation problems, may not be a problem at all, could be sqewed readings from samples taken from the tap.
 
After fermentation, the wort/brew would not be mixing as much as the yeast would have finished creating CO2 and alcohol. If it is let to sit for awhile, I would assume that the lighter compounds would rise to the top of the fermenter and the heavier would start to settle.

That said, I don't think that there would be that much of a difference due to the smaller volumes that are in use.
 
To keep my taps clean after taking gravity samples etc, I have a "steam dream" style steam cleaning appliance. Fire it up and blast the inside of the tap with hot steam after sampling. I always do this before racking or bottling as well.
 
Each to his own...

I've been using this method for a very long time and had no infections. To reiterate, I remove the airlock only, not the lid. You must also take it for granted that my hygiene practices are absolutely faultless.

I would only open the tap when its time to empty the fermenter.

WJ
 
I have to agree :) . Much safer to draw a sample from the tap than keep opening up your fermenter to the elements & sticking things in the wort. Plus i don't like dislodging the condensation that forms on the lid back into the brew.

Cheers Ross

Much safer to draw your sample from the tap!!
Then leave the stale old beer around the inside of the tap for another few days so it can oxidise.
Then when your ready to draw off the good beer from the same dirty old tap ,
Then ....Think....I better try to clean this tap !!!
Well 'Try' is the optimum word .

Now I am ready to pass all my clean beer though the dirty tap I cleaned ,

Well I think I cleaned it !

I am going Bonkers :wacko:

Pumpy :blink:
 
I'm with pumpy and co on this one - syringe all the way! I'm a siphon fiend tho - I don't even have a tap (and hence not the option to use it :p) I use glass carboys and the snap top buckets, I don't like the litte crevices introduced with taps.
 
For years now I've always drawn samples from the tap and never had a problem. although I do have a spray bottle of an idophor solution on hand and religiously spray all fittings when any taps is used.
 
Yeah, adding to what I said I used taps for ages and never had a problem (that was due to the taps anyway)
 
I choose the "no sample at all" methode :p

keeps the tap clean, sucks no air into the fermenter and has many other advantages.

:icon_cheers:
 
I choose the "no sample at all" methode tongue.gif

keeps the tap clean, sucks no air into the fermenter and has many other advantages.

:lol:
That's the beauty when brewing with controlled methods.
 
I choose the "no sample at all" methode :p

keeps the tap clean, sucks no air into the fermenter and has many other advantages.

:icon_cheers:

Zwickle Please explain the "no sample at all" methode .

Pumpy :)
 
I would like to advocate Zwickel's method, but it is quite a dangerous one to use when you are bottling.

Kegs that can withstand high pressures are no match for those weak little glass thingies.

WJ
 
I draw samples from the tap and I've had no problem.
I spray the inside of the tap with no-rinse before taking the sample and then spray again after taking the sample.
Seems to keep things clean.
 
To be honest, I am a bit slack with sanitation of the tap ( read almost never clean it after taking a sample ) and have not fallen foul to any noticeable infection problems to date. I usually "remember" I should have done this half way through bottling. Note I would still advocate sanitising the tap before bottling. (I'm sure I will be posting some day about how my reckless tap usage spoiled a potential award winning batch ;) )

Basically by the time I am sampling ( when secondary is just about done ) the beer is pretty much immune to infections anyway, and as the liquid is flowing out of the tap, I fail to see how the little nasties get an opportunity to make their way back into the fermenting wort.

As always its better to be sure and make sure it is clean, but wouldn't be getting too paranoid about it in this case.
 
Basically by the time I am sampling ( when secondary is just about done ) the beer is pretty much immune to infections anyway, and as the liquid is flowing out of the tap, I fail to see how the little nasties get an opportunity to make their way back into the fermenting wort.
As the bits of wort on the tap dry up, the alcohol will be the first thing to go. Even high alcohol wort will become infected if left out in the open.

The infection doesn't need to get back up into the fermenter - it just needs to drop cells off into the wort as it flows through for bottling.

That said, I'm also pretty bad with remembering to sanitise the tap, and am not aware of any problems in my beer...
 
I tip half a litre or so of boiling water over the tap before bottling or racking. I'd far rather take samples from the tap then expose the surface of the beer everytime I want to take a reading.
 
As the bits of wort on the tap dry up, the alcohol will be the first thing to go. Even high alcohol wort will become infected if left out in the open.

The infection doesn't need to get back up into the fermenter - it just needs to drop cells off into the wort as it flows through for bottling.

That said, I'm also pretty bad with remembering to sanitise the tap, and am not aware of any problems in my beer...

Agreed Mark, it is a concern for bottling, but there is no risk of infection when taking samples for gravity readings.

Also as previously stated, I have bottled many times without properly sanitising the tap without any disastrous results.

Note I am not advocating that this be done on purpose, merely an observation that risk of infection from the tap is not very high.
 
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