Tap on FV

[JamesHughes]

Hello all,

A very quick question fromn someone who has only done two ferments so far. My FV doesnt have a tap, so I need to siphon stuff in to the pressure barrel, from which I then poor a few bottles via the tap if I want some bottled.

Now, it would be much easier if the FV had a tap, just stick a bit of pipe from there to the barrel.

My question - if this was the obvious way of doing it, the FV would come with a tap. It doesn't, so why not?

James

[scottmoss]

Hi,

I got my FV with a tap already attached. Simply contact your local homebrew shop and ask them for a FV that has a tap already attached.

You can also order the taps so you can add the tap to your current FV if you wanted.

Scott

[mctoon]

These are a great help

http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/de ... T20134344&

[Ditch]

James; The real point and beauty of a bottom tap on ye FV is that ye can shove a length of hose onto it. This ye then run to the bottom of ye keg (from an elevated position, obviously) and open the tap.

Benefits: Ye not sucking the end of the syphon tube, which is inevitably going to end up in ye kegged beer. There's extremely little opportunity for the introduction of air into the beer. It's also, once ye get used to it ~ like anything else in this game ~ just a simpler and less fussy way of going about it. Pop on hose. Pop in hose. Open tap. Go get a beer!

Oh, and Edited to add; Being as the bore of the tap tube will be so much greater? It's faster too

[quiff]

cheapest solution is Mctoons idea of drilling a hole in your existing fv and fitting the tap. (It's easy )
Even easier solution is buy a new fv with a tap 15 quid or so. This is an investment anyway cos it always pays to have a couple of fvs.
I don't know how people manage with just one

[TheMumbler]

You can buy fermenters with taps from a number of online retailers. I have also fitted one with a tap with not much trouble. Just marked a circle a bit narrower than I needed and then drilled around the edge of it, cut out and filed around the circle until the tap fitted on. Very easy, I'm no handyman. However if you are buying a new fermenter it is just as cheap to get one with the tap fitted. If you are going to keg the benefit of a tap is less but it is still worth having one IMO. You can always siphon from an FV with a tap if you don't like it in the end.

If you are bottling an FV with a tap is helpful in that the priming is less hassle and you can fit little bottler as mctoon suggests. I'm very pleased with mine even if it does drip.

[fractureman]

I bought an FV with a tap fitted from brew UK although did buy a little bottler as is so much easier to do the job. now have the benefit of 2 FV's mainly use the tap one for bottled brews as don;t mined syphoning my keg batches.

[JamesHughes]

Thanks chaps,

I'll purchase a tap and fit it to my FV. I have a stepped conecutter so that should be able to produce a nice clean circular hole of the right dimensions (It worked perfectly on my plastic water butt).

The bottle filler looks good as well. Much easier!

James