Here is a solid Brass Beer Barrel Spigot used for tapping beer from old wooden beer kegs. This spigot has a makers mark on the side of the shaft that reads “Douglas & Connard. Reading, PA” with was a brass foundry located in Reading, PA. From the research I have done on the Douglas and Connard Foundry I have concluded that this beer spigot was made between the mid to late 1800’s in Reading, PA. I have determined that this spigot was used for beer in a brewery rather then for wine in a winery. Brewery spigots like these are big and bulky and would have a strait open shaft into the beer barrel; while winery spigots are smaller and have a strainer built into the shaft to separate sediment in the wine.
The spigot does have some heavy wear on the front and sides of it probably from being pounded in and out of beer barrels over the year. Honestly I think the wear adds character to this piece; to know that it was used in the brewing process inside of an old brewery. Unfortunately I can’t determine which brewery it came from. Some spigots that I’ve seen in the past are marked with names or initials of the brewery that they came from. There’s a good chance that this spigot came from one of the smaller breweries in the PA area that only lasted a couple of years before it went under.
The guy I got this beer barrel spigot from said he found it under some heavy floor boards in an old Lancaster, PA barn that he was tearing down. It’s possible that who ever placed it there was probably trying to hide it in the wake of Prohibition. Technically this spigot is considered brewing equipment and hence would have been illegal to have during Prohibition.