Need advice for a Sanke fermenter

I'm getting ready for my first brew, (within a month I hope). 10 Gallon AG.

My plan is to rinse and sanitize a 1/2 barrel sanke keg that just had Miller Lite in it. The keg will have just been polished off.

I plan on using a standard keg coupler with a blow off hose hooked to the gas side of it.

The keg will have had the stem pulled for cleaning and sanitation. Drain that out, fill it with wort, reinstall the stem assembly. Hook up the keg coupler w/blow off.

The beer side will be plugged of course.

Plan B, is to use a 6.5 carboy cap, and still use a blow off tube instead of a lock. Without the stem assy.

Any advice or thoughts/concerns?

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere in the past, but I'm the new guy, and wanna get a chance to get to know some of ya'll.

Also, this will be a one shot fermenter, in that it will be exchanged for a full keg of Miller Lite beer when I'm done. And the whole thing would be repeated the next time I brew.

I know,... "Give up the Miller Lite crap!" Well I'm working on it, trust me I'm headed there!

pb

I'd use the carboy cap. I've used them in the past and had good results. I have no experience using a coupler but I know the carboy cap works.

Also think about how you will rack the finished beer. With the carboy cap you can insert a racking cane and transfer under pressure. Just go real easy on the gas or it will blow the cap off. Transferring under pressure is really nice so you don't have to lift the heavy keg up to do a gravity transfer.

ideally you get one of these. I have one and it's awesome! But the cheap cap is almost as good and a lot less expensive

Did it for my last batch, a 6 gal Pliny the Elder clone, used a #11 plug with great success. Clean thoroughly (which is the difficult thing with Sankes) with Oxyclean or PBW, rinse, sanitize and you're good to go.

Got quite a bit less than I planned (15L rather than around 19L), probably due to hop and trub loss, but it seems it's also because sanke kegs are so much wider and have more surface area - not quite great for smaller batches with US-05, a not-so-flocculent yeast. Next time I'll brew 10G of a chinook/cascade IPA - and make a measuring stick to make sure I have the correct volumes.

Thanks, maida7, I am going to get some carboy caps I believe, and follow your advice. I am going to order a 2' ss racking cane this next payday anyway so why not?

I plan on upgrading to a permanent fermenter in the future. But I'm on that danged, "step program". One of them at a time. Trying to learn to walk before I try to run. Plus for now I feel better having a fresh keg to use each time. This fort goes through the beer, so I'm swapping out 1/2 bbls every two weeks. And I still have a long ways to go. But I'm taking notes all the time!

pb

Thanks for the feed back, blacksquid, I appreciate it.

I'm still building, but hope to one day own my own kegs/fermenters, instead of just renting them.

I figure on corny kegs for my eventual fermenters. You can get the conversion lids pre-made. (Of course all here know this already).

I plan on ordering 8 cornies in about a month to start with.
But, as I stated in the other post, I need to learn to walk first. Not sure if 5 gal fermenters will work as well, and I'm still leaning towards purchasing a 10gal one, as was suggested by, maida7.

I've overloaded my butt before! And that's one reason I'm checking in with this crew for advise.

Thanks again.

pb

plumber_bob said:

Thanks for the feed back, blacksquid, I appreciate it.

I'm still building, but hope to one day own my own kegs/fermenters, instead of just renting them.

I figure on corny kegs for my eventual fermenters. You can get the conversion lids pre-made. (Of course all here know this already).

I plan on ordering 8 cornies in about a month to start with.
But, as I stated in the other post, I need to learn to walk first. Not sure if 5 gal fermenters will work as well, and I'm still leaning towards purchasing a 10gal one, as was suggested by, maida7.

I've overloaded my butt before! And that's one reason I'm checking in with this crew for advise.

Thanks again.

pb

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you could also ferment in buckets, cheaper than 8 cornies.

I have been using a sanke fermenter kit from Brewers Hardware. Actually, I have two and just ordered another. They work great. I had been considering the purchase of a larger conical, but have changed my mind since I started using this setup.

http://www.brewershardware.com/American-Sanke-Keg-Fermenter-Kit-with-Thermowell.html

eastoak said:

you could also ferment in buckets, cheaper than 8 cornies.

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The bulk of the cornies are more for kegging, but I was gonna use 2 or so for fermenting.

But you do have a good point. Because I will probably need several. I wish I could afford those big fancy conical, 'Pro', looking fermenters.

I do have 1, 6.5 gal bucket right now, but the lid is a bear to snap on.

What do you use to seal the lid on? Rubber mallet?
I've got the removal tool already. I figured I'd need it if I ever got the lid on.

pb

Thanks eastoak.

maida7 had the same advise. (see my reply to him)

I'd like to have one more 1/2 bbl keg for a total of 4 bigger fermenters. But from what I've read in different places, most people claim that it is a bad thing to keep them, as they cost way more than the deposit on them. Plus I have a cleaning issue to deal with as well.

When I started buying kegged beer I asked the lady if I had to return them or could I just pay another deposit. I even explain why I wanted to keep them. She acted like she had no problem with it. (Of course I reckon it's no loss for her store).

Right now as far as sanke's go, I'm holding 3 each 1/6 bbl, and 3 each 1/2 bbl that I rotate out. Plus before I realized the cost of replacing these as far as the brewer goes, I'd already converted one into a boil pot. The rest are intact though.

So how bad of a person am I for going down the road I'm on? Especially if I out right kept the 6 I now have plus 1 more. I don't intend on keeping them but I figured I asked you and the others here just to make sure.

pb

BigBadMikey said:

I have been using a sanke fermenter kit from Brewers Hardware. Actually, I have two and just ordered another. They work great. I had been considering the purchase of a larger conical, but have changed my mind since I started using this setup.

http://www.brewershardware.com/American-Sanke-Keg-Fermenter-Kit-with-Thermowell.html

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I've been to that link before. I would get some of them eventually. But now I've got this dilemma with the kegs I got with a mere deposit.

How'd you get your keg, or is it kegs?

And if you bought them, how much and where?

pb

FWIW I think the sanke fermenter kits are a waste of money. A carboy cap or #10 drilled stopper is much cheaper and works just as well. Transfers are easy using a coupler and the sanke spear. If you're worried about sucking up too much trub, the spear can be shortened a little. And according to experiments done by HBT members, fermentation temperature control is actually better placing the probe on the wall of the fermenter than using a thermowell.

You can also use the coupler instead of a carboy cap or drilled stopper. You just need to remove the check valve from the gas side, and cap the beer out side (a nickle in place of the tailpiece works great). This makes it easy to attach a spunding valve if you ever want to try pressurized fermentation, or for doing easy counterpressure transfers.

plumber_bob said:

So how bad of a person am I for going down the road I'm on? Especially if I out right kept the 6 I now have plus 1 more. I don't intend on keeping them but I figured I asked you and the others here just to make sure.

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This subject has been beaten to death around here. What you decide to do and how you justify it is 100% your choice, no one else's.

plumber_bob said:

How'd you get your keg, or is it kegs?

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If you want to acquire some kegs legally, call your local breweries and beer distributors. They might sell you the older beat up kegs that are ready to be decommissioned. I bought a few for ~$30 each this way, which is $5 cheaper than the going rate for a keg deposit here.

I found 4 kegs at my local dump.

JuanMoore said:

If you want to acquire some kegs legally, call your local breweries and beer distributors. They might sell you the older beat up kegs that are ready to be decommissioned. I bought a few for ~$30 each this way, which is $5 cheaper than the going rate for a keg deposit here.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice. And I'll check the local breweries out to. I got a buddy who brews at one.

pb

I love to ferment in Sankes. I have a Brewers Hardware kit but I only put it on when I am racking the beer into the keg. Otherwise I just use a drilled stopper for fermentation and treat it like a large carboy. Another trick to remember is that an autosiphon will work in a Sanke. Not the best but still doable!! Another trick I do is to boil water in it to sanitize. Nothing works as well as steam!!

I boil water to sanitize too. When I brew saisons using Wyeast 3724, I find that using the fermenter kit with thermowell works better than just attaching a temp sensor to the side of the fermenter.
I have been able to successfully keep that tempermental yeast going by slowly ramping up the temps using this setup.

That's a good idea to boil water in them first. I had thought about it some, but now I'm will for sure.

I should have all my ducks in a row buy the 5th of Sept. So I hope to brew my first batch that following weekend.

10gal of a Aussie Lite, and 5gal of a nut brown. Both from Midwest. Plus I plan on using extra hops in both. So we'll see.

pb