blacksailj

Recipes 

I use 6 gallon buckets to ferment in right now and soon plan on getting a refrigerator to control my temps as well as upgrade to 10 gallon batches. While looking at my sanky kettle I'm wondering if any one uses them as a fermenter (cut open with foil over the top or with the standpipe taken out with airlock). This way I ferment all in one vessel. Any ideas, tips, or suggestions? Thanks folks.

bad67z

Recipes 

Check out WortMongers post on fermenting in sankys here.

res291que

Recipes 

Beer magazine last month had an article talking about different items used as fermenters, those using kegs took out dip tube and used one of carboy caps on top.

winvarin

Recipes 

Look at brewers hardwares site. They have a kit that runs $70 mol. It's a tri-clamp fitting with a thermowell, a built in SS racking cane and a port for blow off or an air lock. I have been considering going this route myself. Sounds like another advantage is that you can sanitize by tossing in a couple gallons of water and boiling for 15 min or so

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"Susan smiled at me, giving Molly the Female Once-Over—a process by which one woman creates a detailed profile of another woman based upon about a million subtle details of clothing, jewelry, makeup, and body type, and then decides how much of a social threat she might be. Men have a parallel process, but it’s binary: Does he have beer? If yes, will he share with me?"

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blacksailj

Recipes 

Thanks guys I think this looks like what I'll be doing. I first was thinking about using a cut open keg to specificlly use ringwood yeast because it requires open fermentation but a sanke with the spear taken out will do.

homebeerbrewer

Recipes 

+1 on the Brewers Hardware Sanke kit.

And, I just pour a gallon of water in, install the Sanke kit, and boil for about 10 minutes. To clean, buy one of the Carboy Cleaners. I fill my Sanke with PBW, soak overnight, drain most of it out, and then use the Carboy Cleaner to scrub it. Works great.

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cfonnes

Recipes 

Seems like it would be hard to siphon out of it without getting a lot of yeast.

homebeerbrewer

Recipes 

Not at all. The racking cane can be adjusted to wherever you want it. I also use pressure to transfer to my cornys. (Brewers Hardware doesn't recommend that, but I only use about 3 PSI, and have had no issues.)

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eastoak

Recipes 

Sanke

RoundKid

Recipes 

I ferment in an unmodified sanke in a freezer with the ebay controller from the DIY forum. I remove the spear to clean (oxy soak), sanitize and fill. Then I pitch the yeast and replace the spear.

I have a modified sanke coupler that has the check valve removed and attach that to the keg and a blowoff tube. After 36-72 hours (depending on style) I remove the blowoff tube and attached a pressure gauge and bleeder valve. I bleed excess CO2 regularly to maintain a pressure consistent with desired carbonation based on temperature.

There is a picnic tap attached to the beer side of the coupler for taking gravity readings and samples.

If you have the time, I highly recommend the information by WortMonger linked above (http://iam.homebrewtalk.com/WortMonger). His information on sanke fermenting and pressure fermentation is very informative (and very long). http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/closed-system-pressurized-fermentation-technique-44344/

After fermentation I cold crash and counter pressure transfer using CO2 to sealed kegs. When starting the transfer I pour some off into a pitcher but never get more than a cup of yeast.

Have been using this system for about five batches with success. Re-installing the spear is the hardest part, but by the third or fourth time it gets easier.