Why don't we all use sanke kegs?

I don't get it, why are we using different kegs than the breweries? The sanke couplers are seemingly trouble free. Why don't more LHBS have them? When I ask about buying them, the LHBS looks at me like I'm asking to shoot their unicorn or something.

Costs and convenience. Used Sankey kegs are more expensive than corny kegs and much harder to clean and fill. I can almost get my arm all the way to the bottom of a 5 gallon corny keg to scrub it out if needed compared to barely being able to see inside a Sankey keg when the spear is removed. Corny kegs were also treated much better when they were being used by Coke and Pepsi. Have you ever seen a beer delivery of kegs? I've seen hundreds, they literally bounce the kegs off the back of the truck onto the pavement, eventually they decommission the keg because it will no longer hold pressure.

DrHops said:

Have you ever seen a beer delivery of kegs? I've seen hundreds, they literally bounce the kegs off the back of the truck onto the pavement, eventually they decommission the keg because it will no longer hold pressure.

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What ****** bags...

How hard is it for a homebrewer to clean a sankey keg? Doe you need to use caustic? Do you need to use hot caustic? Could a sanitizer rinse be sufficient? I've wondered this as well.

I like using them, but they do require some special care.

I do not remove the valve unless it actually requires service.

A Sanke keg is 15 gallons. That is a little large for my 5 gallon batches. Then it would need a larger cooler, etc. A Sanke may be more useful than multiple corny kegs if you regularly make 15 gallon batches.

We all started using cornys when they could be bought for 20 bucks a piece.

Epimetheus said:

A Sanke keg is 15 gallons. That is a little large for my 5 gallon batches. Then it would need a larger cooler, etc. A Sanke may be more useful than multiple corny kegs if you regularly make 15 gallon batches.

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They come in 1/6 barrel, 1/4 barrel and 1/2 barrel. Plenty of options for homebrewers.

I use them. Extremely easy to clean with pbw and a drill powered carboy brush. I even ferment in them. I love them.

I think the price is an important reason. If I did it, I would probably do the 2" tri clover cap and thread it for a pair of ball locks and make my own spear. Easier than removing the split ring. But I am into building stuff so maybe not so much for others. Still considering it though.

I ferment in sankey kegs, and love them. They're easy to use and there's much less that can go wrong with them. I'd serve in them too if I could fit 4 sixtels in my keezer. I don't understand why people think they're harder to clean or fill. I clean and fill them using the exact same processes I use for my corny kegs. The one thing I do like about my corny kegs is that the wider opening allows me to dry hop in the serving keg.

I've been dispensing beer with a corny keg setup that includes a little plastic faucet at the end of the beer out line.

Recently I bought a kegerator with a sanke setup.

So my question is whether it's more convenient in the long run to get a 20 L or 5.2 gallon sanke keg and carbonate my beer in that, or keep the corny keg system that I have and adapt it to the kegerator.

I would be willing to spend a little extra money as a sanke keg seems easier to maintain (less parts) - but I am wondering about the extra work (if any) needed to clean it.

Best,

Steve

Update: actually, after doing a little research, it doesn't look like it's a lot of extra work to clean them. I was planning on buying another corny keg next year so I could have another keg on deck, but now I think I will buy a small sanke keg, and convert the coupler to accept ball locks. That way I can switch back and forth between the corny and sanke kegs with a minimum of effort.

jakenbacon said:

What ****** bags...

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AS a beer delivery driver I say f$%k you in the nicest way possible. I deliver between 160-280 kegs a day. if i treated them all like babies my day would be astronomically longer, I work 10 hours days as it is. They are treated poorly because they dont cost as much as as time does.

I have also delivered for both Coke and Pepsi, and they arent treated much better, they are metal tubes that roll and dont break easily. I am willing to bet 100$ that even our coke and pepsi kegs have been beat to hell and back.

Dexter77 said:

AS a beer delivery driver I say f$%k you in the nicest way possible. I deliver between 160-280 kegs a day. if i treated them all like babies my day would be astronomically longer, I work 10 hours days as it is. They are treated poorly because they dont cost as much as as time does.

I have also delivered for both Coke and Pepsi, and they arent treated much better, they are metal tubes that roll and dont break easily. I am willing to bet 100$ that even our coke and pepsi kegs have been beat to hell and back.

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I don't know about treating them like babies, but why should it be acceptable to treat someone else's property like that? Kegs are a huge expense for breweries and I'm sure they don't appreciate them getting tossed off the back of a truck. But I'm also not a brewery owner, maybe that's just a generally accepted thing if they don't want to/can't distribute on their own.

I would like to state that the comment, "They are treated poorly because they dont cost as much as as time does" probably cuts to the meat of the matter.

They are built tough to withstand abuse that is considered "normal" (i.e., cost effective) for the industry, as they are hauled on and off trucks by individuals fighting deadlines and performance reviews.

A simple solution to the problem of brewing with dented kegs would be to spend some more money and buy new kegs that will never be abused.

Btw, Two Hearted, I am wondering if your avatar is a reference to a certain Hemingway short story?

I understand what he's saying about 10 hrs of delivering and moving the kegs the way they want to move.

Dexter77 said:

AS a beer delivery driver I say f$%k you in the nicest way possible. I deliver between 160-280 kegs a day. if i treated them all like babies my day would be astronomically longer, I work 10 hours days as it is. They are treated poorly because they dont cost as much as as time does.

I have also delivered for both Coke and Pepsi, and they arent treated much better, they are metal tubes that roll and dont break easily. I am willing to bet 100$ that even our coke and pepsi kegs have been beat to hell and back.

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Wow! I bet whenever you came home to find that really expensive item you ordered online to be damaged, that was probably the UPS driver's way of saying f$%k you too.......in the nicest possible way.

Frankly, this is all getting a bit too "tempest in a tea pot," or brew pot, as the case may be.

If you're going to get upset because you think that someone is mishandling someone else's kegs, or if you want to get upset because someone is upset about the way that they think that you're mishandling someone else's kegs - then go ahead.

(Or, you may get upset about the way that someone gets upset about the way that someone gets upset about the way that you handled somebody else's kegs, and so on.)

This all goes to show that you can't make a zealot without breaking kegs.

Yesfan said:

Wow! I bet whenever you came home to find that really expensive item you ordered online to be damaged, that was probably the UPS driver's way of saying f$%k you too.......in the nicest possible way.

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The only difference is that the kegs that are bounced around are the property of the distributor and they can treat them how ever they want or will allow. The priceless piece of junk you ordered does not belong to the UPS driver. The difference between treating a object badly that is owned by your boss and the piece of junk you ordered and is yours is apples to oranges. And insults are just not appropriate or needed.

By the way did you hear that UPS and FedX are going to merge???


They are going to call it FedUP:cross:

Sanke all the way...worth the added expense, its a one time investment and they'll last your entire interest in the hobby.


1 o-ring and valve compared to 5 o-rings, 2 poppet valves and 1 pressure relief... (sounds like a familiar song this time of year) all places to leak beer and gas.

snccoulter said:

The only difference is that the kegs that are bounced around are the property of the distributor and they can treat them how ever they want or will allow. The priceless piece of junk you ordered does not belong to the UPS driver. The difference between treating a object badly that is owned by your boss and the piece of junk you ordered and is yours is apples to oranges. And insults are just not appropriate or needed.

By the way did you hear that UPS and FedX are going to merge???


They are going to call it FedUP:cross:

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I don't see much of a difference. Some of those trashed kegs of beer have to go from the distributor to a brew-pub, bar, etc. so it's essentially the same thing. I'm sure if some a-hole bar owner called his distributor complaining about their delivery man have a chip on his solder after being called out, that said delivery man would be wishing he was still working "10 hours days" instead of being unemployeed.


Sorry to sound like a prude. I probably would have had a different response if dude's first post wasn't a "f-you" reply to jakenbacon.

and someone started off with ******.
Cant we all just get along

Good topic. Odd it degraded so quickly into bickering, name calling, vitriol. A casual observer would never believe we are all over 21 in here.