Primary Fermenting in a Corny Keg

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Hugh_Jass

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Does anyone primary in a corny keg?
I'm thinking of using some of my cornys as primaries. Replace the pressure relief valve on the lid with a bubbler, cut the dip tube to leave the trub behind and transfer from one keg to another under pressure from "out" to "out". I'd use fermcap when active fermentation began to lessen the krausen layer.
Any input from those who have tried this would be appreciated.

Thanks:mug:
 
I use one that is messed up and wont work for serving as an apfelwein fermenter but I think to use it for beer you would have to be doing a 4 gallon or smaller batch. I drilled a hole in the lid and put a rubber gasket from an ale pail in so I can use a airlock. (I wouldnt suggest this if you ever want to use it to serve from again though.)
 
You will be fine without changing anything. I would just take off the gas post and install my airlock there. Do a search for more information, as a lot of info has been on lately dealing with just such a thing :).
 
Worked fine for me the one time I tried it. Did a smaller batch w/o Fermcap as I don't like to add extra stuff to my beer. The nice thing is being able to put the post back on and transfer with CO2 to a fresh keg.
 
You don't even need to remove the gas post. Just attach a gas QD to a piece of tubing and use that as a blowoff tube.
 
Thanks guys.
I think I'm going to brew this weekend. I'll try to ferment in a couple of cornys with the dip tube cut and using the gray gas in qd with tube connected as a blow off.:mug:

Couple of follow up questions:

How much length should I take off the dip tube?

What is the best method of adding the Fermcap? I think I need to wait until active fermentation begins or the Fermcap will drop out of solution and be ineffective, correct?
 
I wouldn't cut the dip tubes at all. Leave the tube on the bottom, ferment, than add co2 and push the yeast out of the keg and then secondary in the same keg almost like using a conical. But that's just me and what I'd do
 
I wouldn't cut the dip tubes at all. Leave the tube on the bottom, ferment, than add co2 and push the yeast out of the keg and then secondary in the same keg almost like using a conical. But that's just me and what I'd do

I've tried that but the yeast will not all come out in a nice stream. It tends to stick to the bottom of the corney.
 
Thanks guys.
I think I'm going to brew this weekend. I'll try to ferment in a couple of cornys with the dip tube cut and using the gray gas in qd with tube connected as a blow off.:mug:

Couple of follow up questions:

How much length should I take off the dip tube?

What is the best method of adding the Fermcap? I think I need to wait until active fermentation begins or the Fermcap will drop out of solution and be ineffective, correct?

I wouldn't cut them at all, but if you do, no more than an inch. I cut a couple of mine and wish I hadn't.

You can add the Fermcap about any time....might as well get it in ther early so you don't forget.
 
+1 on bending the dip tube. I would shoot for about 1/2" off the bottom, you can collect the first pint during transfer for sampling or just live with a tiny amount of yeast transferred.

You can add the Fermcap right away, it will get kicked up by active fermentation and do its thing. Note: Make sure you watch your ferment, you may have to add more when things really get going.
 
O.k....so bending the dip tubes instead of cutting...making sure to leave at least 1/2" from the bottom.

Still concerned that the Fermcap will be ineffective because it has precipitated out of solution, but we'll keep an eye on it and give it the ol' college try.

I'll update this thread as necessary after pitching.(crosses fingers)
Thanks to all who've participated.:mug:
 
I did my first corny ferment for the Greenwood Rover Memorial beer. It worked like a charm. Since it was my first time, I didn't make any modifications to make transferring easier. I just racked into a new keg. I also took off the gas post and dip tube and installed a blowoff. With the help of Fermcap, I didn't even need it. I added the fermcap when I pitched the yeast and did not have any problems. I'd be interested to see how a hefeweizen will perform though...

Even without the ease of pressure transferring, I still liked it. I eventually want to make all of my fermenters cornies so I have a standard tank for everything.

Hope it works out for you!
 
Even without the ease of pressure transferring, I still liked it. I eventually want to make all of my fermenters cornies so I have a standard tank for everything.

Hope it works out for you!

From your lips to God's ears.:D
 
Yeah, this is pretty much a green light for me to go big in my 1/2bbl Sanke. I have been waiting for this type of news forever. I'm going to hopefully try a no-chill, almost full, pressurized ferment and see how she goes. Talk about making my brewery easy.... Thanks for the info guys.
 
you've got me thinking now, maybe thats what i'll do with this beast
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i was thinking about selling it but since i've been reading this thread and i keep hearing about this fermcap, i might just turn this into my stainless 10g fermenter.

thanks for the idea hugh
 
Yep I have a corny that won't seal right in the lid I just use it as a primary. I removed the dip tube and covered the out post opening with foil, no airlock, and added Fermcap. Works like a charm. I could do a keg-keg transfer by putting the dip tube back in and screwing on the post... I might try that next time. Hmm.... :)
 
Yep I have a corny that won't seal right in the lid I just use it as a primary. I removed the dip tube and covered the out post opening with foil, no airlock, and added Fermcap. Works like a charm. I could do a keg-keg transfer by putting the dip tube back in and screwing on the post... I might try that next time. Hmm.... :)

Good call using the slightly damaged cornies, I've got one where the "out" post is leaking. Instead of paying the couple bucks to replace the post I can just attach a QD to it and use the corny as a fermenter.

On a side note, cornies work really well for apartment brewers like myself, who have very limited squarefootage for brewing. I can only fit a 5.0 CU chest freezer in my place, and that's only room for one carboy. I can fit two or three cornies in there however. Also, with the price of glass carboys and better bottles in the 30-40 dollar range here, getting cornies is just as expensive and can have duel uses. It's a nice way to keep with Alton Browns mantra of "every tool is a multitasker."
 
I have a corney that won't seal and plan to primary in it tomorrow. I have no fermcap, so will make a 9 gal batch - 5 gal in carboy and 4 gal in corney.
I will cut 1" off dip tube so I can transfer (CO2 push).

Should I ferment with dip tube in place, or put dip tube in 4 weeks from now when I transfer?
 
I brewed 10 gallon yesterday with the plan to ferment in two corny kegs. I took the advice of some of the posters to this thread.

First, I removed both "in" and "out" poppets, and the dip tube and gave them a good cleaning. While the dip tube was out of the keg I bent it upward so now there's about an inch - inch and a half of space between the bottom of the keg and the end of the dip tube.

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I had a few extra gas and product ball locks so I made a couple of blow offs using the gas ball locks with some silicone tubing. I removed the poppet from the gas post and the "tapping thingy" from the gas ball lock to allow better air flow when the beer is off gassing.

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Here's a picture of the jumper I plan to use to transfer from a fermenting keg to a serving keg. I plan to move the beer under pressure from the "out" on the fermenting keg to the "out" on the serving keg. (I'll have to remove the "tapping thingy" on the gas ball lock that comes from my CO2 tank and use a shut off to control the air flow)

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Here's a picture of the kegs, post pitching, sitting in a freezer at 62 F. I checked this morning and the kegs are off gassing but there's no krausen evident in the blow off thanks to the fermcap. Excuse the mess. I had just taken a couple of lagers out of the freezer and did not have time to clean up the mess.

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So far this seems to be working well. I like the fact that I can fit 5 cornys into my little freezer for a temp controlled fermentation and the beer, once pitched, will not be exposed to oxygen.

Thanks to all who chimed in with suggestions.:mug:
 
Update: I pulled a gravity sample today. I hooked up a regulator set to a couple of lbs of CO2 to push a sample out of the product side. I used Biermuncher's bottling gun to draw a sample into the hydrometer sample tube. Easy as pie. So far, so good.
 
I have my first corny-fermented batch (an oatmeal porter) ready to keg. I made a stainless mesh screen for the dip tube (didn't bend the tube). I crashed cooled it over the weekend.
My question is, when transferring it to the serving keg with a jumper, do I need to purge the trub etc. from the bottom of the fermenting keg first? I connected a cobra tap to see what was going to come out, and I didn't really see much in the way of trub or hop particles. Is the mesh filtering that out?
 
Hugh Jass, did you notice any flavor differences from the corny keg?

Brewstrong totally denounced the idea but it sounded like neither of them had even tried it so I'm not buying it. Did you experience anything different, positive or negative, in terms of flavor?
 
Each of the beers that have been fermented in a corny seem fine. I like the idea that from the time I pitch the yeast until the time the beer reaches my glass, it has never been exposed to oxygen. Gravity samples and racking from keg to keg are done under pressure.

That said, I've had some difficulty getting the yeast to properly attenuate. It's like 2-3 gravity points higher.

What was Brewstrong's reason for denouncing the idea?
 
Their reasoning was the corny was too skinny and tall. They said there was a reason why conicals are shaped the way they are because that is the ideal shape for yeast to do its thing. They referenced Samuel Smith's square fermenters and diacetyl in the corners as support for their argument.

Basically, yeast can't move around as much in the corny and may flocculate early or maybe cause different esters than a carboy or conical. If you haven't been hitting your fg then I guess this idea could have some merit
 
Their reasoning was the corny was too skinny and tall. They said there was a reason why conicals are shaped the way they are because that is the ideal shape for yeast to do its thing. They referenced Samuel Smith's square fermenters and diacetyl in the corners as support for their argument.

Basically, yeast can't move around as much in the corny and may flocculate early or maybe cause different esters than a carboy or conical. If you haven't been hitting your fg then I guess this idea could have some merit

That is a possibility. I haven't noticed any off flavors like diacetyl, but the SG is def. higher. Here's a thread that I posed the attenuation question.
 
IMO, something that applies to a ginormous professional fermenter often doesn't apply to us 5-gal batch homebrewers. Tall 'Apollo' fermenters are known to produce less esters due to the tall, skinny design...because of the extra hydrostatic pressure. 5-gal batch homebrewers don't have enough weight of beer for this to be an issue.

Not saying the shape isn't an issue...just that things may not 'scale down' as expected when comparing a 5 gal corny to Samuel Smith's fermenters.
 
I think they are full of it! I have fermented (under pressure) in Sanke's with no problem. I agree that on a small scale there should be no problems like big brewing equipment might see. I honestly believe that if it isn't in a bucket or glass carboy they say nay, no matter what. If it isn't mainstream they knock it. Proof in the pudding... I have done a bunch in a Sanke (don't see anyhthing wrong other than small batch size in a corny) and never had a problem. Well, only problem was my maiden voyage and that was high esters do to me messing up. They don't know what they are talking about except in generality, and even then only with big equipment. Do it, use fermcap, and be happy. I gotta listen to this crap when I get the chance. I can't believe they would knock the idea.
 
In their defense, they knocked the corny, not a 1/2bbl. I put stock in fermenter shape factor and think it has an effect even on our small scale. How much of an effect I do not know.

I don't know what they were talking about with the pressure stuff. Maybe ales do not react to pressure the same as lager yeasts??? I know most lager brewers use pressure to control ferments.
 
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