What to do with 5gal & 7.75 gal Sanke Kegs

In talking with a friend about my gathering equipment to make beer, he gave me three 5 gallon Sanke's and one 7.75gal Sanke keg. They were free so I did not want to say no.

What are some possible uses?

Has anyone figured out a way to cap them to make a primary or secondary fermenter?

Orange carboy caps and you can use as a fermenter. You can also use them as a bright tank.

Using them for primaries sounds like work, unless there's a convenient size blowoff tube. Use as a secondary should be easier, though not cheap. For that, you could put on a standard Sanke tap with a tail piece and beer nut on top, with a short piece of thick wall tubing to connect to a fermentation lock. Instead of the "gas in" line, it would be the gas outlet. Just leave the tap handle closed.

Why not just use them for kegging and serving? We're paying $30-$40 a piece for old soda pop Corny kegs for that purpose, and you just got handed the real deal! Nice! Personally, I'd use them for their intended purpose.

A slim 7.5 gallon Sanke serves as a nice & cheap stainless fermenter with the addition of a stainless fermenter kit from Brewers Hardware.
http://www.brewershardware.com/Sanke-Fermenter-Kits

You can get them with a thermowell for temp. control, and 2 of them will easily fit in a standard fridge.

Using the 5 gallon Sankes with a Carboy cap for a better bottle is a nice option as a bright tank - just put the carboy cap in some hot water for a minute or so to make it nice & pliable - it will slip right over the top.

I use Sankes for fermentation. It's great working with SS which is easy to clean and sanitize and it's super easy to PUSH the beer with CO2 when it's done which limits chances for oxygen exposure.

dumb question from a noob... what is a bright tank?

BankerJohn said:

dumb question from a noob... what is a bright tank?

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Bright tank is where you put beer that's reached final gravity, while you allow it to clear. AKA - Secondary.

If you want to ship them to Ohio I'll take them off your hands. I use them to dispense instead of Cornie's.

I just pull the spear out and use the orange carboy cap and airlock. Makes a great fermenter. No need to keep it in a dark area, either.

Are the 7.75 pony kegs, or taller but a bit fatter than corneys? If the later I got to find me some of those.:rockin: I am able to get close to 12 gallons batches out of my currrent brewing, fermenting setup. If I had a few of the 7.75 gallon kegs I would not be bottling much. I have been recently been kegging 5 gallons and bottling the rest as its not worth bottling just 2 gallons to me. Some 7 gallon kegs would solve my problems. However if they are squat they would end up taking up too much room in the keezer. They'd work great as a fermenter though with the orange carboy caps.

Photo, I can put 2 cornies in my kegerator, but only one 7.5 gallon Sanke, due to it's diameter.

Yes, they are great a fermenter.

I use sankeys for fermenting and kegging. I obtained some silocone breatable bungs from the LHBS and they work great as an airlock. Take out the spear and take it with you to size the appropriate one. I clean them with pbw and check with a flashlight but generally they clean up well.

Photopilot said:

Are the 7.75 pony kegs, or taller but a bit fatter than corneys? If the later I got to find me some of those.:rockin: I am able to get close to 12 gallons batches out of my currrent brewing, fermenting setup. If I had a few of the 7.75 gallon kegs I would not be bottling much. I have been recently been kegging 5 gallons and bottling the rest as its not worth bottling just 2 gallons to me. Some 7 gallon kegs would solve my problems. However if they are squat they would end up taking up too much room in the keezer. They'd work great as a fermenter though with the orange carboy caps.

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the 7.75 are tall and a little fatter than the 5's. I'd never seen one before.

I don't have taps, co2, etc for keg dispensing. I guess I just ended up with free fermenters
Thanks for all the advice and guidance.

This might sound crazy but...start kegging?

I am with Yuri, get c02 and taps and stuff and leave the fermenting to buckets.

That's how I started kegging. Someone gave me a bunch of free 1/6 sanke's. They are really easy to use. Go for it!

BankerJohn said:

the 7.75 are tall and a little fatter than the 5's. I'd never seen one before.

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Thats quite a score then. Wish my friends were hooking me up with free brewing goodies like that. Its pretty much been a one way street for me. I have been trying to give a keg away of beer and I can't even get the plastic jugs back from my co-workers.

Since your friends like to give you free stuff put a CO2 tank and regulator on the list. For under $200 you could get a CO2 tank, sanke tap and some connections and be on your way to kegging, its a worthy investment.

Photopilot said:

Thats quite a score then. Wish my friends were hooking me up with free brewing goodies like that. Its pretty much been a one way street for me. I have been trying to give a keg away of beer and I can't even get the plastic jugs back from my co-workers.

Since your friends like to give you free stuff put a CO2 tank and regulator on the list. For under $200 you could get a CO2 tank, sanke tap and some connections and be on your way to kegging, its a worthy investment.

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Plus fridge.. might be able to find a free junker on craigslist if your patient

I pulled the spears and they are all soaking with PBW. Still trying to source what to use for an inexpensive fermenter cap. I saw something for $70 from morebeer.com - they must be crazy! There has got to be a silicon cap that will work or a bung that will fit the hole.

What do all of you use?

I picked up some rubber drilled bungs that fit quite well. Now just need to fill with something besides AIR !!!