sabco/corny compatability

Hey guys - I tried to do a search for this but was simply overwhelmed with what came back as you can imagine the keywords are everywhere.

I am wondering how compatible 5 gallon corny kegs are with regular 1/2 barrel sankey hookups that are typical in bars?

What would be involved to be able to be able to get my beer in 5 gal cornies into bars that use the typical setup?

(fyi: I am just asking about technical aspects like lines and hookups - I already have the licensing/laws etc figured out)

They are totally different. If you want to have a sanke keg on, you have to have a specific coupler. In corny kegs you have to have a different set of hookups. Not only that, but there are different types of sanke couplers but most are "D" couplers http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/keg-taps-couplers-cid-49.html Your cornies need either ball lock or pin lock, but I think the majority are ball lock http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/keg-taps-couplers-cid-51.html

If you are talking about selling to bars, you will want to sell with the sanke setup. I doubt any bar or restaurant will want to change their setup for one brewery.

If you are hooked on selling in 5 gallon kegs, you can find 1/6th bbl kegs which are essentially the same thing as our corny kegs except with the sanke couple up top.

There are some corny kegs with Sanke adapters welded in.

And some local bars will go through "all the trouble and hassle" to remove a couple freaking clamps from their D couplers to install standard soda disconnects. Especially if YOU the supplier provide the hardware.

best bet is a 1/4 short or 1/4 tall Sanke or one of these they are called pub kegs
and are just converted push locks


I have a few and come in handy when I go to a party and know all the beer will be drunk (me too) and I can just use a picnic pump .

GilaMinumBeer said:

There are some corny kegs with Sanke adapters welded in.

And some local bars will go through "all the trouble and hassle" to remove a couple freaking clamps from their D couplers to install standard soda disconnects. Especially if YOU the supplier provide the hardware.

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While I am sure I could talk bars into doing this - obviously I would rather not have to.

I knew there was a difference but didn't know how much.

The reason I am thinking 1/6 bbl kegs is to insure freshness as we will be a startup brewery so demand wont be huge to start.

Also 1/2 bbl's are basically impossible to find with any consistency if at all.

Kulprit said:

While I am sure I could talk bars into doing this - obviously I would rather not have to.

I knew there was a difference but didn't know how much.

The reason I am thinking 1/6 bbl kegs is to insure freshness as we will be a startup brewery so demand wont be huge to start.

Also 1/2 bbl's are basically impossible to find with any consistency if at all.

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I have seen very few 1/6 kegs around here that were Sanke from the getgo. Just seems most breweries use the 1/4 talls 7 1/2 gallon as opposed to 5 .Most of the 1/6 are converted Corny's like the one I posted and they aren't easy to come buy either

I didn't even know there was a difference between 1/6 and 1/4.

For me 1/4 would probably be ever better - so I will look into that. Thanks for the heads up.

Kulprit said:

I didn't even know there was a difference between 1/6 and 1/4.

For me 1/4 would probably be ever better - so I will look into that. Thanks for the heads up.

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1/6 is 5.25 gallons give or take like a Corny the 1/4 is 7.5 gallons.

Having owned a liquor store in Mass most microbreweries deal with 1/6 barrels. It's either 1/2 or 1/6 in most cases. Bigger breweries like Sam will also have 1/4 shorts.

springer said:

I have seen very few 1/6 kegs around here that were Sanke from the getgo. Just seems most breweries use the 1/4 talls 7 1/2 gallon as opposed to 5 .Most of the 1/6 are converted Corny's like the one I posted and they aren't easy to come buy either

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A lot of small craft breweries will use them for their test batches, and for beer sales to the general public (it was a very popular size for parties where people wanted to get more than 1 variety of beer)

Kulprit said:

While I am sure I could talk bars into doing this - obviously I would rather not have to.

I knew there was a difference but didn't know how much.

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You can get "plastic like" (I forget what they are called) 1/6 bbl sanke's for pretty cheap, and it's easy to have them put your brewery logo on them.

Warped04 said:

You can get "plastic like" (I forget what they are called) 1/6 bbl sanke's for pretty cheap, and it's easy to have them put your brewery logo on them.

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Yeah http://www.plastickegsamerica.com - I have looked into them and requested a quote.

Read some good things and read some bad things. It might be a good option for us to use intially - and even if the kegs wear out within a year at least then we will have bought some time (literally) to find other stainless kegs and get some revenue in to cover the cost.

One of the downfalls to really consider is that they are like 2-4" taller (I can't exactly remember). They don't fit in some bar's kegerators.