10 Gallon fermenter.

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Orfy

For the love of beer!
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I'm seriously considering moving up to 12 gallon brew session.

The first thing I need to do I figure the largest amount of wort I can boil in my keggle or find a larger vessel.
Next I want to look at using kegs as fermenters.
This is the best option I've seen so far.
I've taken the details from here. http://www.kettlemoraine.com/mikesbeerpage/gadgets.php

I'm a little too acquainted with leffe at present to digest but I'll take a look later.
This seems like the simplest option I've seed so far.

The other option I've thought of is to get a local pipe fitter to weld a full corny top including posts and lid to the bottom of a keg. I think More beer do a commercial one.

Any ideas or suggestion greatly appreciated.

Beer Keg Fermenter

kegferm12421f0ecpc2.jpg


Heres another damn handy item around my brewery. Convert a keg into a fermenter and you will never go back to carboys. I now do a 1-2 week primary, then straight to kegs for finishing fermentation, spunding for carbonation, and into the cooler for aging and serving. If you can find an 50L import keg, you have found your starting point for this gadget. The keg I used was made to be easily converted by the modification of the diptube which screwed into the lid of the keg, and a hole cut into the bottom to accomodate a corny keg lid. Anyone handy with welding could improve on my technique, but welding is completely optional with this system. You will need a jigsaw and bimetal blades, and a dremel to clean, shape and polish the cut hole and cutoff dip tube ends as desired. If you havent cut stainless with a jigsaw before, the key is to go VERY SLOWLY and if you see your blade turn red hot, you have probably damaged the blade. You could fill your keg with water to cool and lubricate the blade but that isnt necessary.

(BELOW) This is the modified diptube assembly of the keg. Let the CO2 out of the keg! Then unscrew the diptube flange out of the keg and disassemble. Reinsert the diptube in upside down and reassemble. Shorten the tube to the length you desire, and reassemble to keg. Cut off the diptube top to drain better. I added a length of silicone tubing to the diptube and a pinchclamp to close it off. Obviously a welder could come up with some better options here, like cut out the metal retaining section for the diptube, weld in a 1/2" SS pipe, and install a ball valve. Or.... Bottom line, do what you can or want to. Cut up an old plastic bucket for a stand, and pass the tubing out the side or through the handholes on the keg for access.

kegferm22421f263eh4.jpg


(BELOW) The last remaining work is to cut a hole into the top of the keg and fit the corny lid to it. Looking for an appropriate lid that you can attach an air lock or blowoff tube to will save you fabrication efforts, or drill a 3/8" hole and plug your airlock in using tubing as a gasket. Remove the plastic tips on the lid latch so you can close down the lid, you might have to grind some off the end of the latch rods to fit well. That should get you started. I really enjoy this fermenter.

fermtop2421f503dr4.jpg
 
Is there a trick to removing the spear from the 50L? I have Heiniken keg I got for free from some lady in town who was actually given the keg full of beer by someone and didn't want the keg back when they emptied it so they were going to take it to the dump... For the life of me I can't unscrew the thing.

I was thinking about just cutting the top off and using it to boil the mash water but I have a Bud keg I could use instead and think this would be a better idea.
 
Hi there,

Great project !, and a very interesting idea. You did a great job of attaching
the lid to the top of that Sanke keg, it looks original !

I' like to know what kind of post that is on the lid of your keg / fermenter, from
the image, it doesn't look like any keg post I have seen, and it looks like it is brass, and almost like a flared nipple.

Anyway I'd love to know more info, if you feel like chatting

Thanks in advance for any info.

I am actually looking for ideas on how to modify a keg lid and add in a keg post so that I can add pressure to a corny keg this way. Morebeer.com has a keg lid they sell that allows for carbonation, but it has been back ordered since May 2007, so about 3 months at this point in time, and.... it's very expensive ( $69 ) which is too much for me, considering a keg post goes for about $15 or less.

orfy said:
 
orfy said:

Looking at that the first thing that comes to mind is "cleaning it is going to be a *****".

I have seen some other ones done just like a keggle with the larger opening. I'm thinking this would be a better way.
Now if you wanted to be able to store and serve from one of these kegs useing corny hardwear this could be a good way to go.
 
I've been fermenting in kegs for quite a while now....12" hole in top and 14" piece of plexi covering the hole loosely. Works great and easy to clean. Could never figure out why so many go to such lengths. Gadgeteers I guess
 
here's an idea. Pop the top of a 15gallon keg. Not cut it off or modify it at all. Put a large stopper in the top with an airlock like you would with a carboy. to rack it off just cut the diptube by 1/4" so you don't suck up the yeast cake then insert it back into the keg. then racking beer would be a breeze. Just put in the sanke tap and turn on the air. Why modify? Just rinse well, then soak it overnight with oxiclean/whatever and be done with it. I havn't tried this yet because I like splitting 10 gallon batches into 2 carboys so I can use 2 different yeasts, but there is one recepie I just might have to re-make. When I do I might pop the top on a sanke and get out the old keg tap.:mug:
 
Grimsawyer said:
here's an idea. Pop the top of a 15gallon keg. Not cut it off or modify it at all. Put a large stopper in the top with an airlock like you would with a carboy. to rack it off just cut the diptube by 1/4" so you don't suck up the yeast cake then insert it back into the keg. then racking beer would be a breeze. Just put in the sanke tap and turn on the air. Why modify? Just rinse well, then soak it overnight with oxiclean/whatever and be done with it. I havn't tried this yet because I like splitting 10 gallon batches into 2 carboys so I can use 2 different yeasts, but there is one recepie I just might have to re-make. When I do I might pop the top on a sanke and get out the old keg tap.:mug:

How are you going to know for sure that you have it clean? It's not like a carboy that you can see into.
This is why I would cut it open.
 
FSR402 said:
How are you going to know for sure that you have it clean? It's not like a carboy that you can see into.
This is why I would cut it open.

I've been cleaning my carboys with dishwasher detergent for about 6 months now. Just fill them up with hot water and dump the stuff in. I have NEVER had to scrub them out. I have NEVER had to fill them up a 2nd time. I've gotten some flack about using cascade on my carboys here on HBT.com a few times. All I have to say is give it a try and you will not go back to cleaning your carboys any other way. PERIOD. Sure it takes overnight, but it's the single most easy way to clean I've ever been introduced to. I NEVER use my carboy brushes AT ALL! There is ZERO anything left in them when I rinse them out. After cleaning out 15 or so carboys, some that were so crusty I was sure I'd have to get out the brush but diddn't need to, you as well would have the same faith in that detergent as I do. Besides, it's caustic soda. That's what the pros use. (it's just a bit watered down):rockin: :p :ban: :p
 
I have been contemplating the same idea, pop the top on the sanke and use the diptube to rack at the end. As soon as I find a keg to do this in I am going to give it a try. right now all my kegs are sanctioned for keggles.... Anyway, if someone acctually does this first, let us know how it works out!
 
fermenter take 1.jpg
Hi Orfy,
I too wanted to make a fermenter based on the same website you included in your post but I was concerned with cleaning so I did something a little different as someone prior to my post suggested. I cut a hole in the told, made a gasket out of some rubber that was for washing dishes in the kitchen sink, and bought an over-priced racking arm from Austin HBS. I'd make my own if I had it to do over again but that is just my $0.02 What I like about this design is easy cleaning and I just leave it in the fermentation cooler and hook my pump up to it to transfer to the kegs. The only thing not show in this picture is that I added a valve in the top so that I can add a little CO2 pressure and I also use two pieces of square metal tube each having 2 bolts with rubber feet and wing nuts that I use to add a little pressure to the lid. I'm uncertain if I remember what the civilized world uses for pressure but I had about 4 psi or about 0.3 kg-force/sq. cm. This one was simple to make but I'd strongly suggest not spending the $49 quid American and making your own racking arm. Whatever you decide let us know and take a few pictures.
Jeffrey
 
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