transitioning from cornies to sankes

So I am working on an angle for carbonating 8 sixtel sanke kegs at once. I've been told that the way to do this is to use a brite tank - but I'm not buying that this is the only way. I am looking at an 8 way co2 distributor, and 8 couplers - and I have a huge chest freezer and a temp controller to hold the kegs at about 38 degrees. I have a 5 lb co2 tank - although I am willing to get a bigger co2 tank if necessary.

Curious if I would need multiple regulators? Dealing with sankes is new to me - so I'm not sure if I'm missing anything.

Anyway, I'm wondering if you all have any feedback on rigging this all up and the feasibility.

If you're carbing all the beer to the same level, you won't need more than one regulator. That's pushing it for a 5lb tank, I think you might need to upgrade. Are you using the same tank to serve the beer? You might be fine with just the 5 pounder.

Remember you'll need to have all the "out" lines hooked up to something as well or else the beer will come right out.

beer coming out the other end. What would you suggest? A hose with a closed valve for each coupler?

Like I said, this is my first attempt at sankes, so I apologize for the dumb follow up question.

And yes, everything at the same pressure.

There was a guy on probrewer asking a similar question i.e. keeping the beer in the keg while carbing
It was mentioned that a penny will fit perfectly in a standard 7/8"-14 coupling nut.
This assumes you're using the typical sanke couplers...

Yeah, I've read people using nickles, dimes - now pennies. I spoke to a guy yesterday up in Canada who was telling me to drill a hole into my sankes and installing aerating stones. I'm not going to drill into these kegs. Really, I was hoping to find a tool specifically for these purposes, and not alter couplings or kegs.... but after a bunch of phone calls to brew/keg part suppliers, I'm thinking that it's just not out there.

Just to get this right though - I'm going to need a coupler per keg - alter each coupler (with a penny) and proceed as if they are cornies. That's the game plan that is developing. I'll take any feedback on that approach - then will make some purchases this weekend if it sounds like the right direction.

Well, there's no permanent 'altering' of the coupler with the penny. Just put the penny and an o-ring on the beer out connection, and secure it with the coupling nut.
If you're dispensing with the same coupler, just pop the nut/penny/o-ring combo off and attach your serving line. I'd remove the whole coupler before doing this to minimize beer loss.

Thanks wolfman.

While having eight couplers is great...you could get 8 kegs carbed w/ only 1 or 2 couplers as well...30 psi for 36 hours will get you close, then move to the next keg...instead of blocking the out line w/ a coin...a picnic tap works as well and you can "sample".

rich said:

Just to get this right though - I'm going to need a coupler per keg - alter each coupler (with a penny) and proceed as if they are cornies. That's the game plan that is developing. I'll take any feedback on that approach - then will make some purchases this weekend if it sounds like the right direction.

Click to expand...

Sounds good to me. As mentioned, you don't alter the coupler with the penny, just use it to cap off the beer out end of things.

rich said:

Yeah, I've read people using nickles, dimes - now pennies. I spoke to a guy yesterday up in Canada who was telling me to drill a hole into my sankes and installing aerating stones. I'm not going to drill into these kegs. Really, I was hoping to find a tool specifically for these purposes, and not alter couplings or kegs.... but after a bunch of phone calls to brew/keg part suppliers, I'm thinking that it's just not out there.

Click to expand...

Your thinking is correct, there's absolutely no way to install a carbonation stone in a sanke while also using the coupler unless you drill the keg. With a corny keg the tube for the carb stone can simply be attached to the gas diptube. If you want to use a carb stone in a sanke keg, use a 2" tri-clamp fitting instead of the coupler so that you don't have to drill any holes in the keg.