Corny fermenter airlock

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mysteryberto

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Having recently bought a 10 gallon corny keg for real cheap on craigslist I wanted to ferment in it. It'd work great for this purpose with sealed transfers and other benefits such as no glass. But the only challenge was getting an airlock on it.

The solution? A piece of CO2 line hose,quick disconnect,wire and an airlock. It doesn't get much simpler but it works fine.

IMG_1594lo.jpg
 
Pretty ingenious rig you got there.


You might want to try http://kegpasties.com/ if you have more.

It's a one piece silicone plug that is designed to fit over the has in post and let you put in a airlock. It will cut down on how much height is needed.

How to Use:
1. Unscrew the “In” nipple of your Cornelius® keg
2. Remove the “poppet” valve from the nipple
3. Screw the nipple back on to the keg.
4. Slide the large end of a clean Keg Pasty over the nipple*
5. Push a clean air lock in to the Keg Pasty
 
im on my first batches. but i am plannning on doing my secondary fermentations in cornies. might even switch to primary. only problem is i cant use star san :(
 
Thanks Ed for the link to the pasties. iwill surely otrder me a couple of them. That guy should get a vendor account here. I could sell a but load.
 
I like the pasties. I wonder how much I would have to trim off the dip tube to avoid the yeast cake? With a pastie and a shortened dip tube, any keg would work as a secondary for lagers. Cornies fit the fridge better than even 5 gallon better bottles.
 
Oh one word of warning about using corny kegs for fermentation. Make sure you put the airlock on the IN post. I made the mistake once of putting it on the out post. It only dripped a little bit of beer on a tile floor since I caught it soon. But could be pretty bad if you let it go the whole time.
 
Sure Screen from notherern brewer- I've experimented on some batches, and this is by far the best I found. It is a stainless steel screen about 6 inches long that you put on the dip tube (no cutting or bending required, although it does bend a little when you tighten the post). I ferment in corny, blow off tube on the IN side as noted above. I normally let it go for a month(ish) so I don't bother cold breaking. If you don't let it go that long, you might want to, haven't experimented. I then pressurize a sanitized corny to about 30PSI, pressurize brew to about 30PSI, jumper the out to out, and bleed my brew into the new keg for carbing and conditioning. Clear beer with no oxidation, plus no subjection to light etc.
 
that is a very smart idea morotorium, i'm going to have to keep that in mind for future use.
 
this is pretty simple too.

8724-4805Arrowhead153.jpg

I have one of these- After one somewhat volatile ferment, I decided to just go with blow off tubes. I don't have to buy any extra equipment either- just gas in connector, some spare tubing, and a Gatorade bottle :)
 
Do you keep the 30PSI during the entire fermentation process or only towards the end?

I don't pressurize at all for primary ferment. For transferring to a secondary, I pressurize both kegs to 30PSI. Using connects and ~3ft line, I connect the out to out. I then disconnect the gas on the receiving keg, leaving gas on the full (primary) ferment keg. I then slowly/progressively bleed pressure from the receiving (secondary) keg forcing the brew over. I usually end up 'over bleeding' so that gas from the primary (now empty) keg goes into the secondary (now full) keg, bubbling and ensuring the keg lid gets sealed. After a day, I do bleed the pressure on occasion to relieve any subtle fermentation.

Let me know if you have any other questions!
 
I don't pressurize at all for primary ferment. For transferring to a secondary, I pressurize both kegs to 30PSI. Using connects and ~3ft line, I connect the out to out. I then disconnect the gas on the receiving keg, leaving gas on the full (primary) ferment keg. I then slowly/progressively bleed pressure from the receiving (secondary) keg forcing the brew over. I usually end up 'over bleeding' so that gas from the primary (now empty) keg goes into the secondary (now full) keg, bubbling and ensuring the keg lid gets sealed. After a day, I do bleed the pressure on occasion to relieve any subtle fermentation.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

I love the thought of this, but I can't get past the extra cost in CO2 for not having to autosiphon from keg to keg. If I were to do this with every brew it would probably put me down to 5-6 kegs per bottle instead of the 10ish I am getting.
 
I love the thought of this, but I can't get past the extra cost in CO2 for not having to autosiphon from keg to keg. If I were to do this with every brew it would probably put me down to 5-6 kegs per bottle instead of the 10ish I am getting.


I'm sure it cost a bit in CO2 but with a 20# tank I don't worry about it. Think about it this way you can have a complete sealed system from pitching the yeast to drinking out of the keg with no exposure to air. I'd recommend cutting the fermenting keg dip tube down.



I just ordered a couple of surescreens off NB. Mainly since some IPA's with lots of dry hopping have chunks of hops coming through. Even though my hop bag is a fine mesh.
 
why would you want to pressurize both kegs to 30 psi if the beer isnt even carbinated yet. Why not just purge the empty one and push the beer in with minimal CO2?
 
I do 30 PSI just to ensure I have a good seal. As stated, you could simply pop the tops off and auto siphon with out using CO2 (other then a little to seal the keg force carb etc).

That said, I have a 5# and 2 20# tanks; I haven't even emptied/refilled a 20# yet, and for $14 a fill, I don't mind using it to ensure I have good beer. I just like having a closed system at this stage at the cost of a little CO2, rather then opening it up to possible contaminants (I'm fairly anal with sanatization in all steps of my brewing processes, even in my transfer method- Why risk it when this is just as easy and more beneficial in my mind?) Happy brewing! :mug:
 
I am really liking the idea of using my kegs to ferment in. Do you use anything for foam control? Has the blowoff hose ever gotten clogged? I am thinking about moving up to 10 gallon batches and fermenting 4 gallons in 2 kegs and 1 gallon glass jugs for the rest...then just adding the jug contents back to the kegs when it settles down - anyone see any problems with this?
 
Having recently bought a 10 gallon corny keg for real cheap on craigslist I wanted to ferment in it. It'd work great for this purpose with sealed transfers and other benefits such as no glass. But the only challenge was getting an airlock on it.

The solution? A piece of CO2 line hose,quick disconnect,wire and an airlock. It doesn't get much simpler but it works fine.

sweet!
 
The hole is too small for a stopper and the plastic airlock.

I just took the disco off and ziptied a piece of 1/2" ID tubing on the threads. The other end of the tube goes in a 1/2 gallon growler with weak starsan.

B
 
JONATHANKORTZ said:
maybe a dumb question but why cant someone just remove the post and put a stopper and airlock in the hole?

That's EXACTLY what I do. The threaded port on the keg goes about 1/2 way inside the hole in the stopper & stem of the air lock uses the remaining space.

I ferment in 5 gal cornies so I use a blow off tube on the in port for the first few days.

image-2989559063.jpg
 
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