Sanke Keg Force Carbonation

Corny kegs (to me) = straight forward

Sanke = ?

Do you just hook it up set the PSI and wait?
Do you have to disconnect and plug the liquid out?

treat it just like a corny, except are you trying to fill a sanke. are you pulling the top off and the spear out, filling the keg and then putting it back together under gas? or are you filling it through the gas line in of hte sanke tap adapter, and then adding gas...if so, I think that you would have to bleed the keg until full, add co2 purge, and then wait...

I really didn't have a plan. I think I will take the spear out fill it up.... Put it back. Bad move?

They are harder to purge. I always prefill with CO2 alone to fill it and skip purging. But spear out fill and in pretty much it.

Your avatar brings a smile by the way.

anthropod said:

I really didn't have a plan. I think I will take the spear out fill it up.... Put it back. Bad move?

Click to expand...

Pull the spear, fill it up, install spear and purge. Fast carb at 30 psi for 36 hrs or 1-2 weeks at serving spressure.

Danaldor said:

They are harder to purge.

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Just curious, what is dificult about purging a sanke? OH, maybe i get it?

not always the easiest thing to replace clip that keeps the speer and ball valve in...during pressurized fermentation, it is probably pretty easy to transfer into the serving keg by pressure.

I just retrofitted a keg with a corny keg lid. not hard as long as there is a really good condition bottom of the keg to fill.

other than filling the keg, the operation of carbonating is just the same as a corny

"Your avatar brings a smile by the way."
Thanks!

Do I reverse the gas/liquid lines like you would with a corny? (Well the gas on the corny)

Or

Do I just hook it up like I'm going to tap it and just wait?

Most sanke couplers have built in check valves, so don't try switching the gas and liquid lines. They also connect both the gas and liquid with one coupler, so you need to have the liquid hooked up to a faucet (or capped) before connecting to the gas, otherwise you'll spray beer everywhere.

On a side note, I prefer using 2" snap rings to hold the spears in place rather than the spiral ones. I find it faster and easier to get the spears in and out that way.

I use a 2" retaining ring from McMaster (91580A246) and I've replaced the o-rings on all my kegs with silicone ones, also from McMaster (9396K215).

To CO2 purge an empty keg, use a shut-off valve from micromatic on the beer out probe. Attach the coupler with valve to the keg and hook-up your CO2. Pressurize keg to 10 psi, open valve to purge and repeat as needed. Leave 1 or 2 psi in there and counter pressure fill from your fermenter if it can take 2 psi.

To fill an assembled keg upright, you will need to remove the check valves in the coupler to fill through the stem and release pressure (throttled) from the CO2 port. To fill quicker with less foam, you can fill the keg inverted through the CO2 port.

Hey kind of reviving this thread as I am in the same boat. So do most D type couplers have a relief valve used for purging? I can easily disassemble my sankey, siphon transfer the beer, then reassemble but I am curious as to how the purging works.

WPen said:

Hey kind of reviving this thread as I am in the same boat. So do most D type couplers have a relief valve used for purging? I can easily disassemble my sankey, siphon transfer the beer, then reassemble but I am curious as to how the purging works.

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Yes, I've only seen one D coupler that didn't have a pressure relief valve. The vast majority of them do.

sorry to revive dead thread here but just checking... i think the answer is obvious given the previous suggestion but i had to double check - when force carbing at 30psi with sanke hooked up... the faucet can handle that kind of pressure without leaking?

Apoxbrew said:

sorry to revive dead thread here but just checking... i think the answer is obvious given the previous suggestion but i had to double check - when force carbing at 30psi with sanke hooked up... the faucet can handle that kind of pressure without leaking?

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Probably, sodas and beer gas mixtures are pushed at close to 30 psi without any issues. But to be on the safe side (or just keep from tying up a faucet) you can just cap off the beer out side with a dime between the washer and beer nut.

Dude! The dime trick totally worked! Thanks.

JuanMoore said:

Most sanke couplers have built in check valves, so don't try switching the gas and liquid lines. They also connect both the gas and liquid with one coupler, so you need to have the liquid hooked up to a faucet (or capped) before connecting to the gas, otherwise you'll spray beer everywhere.

On a side note, I prefer using 2" snap rings to hold the spears in place rather than the spiral ones. I find it faster and easier to get the spears in and out that way.

Click to expand...

Getting the ring back on is a nightmare. What kind of snap ring do you use?