Old Coke Kegs

I have a question about old pin lock coke kegs. I have an opportunity to acquire some cheaply, and I'm going to take it regardless of the answer.

But my question is this: are they heat safe enough to receive boiling wort or are they lined with plastic?

They should just be stainless steel, no lining, assuming you didn't get some special version.

They're just stainless steel, but there's a possibility that the tops + bottoms may separate due to the heat. Keep that in mind.

And.. watch out for burnt fingers and legs!

MC

I'm curious why you're putting boiling wort into a keg?

Swib said:

I'm curious why you're putting boiling wort into a keg?

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No-chill method? Fermenting in the pin-locks?

tre9er said:

No-chill method? Fermenting in the pin-locks?

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This, plus its nice to have multipurpose vessels.

Just be careful that you don't suck in any nasties when the wort cools and sucks a vacuum.
I've used a star-san soaked rag over the head of the keg and had no problems, but just be aware that it won't be a closed system until you get internal positive pressure.

A professional brewer friend of mine suggested to me that kegs aren't a great choice for fermentation. The shape isn't good. They're too tall and skinny - he explained that you don't get good circulation. I'm sure you've seen all the movement in your fermenters when the little yeasties are chugging away. The keg won't produce as much of that circulation - which means a slower fermentation.

I won't suggest you don't pick up cheap kegs - I certainly would. But if you're looking for additional fermentation containers what about buckets? They're cheap, durable and a better shape.

brycelarson said:

I won't suggest you don't pick up cheap kegs - I certainly would. But if you're looking for additional fermentation containers what about buckets? They're cheap, durable and a better shape.

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Its an issue of temp controlled space, I can fit 1x 6.5 gallon bucket into my cooler, but 4x 5 gallon kegs. Also circulation is nothing a strong starter can't compensate for.

brycelarson said:

A professional brewer friend of mine suggested to me that kegs aren't a great choice for fermentation. The shape isn't good. They're too tall and skinny - he explained that you don't get good circulation. I'm sure you've seen all the movement in your fermenters when the little yeasties are chugging away. The keg won't produce as much of that circulation - which means a slower fermentation.[...]

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That's interesting, coming from a pro, because when I look at the fermentation vessels in use at the bigger local "micros", the 120 barrel and especially the 200 barrel monsters have an aspect ratio that is actually closer to a 5 gallon corney than the typical fermentation bucket - and even closer than that of a 6.5 gallon glass carboy...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

That's interesting, coming from a pro, because when I look at the fermentation vessels in use at the bigger local "micros", the 120 barrel and especially the 200 barrel monsters have an aspect ratio that is actually closer to a 5 gallon corney than the typical fermentation bucket - and even closer than that of a 6.5 gallon glass carboy...

Cheers!

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But they can drop trub easily, to reduce the pressure on the yeast cake.

I wouldn't have any issues with fermenting in a keg, though. It'll be fine. I would have a HUGE issue with putting boiling wort in it, only because the stainless is very very very thin, and burns will result if anybody touches the outside of the keg or brushes a bare leg against it.

I use many of my pinlocks to hold wort until I ferment, or to cool.
No issues, keep your bare legs away when you move them. None of the rubber has loosened in the 3 years I have used them in this fashion.

Yooper said:

But they can drop trub easily, to reduce the pressure on the yeast cake.[...]

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Can't drop the yeast from a corney, bucket or carboy, either. But what that has to do with the aspect ratio of a fermentation vessel and its effects on the fluid dynamics of fermenting beer escapes me...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

Can't drop the yeast from a corney, bucket or carboy, either. But what that has to do with the aspect ratio of a fermentation vessel and its effects on the fluid dynamics of fermenting beer escapes me...

Cheers!

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Oh, the pressure from 30 bbls of beer on top of a yeast cake is far different than 5 gallons. That's a huge difference, and autolysis and yeast stress is far more of an issue for breweries.

brycelarson said:

A professional brewer friend of mine suggested to me that kegs aren't a great choice for fermentation. ...

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This may be a matter of the volume of fermentation containers to which he is accustom. There has been a similar raging debate over whether to rack to secondary or not -- turns out for small home brew scale containers it really does not matter much.

I have moved to corny kegs for all of my fermentation. No problems.

There's been some research done showing you get a few points lower with a bucket/carboy over a corny. I haven't tried a side by side, though. I ferment in cornies because I can get two in my ferm fridge.

B

Curtis2010 said:

This may be a matter of the volume of fermentation containers to which he is accustom. There has been a similar raging debate over whether to rack to secondary or not -- turns out for small home brew scale containers it really does not matter much.

I have moved to corny kegs for all of my fermentation. No problems.

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He started out in home brew - worked at Midwest for a number of years - so he was offering the advice directly about homebrew setups.

bad coffee said:

There's been some research done showing you get a few points lower with a bucket/carboy over a corny. I haven't tried a side by side, though. I ferment in cornies because I can get two in my ferm fridge.

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Any links to that - I would love to see it. The reason it came up was that I was considering moving to an all keg system, but based on his advice I kept my collection of buckets and carboys.