need help! Corneys or sankes?

Guys,
I'm ready to try kegging. I have a sanke that someone gave me. I was debating cornies though. I have some questions and thouts and wouldlike some advice.
1: I think it would be easier to make a kegorator for multiple corneys (cheaper?).
2: Is the gear to fill and carb cheaper for on than the other?
3: Can i carb by priming in a keg, or must i force carb?
4: Whitch one is best for a firs timer and easyest?

While it's possible to keg in a sanke, it's a whole lot easier with corny kegs. As a result, you'll find most homebrewers using corny kegs almost exclusively. Corny kegs are easier to clean since they have a large opening at the top, and they are easier and cheaper to purchase. Most online homebrew sites will have a section dedicated to kegging, and corny kegs is what you'll see.

1: I think it would be easier to make a kegorator for multiple corneys (cheaper?).
Yes, easier AND cheaper. You can always add a sanke coupler and keg later, but design your kegerator around corny kegs.
2: Is the gear to fill and carb cheaper for on than the other?
It's all the same equipment to carb: CO2 Tank, Regulator, Gas Hose, Connector (either ball lock, pin lock, or sanke coupler).
3: Can i carb by priming in a keg, or must i force carb?
You can do both, but why prime with sugar when you have gas???
4: Whitch one is best for a firs timer and easyest?
Corny keg is the was to go...if you have an extra fridge you can literally throw everything inside and voila! you have a kegerator.

HillbillyDeluxe said:

Guys,
I'm ready to try kegging. I have a sanke that someone gave me. I was debating cornies though. I have some questions and thouts and wouldlike some advice.
1: I think it would be easier to make a kegorator for multiple corneys (cheaper?).

Click to expand...

Not sure as I have not built a kegerator yet. However, I would think that just the fact that cornies are smaller, you would have an easier time making a kegerator with multiple taps for more variety...

2: Is the gear to fill and carb cheaper for on than the other?

Click to expand...

Again, I have never used sankes for that purpose, but cornies aren't all that tough to use...

3: Can i carb by priming in a keg, or must i force carb?

Click to expand...

You can prime in a keg....

4: Whitch one is best for a firs timer and easyest?

Click to expand...

I would go with cornies... They are relatively easy to find and there are a plenty of suppliers for the parts you would need to get started...

Good luck

I use sanke's but its only because I got a great deal on 5 1/6 sanke kegs and the coupler's to go with it. People say the benefit to corny's is that they are easier to fill and clean. Well, it takes me about 30 seconds to disassemble and 2 minutes to assemble a sanke keg. As far as cleaning, I do it the same way every one else cleans their carboys, fill with Oxy Clean, soak, rinse.

If I was doing it again, I'd probaby use corny's but only because they are easier to find. I had to scour craigslist to get up to the eight that I have. One benefit is that it universally fits the standard kegerator if you ever want to take your beer on the road.

Regarding your questions, here's my opinions:

1. I think it would be the same for either.
2. About the same, the two connections for corny's are ~$12 each and a sanke coupler is about $25.
3. Yes, you can prime and you can do it in either.
4. Don't know. I will say that it is super easy to tap and untap sanke's but the installing the snap ring can be frustrating the first few times.


While I expect this thread will overwhelmingly lean towards corny's and I understand that, I also know that there are alot untruth's going around about the difficulty of sanke's. I personally think that other than opening and closing them, everything else is easier in a sanke.

Duckfoot said:

Not sure as I have not built a kegerator yet. However, I would think that just the fact that cornies are smaller, you would have an easier time making a kegerator with multiple taps for more variety...

Click to expand...

Corny's aren't really much smaller than sanke's. They are 1/4" skinnier and 3/8" shorter.

Draft Beer Keg Size Dimensions

OK, Where is the best place to get a good deal on the setup? I want to have three taps and run cornies. I think i'll do the co2 local. I'll need everything else to do three kegs though.

HillbillyDeluxe said:

OK, Where is the best place to get a good deal on the setup? I want to have three taps and run cornies. I think i'll do the co2 local. I'll need everything else to do three kegs though.

Click to expand...

You can source all the parts separately and maybe save a few bucks, but Midwest Supplies has some great kits that have all parts included. Here's a triple draft system that included all hoses, connections, kegs, regulator, 3-way manifold and picnic taps for three kegs: $189.95
Brew Logic Triple Tap Draft System with 3-way gas manifold- without CO2 Tank :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

All you need to do is pick up a CO2 tank, and throw it all into a fridge.

With my setup I want to get a 1/2 barrel keg. Space is not a concern for me because my kegs are on the outside of my kegerator. The beer is ran through a cold plate inside the fridge.

So the bigger the keg the better.

The problem is i would have to buy a bigger fermentor (maybe a half barrel fermentor) or extra fermentors. I am currently setup for 5 gallon batches.

madewithchicken said:

The problem is i would have to buy a bigger fermentor (maybe a half barrel fermentor) or extra fermentors. I am currently setup for 5 gallon batches.

Click to expand...

You can always ferment (and mash, brew, etc.. for that matter) separately and blend at kegging time.

madewithchicken said:

With my setup I want to get a 1/2 barrel keg. Space is not a concern for me because my kegs are on the outside of my kegerator. The beer is ran through a cold plate inside the fridge.

So the bigger the keg the better.

The problem is i would have to buy a bigger fermentor (maybe a half barrel fermentor) or extra fermentors. I am currently setup for 5 gallon batches.

Click to expand...

Not to hijack the thread, but how do you carbonate your beers with the keg outside the fridge?

TwoHeadsBrewing said:

Not to hijack the thread, but how do you carbonate your beers with the keg outside the fridge?

Click to expand...

I just carbonated one yesterday by adding half the amount of priming sugar that I normally would (~2.5 oz) and I am just letting it carbonate naturally that way.

However, there is a chart floating around that will tell you how much pressure you need to carbonate at room temperature; http://www.hbd.org/ford/brewinfo/kegcarb.html

Neal

IMHO the sanke kegs work great! True there is a bit of a learning curve on removing the stem, but once you develop the technique, they truly work very well. I prefer the simpleness of the sanke w/ only one seal ( ok maybe it is two) on the keg vs. the corny design w/ four or so o-rings.

IMHO the sankes are more durable and less prone to leaks. Sanke d-couplers come equipped w/ check valves for both beer and gas. Sankes are also available in 1/4 barrel (7.75 gal.)

ajwillys said:

Corny's aren't really much smaller than sanke's. They are 1/4" skinnier and 3/8" shorter.

Draft Beer Keg Size Dimensions

Click to expand...

Sorry.... My bad... I was thinking 15.5 sankes... I am having one of those weeks...

To OP, ignore everything I said earlier...

how to you force carbonate the sanke? just tap it, turn on the co2 and wait or do you need to do something with the check valve? or reverse the lines or something?

kevkev5 said:

how to you force carbonate the sanke? just tap it, turn on the co2 and wait or do you need to do something with the check valve? or reverse the lines or something?

Click to expand...

I've never done the shaking method, but I have done the 30 psi over 24 hours or so and it works fine. You don't need to reverse the lines or do anything special. Just crank up the co2. I can't imaging why the shaking method wouldn't work just as well also, I've just never needed it. On a Sanke, the CO2 comes into the keg at the top in the headspace, just like on a corny and the beer comes out via tube at the bottom. There isn't much difference internally.

The big difference is the coupler. One device has an input and output and there is only one connection to the keg. On the CO2 side, there is a check valve to make sure no beer can go back into the lines and on the beer side, there is a one-way valve to make sure no beer can flow back into the keg.