what to do with a working sanke keg

A friend of mine bought a house about 2 years ago, and in the garage was a sankey keg that he has done nothing with. I visited him last weekend and talked him into letting me have it. Upon inspection, the keg was about 15% full and still had pressure in it. The only date I see on the keg is from 2006 so I am guessing the beer is 4 years old. I released the pressure with a screwdriver but have done nothing else to it. Originally I had planned on cutting off the top and turning it into a keggle but now that I know it still works I kind of feel that it would be a waste to cut it open. What do you guys think I should do with this thing? I've never really dealt with Sankey's so I'm pretty new to these kegs. Is it best to just keep it as is and take it into a liquor store and use it as a deposit on a new keg full of beer or should I chop this sucker up? When you do own a working keg is taking it in as a deposit on a full keg even an option? It's a Coors keg, does this mean I would only be able to get Coors beer in return or does it not matter? Just looking for some brainstorming ideas on what to do with a working sankey keg. Thanks.

As long as it is working you should be able to use it as a deposit on a full keg. I can't see getting a big keg though but that is just how I'm setup. I do get the sixths and transfer them into one of my kegs sometimes.

If it was me I would turn it into a keggle.

either a keggle, or a fermenter. I have a sixtel i use as a 'bright tank'. do a search on removing the valve, clean that sucker out, boil a GAL 1/2 in it, and its good to go!

You could just sell it, and use the profit to buy other beer equipment you need. Otherwise a keggle is probably your best bet... Personally I'd hate to have to deal with 2 different types of connections when kegging.

fermenter.. or just cut it open.

To anyone who has made a keggle before, about how much does it cost to have one made if you have the keg? I have no tools to do any of this on my own so I'm sure labor costs will differ but what can I expect to pay for a valve and stuff like that? I can buy a premade keggle at my LHBS for $125 and am wondering if doing it myself will be worth the headache.

steinsato said:

To anyone who has made a keggle before, about how much does it cost to have one made if you have the keg? I have no tools to do any of this on my own so I'm sure labor costs will differ but what can I expect to pay for a valve and stuff like that? I can buy a premade keggle at my LHBS for $125 and am wondering if doing it myself will be worth the headache.

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A weldless fitting goes for roughly 25 bucks, you'll also need a drill bit and some way to cut off the top. I used about 10 or so dremel cut wheels but there are easier ways to do it. If you have no tools and can't borrow any, I'm not sure how you can get this done. If you did have a way to remove the top and install the valve, you could save yourself some cash.

I'd like to know more about using a sanke keg for fermenting.

ultravista said:

I'd like to know more about using a sanke keg for fermenting.

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I think a half bbl sanke is the perfect size for 10-12 gal batch sizes, and a sixtel is just right for 5 gal batches. You can go super cheap and just replace the spear with a drilled rubber stopper and an airlock, or use a spare sanke coupler and a homemade spunding valve to do pressurized fermentation and transfers, or even buy a conversion kit that includes a thermowell. Sanke Fermenter Kit They can be a bit hard to clean, but there are a lot of advantages such as being shatterproof, light / oxygen proof, can also be used to serve, etc. The main advantage IMO is the ability to ferment under pressure. Search here for "sanke fermenter" and I'm sure you'll come up with some good info.

JuanMoore said:

I think a half bbl sanke is the perfect size for 10-12 gal batch sizes, and a sixtel is just right for 5 gal batches.

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I would tend to agree with a half bbl being a good size for 10-12 gallon batches, but I would be careful trying to ferment 5 gallons in a sixtel. From this micromatic link, a sixtel keg only hold 5.16 gallons. Seems with any krausen at all you will be looking at a lot of blowoff. Now a 1/4 bbl would probably be perfect, holding 7.75 gallons.

If you only do 5 gallon batches, I would either use the keg as a keggle, or trade it in for a 1/4 barrel, eliminate the contents, and convert that to a fermenter.

Maybe your LHBS will let you "trade" your keg for a discount on a completed keggle? Might be worth it.

kpr121 said:

I would tend to agree with a half bbl being a good size for 10-12 gallon batches, but I would be careful trying to ferment 5 gallons in a sixtel. From this micromatic link, a sixtel keg only hold 5.16 gallons. Seems with any krausen at all you will be looking at a lot of blowoff. Now a 1/4 bbl would probably be perfect, holding 7.75 gallons.

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Very true. I was thinking quarter and wrote sixtel. A sixtel is better for serving 5 gal batches.

I ended up finding two precut keggles on craigslist for $40 each and then turned the working keg I already had into a fermenter. I just removed the spear and put a rubber carboy cap on it with an airlock. I'm planning on adding a valve to the bottom of the keg to make draining it easier, that way I don't have to mess with a racking cane. My keggles are weldless but since I can't get my hand inside of the "fermenter sanke" I can't figure out a way to tighten a weldless valve so I may have to have this one welded on.

steinsato said:

I ended up finding two precut keggles on craigslist for $40 each and then turned the working keg I already had into a fermenter. I just removed the spear and put a rubber carboy cap on it with an airlock. I'm planning on adding a valve to the bottom of the keg to make draining it easier, that way I don't have to mess with a racking cane. My keggles are weldless but since I can't get my hand inside of the "fermenter sanke" I can't figure out a way to tighten a weldless valve so I may have to have this one welded on.

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If there's any chance you'll set yourself up for kegging, I'd hold off on drilling a hole in the fermenter keg. One of the great advantages to using kegs to ferment in is that you can quickly and easily rack using CO2 pressure, which also means zero exposure to oxygen. Just cut ~1" off the bottom of the spear so that the yeast cake gets left behind, attach a coupler, and apply pressure. There's got to be an easy way to use the spear to do transfers even without using a CO2 tank and regulator. Also, drilling a hole and welding on a nipple will create a spot for critters to hide that will be very hard to clean, and I'd worry about infections.

JuanMoore, thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I'd given the working keg to a guy to have him cut it up for me. Buy the time I had the craigslist keggles in my hand, he had already put a valve hole in the bottom of it. Fortunately I called him before he'd gotten to tearing off the top of it. Outside of putting a valve in it, my only other option is some kind of cork or seal. Not sure if I'd trust 10 gallons of fermenting beer sitting in a fermenter with a cork shoved in the bottom of it though. I'm thinking the valve is the best way to salvage it at this point.