Sanke kegs

How hard is it to use these in a homebrew set up?

I understand that a lot of people might not use them because of the legality issue. I would imagine most if not all are owned by breweries.

This being said, I have a friend at a micro that gets them fairly cheap and I can borrow them.
Are there any other concerns as far as homebrew goes? Maybe cleaning?

Any info would be awesome.

I have two that I rotate in. They work well if you can get all the extra parts for cheap. Taps, conversions, etc. It takes a solid 20 extra min to get the @&$#ing spring back into the keg spear after you fill it up. Overall there ok. No issues with cleaning.

I'm new to kegging and I use 1/6 barrel sankes because the full size Kegs are too heavy to deal with and because there are fewer failure points then with cornies. The stem is easy once you know what to do. I made a tool that helps me a lot when intalling the stem. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sanke-retaining-ring-installation-tool-427287/

Headed to Harbor Freight tomorrow. I couldn't make that in my machine shop for what it will cost me there.

UNIbrewster said:

I have two that I rotate in. They work well if you can get all the extra parts for cheap. Taps, conversions, etc. It takes a solid 20 extra min to get the @&$#ing spring back into the keg spear after you fill it up. Overall there ok. No issues with cleaning.

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Are you talking about when you disassemble the spear all the way for cleaning or just putting the spiral ring back in? I can remove and reinstall the spear in less than 2 minutes. Taking the spear apart was the PITA. As a result I rarely do that and just soak the crap out of it in oxyclean in a rubbermaid container and run oxy through it followed by water and starsan.

Okay, so if I can find a Sanke connection, go for it?

Anyone have any useful tips on cleaning them?

I use them and love them. Once you get a hang of removing the spear its pretty easy. Clean just like any other keg. I soak in pbw. For the couplers I will run some BLC through them when I clean my lines. No issues here.

I also ferment in sankes. They're great. ...If you can find them cheap

I use both Sanke and Corny kegs in my set up. I still like the Cornys better just because its easier for me to clean them.

Okay, cool. Thanks for the info everyone.

UNIbrewster said:

I have two that I rotate in. They work well if you can get all the extra parts for cheap. Taps, conversions, etc. It takes a solid 20 extra min to get the @&$#ing spring back into the keg spear after you fill it up. Overall there ok. No issues with cleaning.

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Get the spring started by hand, then where it starts to overlap, squeeze it in with pliers and work your way around. Should take less than a minute.

Chupidacabra said:

Okay, so if I can find a Sanke connection, go for it?

Anyone have any useful tips on cleaning them?

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Clean them just like you would a carboy. I soak in hot oxyclean and then rinse thoroughly. You can also build a diy keg cleaner with a pump, bucket, and a few plumbing parts. There are lots of build threads in the diy forum.

Check CL and the classifieds here for used couplers. I picked up a whole box of them really cheap in a trade. If you plan on fermenting in them too, I'd suggest a dedicated coupler for transfers with the check valves removed.

As others have said once you figure out to take the spear out and clean it, it's a piece of cake. I have two that I alternately use as fermenters, and kegging beer.

Here is a thread about them
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sanke-retaining-ring-installation-tool-427287/
Anyone can buy a sanke keg, I wish people would stop the knee jerk response that all are stolen.
http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=38&zenid=b264d25217c32c795a32758c3fc4dfad
http://www.geemacher.com/

We have a local Home Brew store that sells new Sanke kegs & all the fittings. I've got just over $200 in my setup with two kegs, two connectors, hoses and some extra parts. The thing I like most is I can go to Total Wine & buy a keg for home use.

mikescooling said:

Here is a thread about them
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sanke-retaining-ring-installation-tool-427287/
Anyone can buy a sanke keg, I wish people would stop the knee jerk response that all are stolen.
http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=38&zenid=b264d25217c32c795a32758c3fc4dfad
http://www.geemacher.com/

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I think the knee jerk reactions are more used like the whole "I am not a lawyer but..." Basically most of us (I am guilty of making the 'make sure it is a legal keg' comments as well), are commenting on the fact that there are many illicitly gained sankeys out in the world and the breweries lose money when the shells are not returned. It seems that a great majority of the cheaply available shells are not honestly purchased. Heck, I was guilty of keeping one throughout college and just trading in when I needed a fresh keg. I was not allowed to turn it in when I left since my 2 week deposit period was up, so I gave it to a neighbor(deposits were only $10 at the time).

Just my $0.02