Corny for a fermenter.

Yes I know it's been discussed before but I've had a rethink.
Here's my ponderings.

1. Most cornies are only 19l I'm used to putting 23l into primary. So less beer for the same brew effort.

2. I was thinking of removing the safety valve and using that port for fitting a airlock. Would I need to drill it out?

3. Could I use the dip tube to remove yeast and trub in the same way as a conical? If so I'd just tap it until wort came out instead of trub. The idea being I then wouldn't need to go to secondary.

4. Following on, could I just prime and leave in the thing for kegging. (I'd just change the lid to a none air locked lid.)

5. I can fit 2 cornies in the space of one carboy.

Am I over simplifying things?

I was fermenting in cornies for a while. Prior to that I was fermenting in a plastic pail and then secondary was a 6 gallon carboy.

The difference in volume is pretty large. Corny = 19L full, but you need some headspace, so say 18L. Now when you rack you lose say 1 L, so you are down to 17L.

Versus with the plastic, I'd make about 24 litres of wort. When I racked the 6 gallon carboy was full. So 22 Litres versus 17 litres. Almost 30% more beer.

There is nothing wrong with a plastic pail for a primary. As a matter of fact, when I use a Sanke keg for fermenting, it will probably be for a secondary. I'll use 2 10 gallon plastic pails for primary fermentation and rack both into one Sanke.

2. I was thinking of removing the safety valve and using that port for fitting a airlock. Would I need to drill it out?

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Its easier to fit an airlock to the CO2 in port. Just pull the stub completely and put a piece of hose over it to the airlock.

3. Could I use the dip tube to remove yeast and trub in the same way as a conical? If so I'd just tap it until wort came out instead of trub. The idea being I then wouldn't need to go to secondary.

Click to expand...

I don't think you can collect the trub well enough. It deposits over the whole bottom and you need to get 90% of it out to secondary. For this reason I'd love to see the Better Bottle guys make a clear plastic conical fermentor.

5. I can fit 2 cornies in the space of one carboy.

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That is the one thing that conies have over all others, efficient use of space. Especially if you are brewing lagers and need to keep them chilled and want to put them in a fridge. Lucky I live in Canada and my garage gets cold in winter ! But if I needed to have chilled fermentation, I would wrap my pails in insulated covers and put an immersion chiller in the wort and circulate cold water from a fridge through as needed. The same as people do for a conical fermentor.

Nice blog, orfy !