Kegging in Quarter/Half kegs?

Can anyone out there tell if its possible to start kegging in quarter or half barrel kegs. I'm under the impression that this would take some serious equipment vs. kegging is standard corny kegs.

Thanks

You're impression is correct. I don't know any homebrewers, even the ones turning out 20-40 gallon batches, that use barrels.

There's a pretty good how-to of disassembling the sanke type kegs which might take some of the intimidation out of it. Here's the link I found a while back:
http://www.physics.arizona.edu/~workman/homebrew/Sanke.html

I would think cleaning them through small opening would be the toughest part. Everything else is just equipment stuff.

It's likely no more difficult than cleaning a carboy and I think a hot soak in oxyclean would be enough. It's more an issue of having a kegerator big enough to house it.

Were I to use these, I'd probably cut the sanke fitting off and weld a corny top to the 1/2 bbl for ease of cleaning and filling. Since 1/2 bbls are rather hard to come by, and cornies are so cheap, I'm content to use 3 cornies for each 15 gallon batch of beer.

I was just looking at the sankey keg (1/2 barrel) ( just made to keggles) and if you see how to dismantle it ... I think a good soak in O.C. when the keg is fresh and mabey a little scrub with a carboy brush on the inside top....good rinse and sanitize.....it could be done ......now are you really going to do a 15 gallon batch......I was thinking the same thing as you and I still think a corny is the way to go. But you nevery know when you might need 15 gal. for a party ...!!!

Fire_travels said:

now are you really going to do a 15 gallon batch

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Yes! That's the size batch I currently brew!

Fire_travels said:

I was thinking the same thing as you and I still think a corny is the way to go. But you nevery know when you might need 15 gal. for a party ...!!!

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It's really not that hard to change out a corny when it's empty, and they're easier to carry than 1/2 bbl kegs. See above...I do have 15 gallons available for parties (or more, if I've got more than one batch hanging around!).

nice man....go to it then....i sure would to ..but we just move and its just me drinking( no nead) but I would like to know how it goes....on e-bey they are selling replacment rings for the kegs ( convert to snaprings) for like 3-5 each! I am not sure how far you have taken one apart but the housing for the ball is kinda tricky but with a little thinking I am sure you could take it apart and put it back together without damage!

good luck

Fire_travels said:

nice man....go to it then....i sure would to ..but we just move and its just me drinking( no nead) but I would like to know how it goes....on e-bey they are selling replacment rings for the kegs ( convert to snaprings) for like 3-5 each! I am not sure how far you have taken one apart but the housing for the ball is kinda tricky but with a little thinking I am sure you could take it apart and put it back together without damage!

good luck

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I think Sabco sells tools for this explicit purpose. I'm not worried about the maintenance or sanitation of a 1/2 bbl, I just don't have an affordable source for one. For me, cornies do just fine. If you have a source for larger kegs, go for it!

Friggen heavy to move them when full!

Really have to Corny-top it to use it easily; the posts make gas in beer out much easier to accomplish, and the corny lid makes cleaning POSSIBLE. Just have to get the beer dip tube length right.

Yuri_Rage said:

It's really not that hard to change out a corny when it's empty, and they're easier to carry than 1/2 bbl kegs. See above...I do have 15 gallons available for parties (or more, if I've got more than one batch hanging around!).

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Besides, if you're really havng parties where 15 gallons of beer is the norm, it is not that difficult to daisy chain corney kegs together so you don't have to change them out.

I was looking into this as well. I just got a 15 gal fermentor from the LHBS which is an old LME container. I am a senior in college and would like to brew a 15 gal batch and then put it into a sanke and use a friends keggerator to dispense the beer at a grad party. So has anyone actually accomplished this taks?

Besides being a little tricky at first to remove the stem, w/ practice it becomes routine. Cleaning is no different than cleaning any narrow neck container.

Other than the above, sanke kegs work great. I use the sixtel and quarters w/ no issues.

Just be aware that it will take time to cold condition and carb a 1/2 keg. Once it is cleared and carbed, don't go moving it about too much or uo will disturb the bottom sediment.

There a number of people that use sanke kegs for homebrew and swear by them.

Sanke's are great. I use 15g kegs as fermentors and 5g sankes as serving vessels. I actually prefer kegging in the sankes over the cornies for everything but secondary fermentor/clearing tank duties and dry hopping.

The only difference between using a cornie and a sanke is where the gas and beer ports are located you need to be comfortable with the idea that cleaning a sanke is less visual. You can certainly use a 15.5 keg, but I've found 5g kegs are easier to deal with.

There's a guy selling snap-rings on Ebay to replace the tamper-resistant ones. I forget his moniker - something like Keg-man kits.

I've got 2 of the tall 1/4 kegs I use to keep my friends with sankey style kegerators hooked up for homebrew. Just one o-ring and no worries with leaks or stuck poppets. It's not a terrible way to go.