Sanke Fermenter Conversion

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Derrin said:
OK, I finished the first 4 pre-production kits. A few new tools later and quite a learning curve on the order to weld things; I'm ready to roll into production I think. Here's a picture of the first one shipping. Missing from the picture is the 3/8" tubing for connecting the blow-off sweep to the blow-off port. The racking arm is shown removed from its' fitting as is the new silicone o-ring for sealing the whole thing.


Edit: I also added the option to purchase without a thermowell built-in. If anyone already ordered one with a thermowell and doesn't want one, let me know and I'll refund you the difference.
Click to expand...


I hope its mine :D
 
This looks like a great product Derrin. I'm ordering one this weekend. If I'm happy with it, I'll be ordering at least two more. Cheers!
 
Another thought...my brother was driving by a local scrap yard a couple weeks ago and there were two kegs that he could see from the road. He stoped and inquired about them and the man working there said he had one more and was willing to sell them. My brother inspected and they all looked to be in decent condition and offered them $50 for all three. The price was accepted and we now have three sankes (two straight sided & one with the pot belly).

I'm 100% against theft, and I'd like to know if we now own these kegs legally? Is there anyway to find out?

Another reason I like this product is because it doesn't harm the keg in any way. At any time the spear could be reinstalled and the keg used again for its original intent.
 
keelanfish said:
I'm 100% against theft, and I'd like to know if we now own these kegs legally? Is there anyway to find out?
Click to expand...

Contacting the brewery that has its name on it would be about the only way I can think of to know for sure. You may have to spend a lot of time and energy on doing so but I applaud your honesty for the attempt. I can't imagine too many legit kegs wind up in the junk yard but it certainly can happen.


Please note this is not an attempt to turn this thread into a keg theft thread.
 
Pulled the trigger on the non-thermowell option. It's awful having brewing money burning a hole in your pocket.... ;)
 
keelanfish said:
No, I don't want to take anything away from Derrin or his ingenuity.
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I really really appreciate that.

Since it started as my thread and it is my device, I'd just like to add my .02 If you'd like to debate me I'd appreciate a new thread or a PM as not to derail this thread but I feel like I should comment on this aspect only because I've created a device that could condone the theft of kegs....

This is my personal opinion and is probably very distant from any real legal opinion.

I view keg theft as entirely an intent crime....

If you go buy a keg of beer, pay the $30 and don't return the keg: Clearly theft. If you know the keg could be returned and you offer to buy it or otherwise take it: Clearly theft.

I look at it like this: If you know the keg has a good probability of making it back to its rightful owner and you choose to liberate it and use it for brewing: you stole it. If there is a good probability that the keg is NOT going to make it back to its rightful owner and will otherwise be destroyed anyway (ie rescued from a recycler): you didn't steal it. If I owned a brewery, I'd be pretty pissed to see my hard earned dollars and property turned into a keggle. I'd be a lot more upset to see it shredded and turned into a quart of shredded stainless steel.

Just my opinion.
 
cashbrewing said:
Just got home from work and there it was sittin on the front porch.
Derrin your work is excellent and I was so surprised to see it this quickly, I can't wait to put it to use. Now I'll probably have to buy another one for my second fermenter. Keep up the good work Derrin.
https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/data/1/medium/IMG000691.jpg
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Thanks so much for the compliment! The packaging is still a work in progress so make sure you check every fold. I had to stuff a box in a box and there are items packaged between the two to keep them safe. I'm looking into tubes, but since it has to ship Priority Mail I like to take advantage of my tax dollars and use Priority Mail containers provided they don't compromise the product.
 
Derrin,
Mine arrived yesterday in excellent condition. The workmanship is superb and I can't wait to use it. Thanks for a great product.

Regards,
BorderBrewer
 
Mine arrived today and look fantastic. Can't wait to try them out. Just need to find time to brew now. Might not be for a week or two
 
You're a bad bad man. How did you take control of my mouse and make it click "Add to Cart"? And then you added insult to injury by changing quantity to 2 and making me click update. :D
 
caspio said:
You're a bad bad man. How did you take control of my mouse and make it click "Add to Cart"? And then you added insult to injury by changing quantity to 2 and making me click update. :D
Click to expand...

LOL!

My machinist took last week off so I'm a little further behind than I was hoping to be. I hope to ship the balance of the the orders by mid week.
 
Mine arrived today! Packaging was great and it all got here without damage. Is the second small o-ring a spare or are they both supposed to be used in the siphon fitting?

Gonna try it out for the first time on a pale ale, can't wait. Thanks for the HBT special.
 
keelanfish said:
Mine arrived today! Packaging was great and it all got here without damage. Is the second small o-ring a spare or are they both supposed to be used in the siphon fitting?

Gonna try it out for the first time on a pale ale, can't wait. Thanks for the HBT special.
Click to expand...

I know, sorry I haven't had time to writ eany instructions.

I use both o-rings in all applications. If you ever need to replace the o-rings let me know and I'll replace them no-charge.
 
Derrin said:
I know, sorry I haven't had time to writ eany instructions.

I use both o-rings in all applications. If you ever need to replace the o-rings let me know and I'll replace them no-charge.
Click to expand...

I didn't even think about that I just put both on since it seemed like they were both needed. I brewed on sunday and pumped right into the sanke sitting in my chest freezer.

I have an airlock on top right now but I think I'll switch out to blowoff or just foil (I generally just use foil inside my chest freezer). The top of the airlock is really close to my chest freezer lid and if by chance I got some blowoff in there it'd get all over the top.

I need to dial in my procedure a bit too, I'm not used to having such a large thermal mass in one container. Since I didn't get my wort chilled down to pitching temps I set my ranco to my temp and came back a few hours later and it was within 1 degree of where I wanted, so I pitched. Checked the next morning and it had dropped another 6 degrees.
 
If anyone could report on how well force transferring with co2 to/from a keg using this I would really appreciate it!

I have 1/6 and 1/2 bbl kegs that I was considering cutting the top off, figuring out a cover and how to seal it, and drilling for a spigot. These would save me a lot of trouble, but I don't think I can justify the cost unless force transferring works well.

Thanks!
 
xumbi said:
If anyone could report on how well force transferring with co2 to/from a keg using this I would really appreciate it!

I have 1/6 and 1/2 bbl kegs that I was considering cutting the top off, figuring out a cover and how to seal it, and drilling for a spigot. These would save me a lot of trouble, but I don't think I can justify the cost unless force transferring works well.
Click to expand...

I was planning on doing a water test before actually using it but I ran out of time so I just jumped in.

I'll report back after I transfer but I suspect it will go off without a hitch since it is essentially the same as using a carboy cap with a racking cane except the vessel will take more pressure than a carboy.

My airlock has been bubbling away so there is definitely a good seal. I even sprayed starsan on any potential leak point and there weren't any bubbles
 
xumbi said:
If anyone could report on how well force transferring with co2 to/from a keg using this I would really appreciate it!
Click to expand...

I'm curious about the reasonable pressure limit for this device as well. I believe Derrin mentioned 3 psi in an earlier post, but it seems like the clamp and seals should be able to handle ~15 psi.

Is someone willing to pressure test their device for leaks? :D
 
Why would you ever need more than 3 psi? Every foot of head above the top of the keg will develop 0.4333 psi (assuming SG = 1.000) to this device. So, 3 psi will push beer almost 7' vertically. Unless you're racking from your basement to your first floor, I can't imagine why you need any more than this.
 
keelanfish said:
Why would you ever need more than 3 psi?
Click to expand...

To support pressurized fermentation. Near the end of fermentation, set the spunding valve (e.g., pressure relief valve) to ~15 psi to naturally carbonate the beer.

  1. Ferment with blowoff/airlock until ~50% attenuation is reached.
  2. Attach spunding valve to capture CO2 at a given temperature and pressure.
  3. Transfer carbonated beer directly to serving keg(s).
  4. Prosit!
 
lamarguy said:
To support pressurized fermentation. Near the end of fermentation, set the spunding valve (e.g., pressure relief valve) to ~15 psi to naturally carbonate the beer.

  1. Ferment with blowoff/airlock until ~50% attenuation is reached.
  2. Attach spunding valve to capture CO2 at a given temperature and pressure.
  3. Transfer carbonated beer directly to serving keg(s).
  4. Prosit!
Click to expand...

If someone donates the hardware to me I'd be happy to test it out. I suspect the weakest link will be however the hoses get attached, the rest of the hardware looks like it will hold the pressure fine. Since there aren't any quick disconnects that seal on this kind of setup there would need to be some kind of valves on the lines.

Well maybe no valves if you can hook up co2 to the spunding when its done to push it out, but I'm not sure if the spunding will let gas flow both ways. You would just keep a corney quick disconnect on the racking/liquid side so no pressure will come out
 
Derrin,

I love it I am very interested in one however I have a question about the thermowell... Can I just stick my temp probe from my love controller into the thermowell. Will it fit? or will I have to purchase one of your thermowell's in order to make this work?

Thanks,

Jason
 
Bowtiebrewery said:
Derrin,

I love it I am very interested in one however I have a question about the thermowell... Can I just stick my temp probe from my love controller into the thermowell. Will it fit? or will I have to purchase one of your thermowell's in order to make this work?
Click to expand...

The probe from my ranco fit right in. I'm not sure the size of the love controllers probe but I suspect this is a pretty standard size
 
Bokonon said:
If someone donates the hardware to me I'd be happy to test it out. I suspect the weakest link will be however the hoses get attached, the rest of the hardware looks like it will hold the pressure fine. Since there aren't any quick disconnects that seal on this kind of setup there would need to be some kind of valves on the lines.

Well maybe no valves if you can hook up co2 to the spunding when its done to push it out, but I'm not sure if the spunding will let gas flow both ways. You would just keep a corney quick disconnect on the racking/liquid side so no pressure will come out
Click to expand...

Bokonon,

I don't condone this experiment nor do I recommend it, however, if in the course of using the hardware you purchased from me you should damage it in any way, shape or form, I'll happily replace it (and only it) free of charge.

just fwiw
 
Bowtiebrewery said:
Derrin,

I love it I am very interested in one however I have a question about the thermowell... Can I just stick my temp probe from my love controller into the thermowell. Will it fit? or will I have to purchase one of your thermowell's in order to make this work?

Thanks,

Jason
Click to expand...

Jason,
My standard thermowell is actually what's welded into the cap and a Love probe should fit it just fine. There is nothing else to buy. If, however, you wanted a separate probe for your Love controller just to leave in the fermenter, I'm working on a 2-fitting model that includes a complete wired probe for Love, Ranco, BCS-460 or BrewTroller.
 
I ordered last week. how long should I expect to wait for the product to arrive? I'm not in a rush but would appreciate some idea of when. In the meantime, ye old keg is gettin a polishin.
 
Getting a few of these is VERY tempting. My only concern is cleaning the inside of the keg after fermentation. Would you recommend a soak in PBW or some sort of acid?
 
schweaty said:
Getting a few of these is VERY tempting. My only concern is cleaning the inside of the keg after fermentation. Would you recommend a soak in PBW or some sort of acid?
Click to expand...

I use oxyclean to clean the sanke keg rinse well and sanitize. no different than cleaning a corny other than its a little harder to see the inside. I use a Borescope to look inside I had it before I even started brewing.
 
flananuts said:
I ordered last week. how long should I expect to wait for the product to arrive? I'm not in a rush but would appreciate some idea of when. In the meantime, ye old keg is gettin a polishin.
Click to expand...

There are still just a few that haven't shipped but I took delivery of 100' of 3/8 tubing yesterday and the current run will cover the final back orders and put some inventory on the shelf. I expect to ship today or tomorrow.
 
is this designed to be used with pumps since you don't reccomend pressurizing the vessel?

Also why would you leave the racking cane in while fermenting, why not just cap that with a plug and only insert the racking cane when needed?
 
BK_BREWERY said:
is this designed to be used with pumps since you don't reccomend pressurizing the vessel?

Also why would you leave the racking cane in while fermenting, why not just cap that with a plug and only insert the racking cane when needed?
Click to expand...

The ideal situation is to use a siphon to move the beer out, but a slight amount of CO2 can be used to push the beer out, provided you don't allow the keg to pressurize since there is no relief valve.

Leaving the racking cane in place allows you to make sure it's sanitized with t rest of the fermenter and just reduces the risk of dropping something in or having something else happen when trying to insert it. It also gived one more avenue for pressure to escape in the event of a blocked blow-off port.
 
Just an update, I got mine last week. the USPS dinged up the box a little, but everything inside was fine. Welds look great, I can't wait to try it out! Just picked up a keg from my next door neighbor for $20, so I'm set on one. I've been hitting up craigslist for a second keg, but so far no luck. Thanks derrin for a good price on a great product!

BTW - what would be your price to ship me a couple extra o-ring sets. I can pretty much guarantee I'll lose some or drop it in the fermenter, so I'd like to have some spares ready to go.
 
caspio said:
BTW - what would be your price to ship me a couple extra o-ring sets. I can pretty much guarantee I'll lose some or drop it in the fermenter, so I'd like to have some spares ready to go.
Click to expand...

Or better yet, post the McMaster-Carr numbers....

:D
 

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