converting a pin-lock corny to a fermenter

I recently acquired a pin-lock corny keg and want to convert it to a secondary fermenter so I can dry hop and also so I'll have a secondary that's more robust than a glass carboy. Any thoughts on what/how? Should I drill the pressure relief out?... modify one of the poppets?... just drill a hole??? I don't particularly want to do any heavy modification so the simpler the better. Thanks all!

i wouldnt drill anything. take the tubes out. screw one of the valves back on and on the other side get a drilled stopper to fit it. make sure you have a good gasket on the door and it seals well though. thats just my 2 cents. if you dont drill it, then you can always use it down the road.

Since you want to dry hop, get a screen for the outlet tube and cut about 1/2 inch off of the tube. Most of the time, that will be enough to leave the trub behind. All I do when I'm ready to transfer to the serving keg is attach a party tap & run the ale to a glass until it's clear; then I replace the party tap with the transfer hose and connect another keg.

Leave everything else as-is and burp the keg daily.

i know this is an old thread, but we just racked some beer last night into a corny to use as a secondary. this is what we did.


and here's a close up. its just a short piece of sanitized tubing. we just took the valve off, pulled the dip tube out and put the peice of tubing on it. it was kinda a pain in the ass to get over the threads, but it works. and as you can see. the keg built alittle pressure.