Sankey keg for home brew?

so i bought a cool brew setup and i have a extra keg un touched "no mods" all original, my new setup will allow me to do 10gal batchs is there anyway to load 10gal into this keg carbonate it and serv from it? is there a special adapter i can use? i never played with a real 15.5 gal keg and kinda lost on how to hook it up to my system currently i have a normal corny ball lock setup.. i just never messed with a sankey keg before..

Not sure about an adapter, but you could hook up a sankey coupler to your in/out lines instead of the ball lock. You could also just turn the sanke into a fermenter.

There are adapter kits to convert sanke to homebrew. Its basically just quick disconnects. Got mine on ebay, there are a few keg supply stores that sell them as well. Just google homebrew sanke conversion.

keg connection is a sponser here. They are the only ones that have all SS socket/connector

You need to remove and reinstall the sanke spear to fill it w/ homebrew. To tap it you need a sanke D coupler. They work well IMHO.

I use 3 sixtels (1/6 barrel keg) for my beers, they work like a charm

SleepyCreekBrews said:

I use 3 sixtels (1/6 barrel keg) for my beers, they work like a charm

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How are you guys cleaning your sankey kegs.

I recently upsized "production" and can brew 20 gal batches. I'm thinking about using sankey keg for 15 gallons. But how do I make sure they are clean? Perhaps I need to have a kid with a very small arm?????

I ferment in mine, so they get dirty.

I'll rinse them out, add about a cup of OxyClean and about 5 gallons of water. Then I take a carboy brush and scrub the sides. You can pretty much see if you get a flashlight and look right through the neck if they are clean. Some folks like to use an inspection mirror.

After that I just fill it up with water to rinse it out.

On brew day, I add about 3 gallons of clear water and toss it on a burner. Boil that for about 5 minutes and the steam will kill ANYTHING living inside that keg. Careful, the steam is HOT!

All of this is without the spear installed. After fermentation I'd transfer it to a clean keg - Siphon or otherwise, into a clean Sanke. At that point you could reinstall the spear, and carbonate as usual (You have to modify the D-tap to remove the back-flow valve)

There are a TON of threads on Sanke kegging around the forum.

wilserbrewer said:

You need to remove and reinstall the sanke spear to fill it w/ homebrew. To tap it you need a sanke D coupler. They work well IMHO.

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I was under the impression that if you removed the check valves, you don't have to remove the spear to fill it. Not that you'd want to just fill it without sanitizing it first, but you can sanitize, CO2 purge, then fill if you do it that way.

uberg33k said:

I was under the impression that if you removed the check valves, you don't have to remove the spear to fill it. Not that you'd want to just fill it without sanitizing it first, but you can sanitize, CO2 purge, then fill if you do it that way.

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Yes this can be done, and I believe the commercial brewers clean and fill through the sanke port w/ specialized equipment, and only break a keg down occasionally for more detailed cleaning. On the homebrew level, removing the spear works best for me and most others I believe.

On the homebrew level w/ unfiltered beer you will have yeast and sediment that needs to be flushed from a spen keg. Commercial brewers circulate some pretty strong cleaners and acid rinse, kinda out of reach for your average homebrewer.

I ferment and serve out of mine as well.
Cleaning them is a bit trickier, but a carboy brush, some oxyclean and a lot of rinse-water can always get it done.

I feel better about mine after having a look inside. A small inspection mirror, available from any automotive store, and a light like this one makes it easy to be sure everything is clean.

brrrnt said:

How are you guys cleaning your sankey kegs.

I recently upsized "production" and can brew 20 gal batches. I'm thinking about using sankey keg for 15 gallons. But how do I make sure they are clean? Perhaps I need to have a kid with a very small arm?????

Click to expand...

I only use mine to store finished beer, no fermenting or nothing like that.
When it's empty, I remove the spear, rinse with water, and dump 2-4 quarts of sanitizer inside, insert a stopper and shake it around for a few mins. Then I remove the stopper and insert the spear, connect the coupler (makeshift) and pump the sanitizer through the spear & lines. Then use the same method to rinse.

whats the best brand for new keg? Seems Franke is the only one that isn't made in China.