I just had a PM about using a Sanke for the first time and thought of no better way to tell him everything, than to get you guys help also. Kind of a more bang for his buck type of answer, since he only has one post on the forum and
(we can rock his world with info like a MoFo :rockin: ). Hook-sinker, lol, ok and on to the question,
I assume you have everything needed up to the point of the actual keg, but I am going elementary here in my description so please understand. You have to start any kegging system with a bottle of CO2. There are many places to get one and they can even come with a kegging setup if you do not have one already. I chose not to order a bottle as shipping makes them so much more expensive. Because of this, I had to find a bottle source. Luckily for me the welding supply houses in my area carry rent-able bottles and do bottle swaps. I paid $19 a year for a 25# bottle and got it filled/swapped whenever I needed for $15 each fill. So, not bad for a deposit on a bottle and the gas that lasts me over a year, but I personally bought my own bottle local. Each place is different and you will need to research your best option. Now on to the next bits, you will need a CO2 regulator. These are easily bought online, or again from a supply house (like mcmaster.com or other) or home brewing store (online stores like austinhomebrewsupply.com, morebeer.com, etc). The main thing is that if you buy a bottle elsewhere make sure the threads are the same as your regulator. Most of the time they are the same, but if it is an old bottle you bought somewhere you risk it. Ok, now attached to the regulator you want a gas shutoff valve and then tubing that feeds your gas-in port on your tap. So same equipment up to this point as any other keg setup but now for Sanke only directions.
Now you need a Sanke tap connector. You can buy these from a restaurant supply, online home brewing store, etc. These taps are great because one tap operates both ports of the keg, gas and liquid. When you purchase your tap, be careful to check if it comes with the beer-port fittings. Most of the taps I have bought come with gas-side fittings, but I have had to reorder the beer-side fittings every time due to my forgetting. Now you have your wall shank with another beer-line fitting and your wall tap, both of which you can get a better deal on buying as a package from any kegging supplier (kegworks.com, morebeer.com, austinhomebrewsupply.com, too many to list). That finishes up the whole keg system, now to talk about cleaning and useful possibilities of the kegs for the first timer.
Well, in mentioning cleaning the kegs I have to mention Oxy-Clean and Star-San. I know you said minus the two, but these are all I use, with the exception of a vinegar-ized soak/rinse before the Star-San. When I was working at the brewery and we cleaned kegs we would use a bottle brush designed for the keg dip-tube, but I have not needed any further cleaning tools as of yet though the brush would be nice to have. You simply release the pressure, remove the lock ring, and remove the spear assembly and you have a Sanke keg with a 1.5 hole in the top of it. Here is an excellent webpage for removing the spear, as well as the whole assembly if you want to be more thorough. Once emptied and open, I rinse out the old beer and usually have a kettle-full of PBW or Oxy-Clean mixed up from cleaning my brewery the day before to transfer in the keg. After filling, I re-tap my spear assembly and slowly lower it into the keg so the dip-tube fills up and I dont overflow my cleaner out of the keg. Then I put the lock ring back and tip the keg on its side. I usually only let the cleaner stay a day, swishing it and letting the keg rest in a different rotation, but a couple of hours should be fine. From here, it depends on what is next. If I have other kegs to clean I transfer under CO2 from one to the other. If I dont, I simply open back up, empty the keg, and soak/rinse with vinegar-water and then re-tap and fill with Star-San. Once sanitized, I transfer the Star-San to its destination purging the keg with CO2 in the process. Now I have a ready-to-fill keg all cleaned up and full of CO2. Remember, you can take apart and look at your keg pieces to see if you are cleaning them all the way up until you need to sanitize and purge them. This way you can be sure, I just know mine are clean from practice.
I am not sure if you want to ferment in your Sanke or not, but it can be done and cleaned just as easily. I ferment under pressure in mine using a spunding valve and then transfer into a ready keg, but one could leave out the spear assembly and put an airlock on top during fermentation. After fermentation is done, one could sanitize the spear and return it locking the ring and sealing up the keg for CO2 transfer to the next keg. Remember though that unless you have cut the keg spear it will reach the bottom and pick up trub. I say all this to go into your question about priming or force carbonating your transferred beer.
Once transferred, you are at the option of how to carbonate. If you were wanting to prime then you could pre-fill your serving keg with priming sugar solution prior to purging it with CO2 and transfer your new beer right on top. From here on out it would be the same as bottle conditioning as far as time and temperature are concerned. If you wanted to force carbonate, then there are many methods you can search for here on the forum. Basically, you chill your beer prior to carbonating to get it very cold and then add your recommended psi at that temperature to get your wanted CO2 volume in your finished beer. Again, more detailed information on these subjects can be found with a search here on HBT.
I hope I have given you enough to base your decision on Sanke, and would be glad to help with any further more detailed questions you might have.
Well, first of all thank you for asking me. I look forward to trying to help you out. I have to say, that the only reason I was sought out was because most people use the ever-present Cornelius design keg. These kegs are much easier to clean in one sense, and harder in the other. I say this because of all the different little parts that have to come together in the right order. Parts such as; 2 dip-tube gaskets, 2 dip-tubes, 2 post connection gaskets, 2 post connections make them take longer to clean and put back together. Then there are the pail and pail gasket, which are the reason I feel they are easier to clean. These reasons are why I chose to go Sanke and avoid all the little bits and pieces, as well as being able to swap immediately to a commercial keg if ever needed. So, all the parts I describe will be Sanke and would be the same as if you weren't into home brew at all, except were the two overlap.dirtbag said:
I assume you have everything needed up to the point of the actual keg, but I am going elementary here in my description so please understand. You have to start any kegging system with a bottle of CO2. There are many places to get one and they can even come with a kegging setup if you do not have one already. I chose not to order a bottle as shipping makes them so much more expensive. Because of this, I had to find a bottle source. Luckily for me the welding supply houses in my area carry rent-able bottles and do bottle swaps. I paid $19 a year for a 25# bottle and got it filled/swapped whenever I needed for $15 each fill. So, not bad for a deposit on a bottle and the gas that lasts me over a year, but I personally bought my own bottle local. Each place is different and you will need to research your best option. Now on to the next bits, you will need a CO2 regulator. These are easily bought online, or again from a supply house (like mcmaster.com or other) or home brewing store (online stores like austinhomebrewsupply.com, morebeer.com, etc). The main thing is that if you buy a bottle elsewhere make sure the threads are the same as your regulator. Most of the time they are the same, but if it is an old bottle you bought somewhere you risk it. Ok, now attached to the regulator you want a gas shutoff valve and then tubing that feeds your gas-in port on your tap. So same equipment up to this point as any other keg setup but now for Sanke only directions.
Now you need a Sanke tap connector. You can buy these from a restaurant supply, online home brewing store, etc. These taps are great because one tap operates both ports of the keg, gas and liquid. When you purchase your tap, be careful to check if it comes with the beer-port fittings. Most of the taps I have bought come with gas-side fittings, but I have had to reorder the beer-side fittings every time due to my forgetting. Now you have your wall shank with another beer-line fitting and your wall tap, both of which you can get a better deal on buying as a package from any kegging supplier (kegworks.com, morebeer.com, austinhomebrewsupply.com, too many to list). That finishes up the whole keg system, now to talk about cleaning and useful possibilities of the kegs for the first timer.
Well, in mentioning cleaning the kegs I have to mention Oxy-Clean and Star-San. I know you said minus the two, but these are all I use, with the exception of a vinegar-ized soak/rinse before the Star-San. When I was working at the brewery and we cleaned kegs we would use a bottle brush designed for the keg dip-tube, but I have not needed any further cleaning tools as of yet though the brush would be nice to have. You simply release the pressure, remove the lock ring, and remove the spear assembly and you have a Sanke keg with a 1.5 hole in the top of it. Here is an excellent webpage for removing the spear, as well as the whole assembly if you want to be more thorough. Once emptied and open, I rinse out the old beer and usually have a kettle-full of PBW or Oxy-Clean mixed up from cleaning my brewery the day before to transfer in the keg. After filling, I re-tap my spear assembly and slowly lower it into the keg so the dip-tube fills up and I dont overflow my cleaner out of the keg. Then I put the lock ring back and tip the keg on its side. I usually only let the cleaner stay a day, swishing it and letting the keg rest in a different rotation, but a couple of hours should be fine. From here, it depends on what is next. If I have other kegs to clean I transfer under CO2 from one to the other. If I dont, I simply open back up, empty the keg, and soak/rinse with vinegar-water and then re-tap and fill with Star-San. Once sanitized, I transfer the Star-San to its destination purging the keg with CO2 in the process. Now I have a ready-to-fill keg all cleaned up and full of CO2. Remember, you can take apart and look at your keg pieces to see if you are cleaning them all the way up until you need to sanitize and purge them. This way you can be sure, I just know mine are clean from practice.
I am not sure if you want to ferment in your Sanke or not, but it can be done and cleaned just as easily. I ferment under pressure in mine using a spunding valve and then transfer into a ready keg, but one could leave out the spear assembly and put an airlock on top during fermentation. After fermentation is done, one could sanitize the spear and return it locking the ring and sealing up the keg for CO2 transfer to the next keg. Remember though that unless you have cut the keg spear it will reach the bottom and pick up trub. I say all this to go into your question about priming or force carbonating your transferred beer.
Once transferred, you are at the option of how to carbonate. If you were wanting to prime then you could pre-fill your serving keg with priming sugar solution prior to purging it with CO2 and transfer your new beer right on top. From here on out it would be the same as bottle conditioning as far as time and temperature are concerned. If you wanted to force carbonate, then there are many methods you can search for here on the forum. Basically, you chill your beer prior to carbonating to get it very cold and then add your recommended psi at that temperature to get your wanted CO2 volume in your finished beer. Again, more detailed information on these subjects can be found with a search here on HBT.
I hope I have given you enough to base your decision on Sanke, and would be glad to help with any further more detailed questions you might have.
