Corny Keg as Fermenter?

[V1king]

I've seen custom lids available to use on Corny kegs so that they may be used as secondary fermenters. Any reason why you couldn't/shouldn't use one as a primary?

 

[davis119]

Because there will be 6" of trub in the bottom? Thats the first reason I thought of. And I think when people use it as a secondary they don't rack to a new keg. Just serve from it

 

[V1king]

You make a good point. What I am really after here is lagering. I don't have a fridge to make lagers, but I do have one that holds Corny kegs. I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone....

 

[tgreene7]

Never used a corny for a primary, but they rock for secondary. People do use them for primary, but they add a product called Ferm a Cap? This reduces the head space requirement.

 

[TrainSafe]

Lagers work well on cornies. As others have mentioned, you can use them for primaries, but it would be a pain to clean up.

 

[V1king]

Thanks, guys. I also found some older threads (see below in "Similar Threads" box) that had some good information. I think I will try using a Corny as a primary for my first lager.

 

[mjohnson]

I use them. They work great as primaries. A couple caveats - if you fill it really full of wort, you should probably use fermcap to keep the krausen in check. In the same scenario, you might consider unscrewing the gas in post and clamping a blowoff tube to it instead of using a disconnect.

I don't have truble (pun!) with lots of trub in the bottom. It usually is a nice yeast cake. Maybe an inch or two. But I do transfer my wort off the cold break/trub after doing a whirlpool in the boilkettle.