Fermenting in firkin keg

[wuttheheeck]

Hello all. I was looking for a sanke to use as a large fermenter.

Got my hands on a firkin style cask, with a bung on the side for free, wondering if anyone has fermented in it. Will the bung hold pressure if keg is upright.

If it only works sideways i might get a triclover clamp and seal the sanke connection.

Thoughts?

 

[patthebrewer]

Yes the bung should hold pressure. Yes you can ferment in it....as long as it's stainless steel your good to go. Clean it with a good long soak with PBW or B-Brite, soak it for a few days, a short soak in a bleach water solution, then rinse well. Followed by a long soak of a grain based sugary liquid, and yeast

 

[SandyV]

I wouldn't do the bleach water soak in stainless. Fine in glass carboys but not stainless. Will result in pitting and other unfavorable conditions


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[rekoob]

use starsan.

 

[patthebrewer]

It is widely believed that contact with straight bleach will pit stainless...there are some that claim this is blown out of proportion. I personally have used bleach in my stainless sink for YEARS with absolutely NO pitting whatsoever. In my past I have worked in a commercial kitchen environment where bleach solution was used as a grease cutter, and disinfectant on stainless, again with no damage. This is neither here nor there......for I'm not talking about a straight bleach soak.....

I have used a diluted solution of 2 cups of bleach in 5 gallons of water, and a soak of a few hours, in my kegs all with no damaged whatsoever. What bleach is great for is removing stuff that even PBW might not get in a keg (Firkin) that you can't get your hand in to manually clean.

For my money I'd want that sucker, absolutely clean before I was willing to drink anything out of it:cross:.

And I love starsan.....use it all the time, but it's not a great Cleaner

 

[jalmeida]

Firkins are not easy to come by nor are they cheap. I would find something more common to ferment in and sell that keg to somebody looking to setup a cask pump setup.


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[patthebrewer]

Firkins are not easy to come by nor are they cheap.


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All the more reason to keep it....your not going to hurt it by fermenting in it, and you'll be the winner of the "My fermenter is cooler than yours" dicussion

 

[MrFancyPlants]

How did fermenting in the firkin work out? I am considering doing the same. Do you have any pictures?