Kegging

[HoppyShawn]

New to home brewing, I have 3 batches of all grain under my belt. I've been bottling so far but want to switch to kegging. I have a keggerator, Co2 ect.... After looking at prices of corney kegs, I was curious if anyone has any experience kegging with commercial sanke kegs with a single ball lock? I figure why pay $150 for a used corney keg when I can buy $50 commercial kegs full of beer & drink the beer then keep the keg for just the price of my deposit. Only info I have found is on disassembly of the sanke keg & how to clean. I would like to filter & force carbonate my homebrew into the sanke keg. How would I do this with only one entry point to keg? Would disassembly, racking into keg, reassembly, then just tap & carbonate work? Or is it more complicated than that, like most things are? Thanks & happy brewing!

 

[Hudini56]

Not certain on the sanke keg idea. But $150 for a corny keg sounds a little high. My LHBS sells refurbished corny kegs for $55 or $60..

Either way this is interesting, I wonder if anyone has some info? Would be pretty cool, especially of people are brewing large batches, would be nice to keg all into 1 keg rather than splitting it up.

 

[govner1]

New to home brewing, I have 3 batches of all grain under my belt. I've been bottling so far but want to switch to kegging. I have a keggerator, Co2 ect.... After looking at prices of corney kegs, I was curious if anyone has any experience kegging with commercial sanke kegs with a single ball lock? I figure why pay $150 for a used corney keg when I can buy $50 commercial kegs full of beer & drink the beer then keep the keg for just the price of my deposit. Only info I have found is on disassembly of the sanke keg & how to clean. I would like to filter & force carbonate my homebrew into the sanke keg. How would I do this with only one entry point to keg? Would disassembly, racking into keg, reassembly, then just tap & carbonate work? Or is it more complicated than that, like most things are? Thanks & happy brewing!

First, you're not buying the Sanke for $50. You're only paying a deposit as an incentive for you to return it t via the store to the brewery which has a much higher cost than $50.
Secondly, you should be able to easily acquire used 5g corney kegs for $40-50 each and you can get more into your kegerator.

 

[tjosborne]

Just don't keep it and you are ok. Look on YouTube how to remove spear then clean and fill from there.

 

[lump42]

I'll second with @govner1. Used cornies can be found much cheaper than $150. I bought 3 on a Black Friday sale for $30 a piece.

Also, the deposit isn't buying a sanke. Keg theft is a huge issue and cost for breweries. It hits the small guys the hardest. They have a difficult enough time getting kegs back from distributors without keg theft.

 

[audioa84]

I'll also agree with not using a sanke keg. If you are completely sure you want to use one, obtain one legally by purchasing (not the same as a deposit) it any number of ways (search this forum for more info). Williams Brewing (and I'm sure other sites) sell adapters to convert your coupler for use with ball lock fittings. I have not personally used these, I just know they exist. I personally use ball lock kegs and got them used for $50 each shipped via an online retailer. I like the fact that I only have 5 gallons in them as it allows me to brew more often and have more variety. Just my 2 cents.

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/SANKE-BALL-LOCK-BEER-SIDE-CONVERTER-P3338.aspx

Edit: I realized I didn't exactly answer your question. The short answer is if yes. Just disassemble, clean, sanitize, rack, reassemble and add CO2 (don't forget to purge the headspace). Force carbing is easy. Just hook up your CO2 to the gas side and set the pressure according to the temperature and the desired carb level. There are plenty of youtube videos on how to do that. The procedure should be extremely similar to that of force carbing using a corny keg.

 

[HoppyShawn]

Well my apologies for my ignorance. My assumption was that the $30 deposit you pay for a commercial keg would cover the cost to the brewery if it wasn't returned, no harm no fowl. Guess I was wrong & as the saying goes, when you assume you make an a** out of yourself. I don't want to steal from anyone. I wanted to find a way to be able to filter & keg my beer with as little investment into equipment as possible. Thanks for enlightening me to the reality of my ingenious idea. Thanks & Happy Brewing!

 

[passedpawn]

Stick with cornies. Will make your life easier in many ways. There's a benefit to doing it the way everybody else does, too: when you run into issues, there's lots of answers right here on HBT.

However, if you go down the sanke route, Brewer's Hardware has Sanke Fermentor Kits.

 

[thunderwagn]

You can hit up Kegconnection also. They run great deals on used cornies fairly often.
http://www.kegconnection.com/
Sometimes they post discount codes here on HBT for members. Last one I used was for free shipping on a couple of kegs. I got 2 kegs shipped for way less than $150

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

As stated the $30 deposit doesn't mean you own the kegs.
Your not going to get much love for sanke kegs but I think sankes are better in everyway except dry hopping,which is a deal breaker for many. One great benefit is you can swap to a commercial keg when your pipeline runs low. Plus other factors like not dealing with o rings and clogged dip tubes. They can be bought legally as simple as clicking on the link. $75 shipped for brand spankin new kegs is a good deal.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-OF-2-BR...301895?hash=item4b1032a5c7:g:CYgAAOSwbsBXpMjj