Upside down sanke keg fermentor

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Artifishal

Artifishal

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I've recently gotten lucky and picked up two sanke kegs for $15 each. I'm romanticizing about using one of them as a fermenter. I've been using a 15 gallon LME drum and it is fun but very hard to clean.

I would like to use a 2 inch tri clover clamp on the normal opening then flip it upside down and cut a 12" hole in the bottom which will be the new top. I bought a replacement pot lid that is glass with silicone around the outside, and would like to apply some pressure to this to get an airtight seal. I have a diamond holesaw bit and can cut a hole in the glass to fit a stopper and an S bubbler.

If that goes well and it is airtight the next step would be to install a valve and transfer via pushing CO2 through the hole in the top and the beer would come out the valve on the side toward the bottom into my corny kegs.

I cannot find any information on doing it this way online. Has anyone tried this? Can anyone direct me to more information on this? Thoughts?

View attachment 315648View attachment 315650
 
Well the glass pot lid didn't want a hole. Next is to try a $6 glass plate I picked up at target.

As soon as I got almost through it, yes with running water, the whole thing made a loud pop sound and shattered.
 
I use a 15 gal Sanke keg as a fermentor right side up. I just put an orange carboy hood on the neck (fits perfectly), attach some blow-off tubing, and let it go. I know there are also fancy stainless fittings that use a 2" tri clamp connection to the neck and I may try one at some point because they look cool (and it would be nice to have a thermowell inside), but for now the carboy hood works great.

The only advantage I can see to turning it up side down is if you want to dump yeast from the bottom while beer is still in there, but I have no interest in that. And you will lose the nice handles for moving the fermentor around.
 
I use the fancy 2" triclamp fittings that hvjackson is speaking of. I bought the kit from bobby at brewhardware.com. It's excellent quality and works exactly as described.
 
You guys rock with the quick responses, as I'm completely obsessed with figuring this out.

I really, really want an opening big enough to get my arm in and clean.

I don't have a welder or the funds to pay the $100 to have it done.

My whole purpose for flipping it upside down was just for ease of cleaning. As in let water flow through so I don't have to keep picking it up and dumping it. that part is not s must.

I'm pretty sure my only "must" criteria is to have whole big enough to be able to get into to be confident it's clean.

I'm may buy another pot lid and do a blow off hole on the top rim of the pot, or on the side of the pot toward the top.

Thoughts?
 
Well you seem to be on a budget but 2" triclamp butterfly valves are expensive. And that's the only feasible option for dumping fermentation trub from a sanke keg IMO. I'm not understanding what you're trying to do with the pot lid. Soldering a ferrule onto the keg seems easier to me than trying to get a pot lid to seal but maybe that's because I'm pretty handy.
 
Yes you are right about tri clover butterfly valves being expensive. I have a one and a half inch one on my 15 gallon plastic conical. Love it, but don't plan on buying another one. I did order a 2" tri clover cap, gasket, and clamp.

I plan to push the beer out with co2. Then when it's empty lift it up onto my conical stand, put a ziplock underneath and open the clamp. I may secure the ziplock there with a releasable zip tie and use a sanitized spatula to push the yeast out. I valve would make this easier but I'm saving up for an SS Conical.

Here are a few pictures I grabbed off google to show what I want to do with the pot lid. I'm thinking I might just go with plexiglass now. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447498813.789916.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447498826.171140.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447498836.440360.jpg

The blue one is mine, that is now shattered, I can use its silicone gasket still though, or buy a new one. It was only $12.
 
Here's what I've come up with so far. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447523338.471213.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447523356.837322.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1447523428.963319.jpg

That is a glass plate that I plan to return since I discovered you can not drill or cut tempered glass.

I'm really liking how these clamps are working though.

I have not cut the 11" hole in the bottom of the keg yet, but I did pick up a piece of plexiglass to cut into a 12" circle. I plan to put two stoppers in the plexiglass lid. One for a blow off or s bubbler, and one for a racking cane to force it out via co2 at the end.
 
 
So I am on the same page. right now I have a keg that has a huge hole in the top and a messed up bottom. (I messed it up trying to make a drain tube flush at the bottom), I plan on cutting the bottom out just enough to pass this though the keg:

http://moonshinedistiller.com/large-stainless-steel-funnel-filter-tri-clamp

This funnel will give me an extra 2 gallons so I can ferment 15 gallons in a keg.

I plan on sealing the inside lip with this:

http://www.theoringstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=367_144_146&products_id=6208

or maybe something flat. Either way, I will weld some set screws to pull the conical against the seal. What do you think?
 
Komocabo said:
Artifishal, where did you get those clamps? I did something similar but just cut th top off. I was lucky enough to have 1" bars that work to clamp my lid on, but would like something like you've got there.. got a link by chance?

You showed me yours, so I'll show you mine (lol)
Click to expand...

Check this place, cheapest I can find

http://www.thetoggleclampstore.com/40334.html
 
I love the funnel Idea, great find with the tri clamp connection too. Thank you for sharing it. I will put it in the memory bank for a future project. Currently, I have a conical in one ferm chamber and another ferm chamber (glass mini beverage fridge) that won't fit a conical, so I can't get off on the funel tangent for this project. THere are some great threads regarding making your own conical.


Como, I got them at Menards for about $6 each. I loved them, and how they were so adjustable and how they snapped with ease, but unfortunately they stuck out too wide for my chamber so I decided to take them off instead of chopping them down and just use two ratchet straps to keep it down. I'll post more pics later.

Oh, Como, where did you get your gasket? and is that plexi? Tell me more.

How do you all plan to transfer out? I have fermented in a blue LME drum before and pushed out with C02, but it was not fun (something got clogged and the stopper blew out and hit me right in the nose, Hard!). I have a Chugger pump, but was told not to use it on the finished end of beer because it introduces oxygen and is too hard on the finished beer. I've seen a self priming pump that is designed for the finished end of beer on morebeer.com, but it's like $160. My fridge is on the ground so I can't siphon out. I plan to do 10-12 gallon batches in it, so I don't want to lift it up to siphon out. Thoughts?
 
The gasket is made from food grade rubber (got it at a rubber store. It was not cheap, but you want food grade obviously.) The lid is plexiglass and I just cut it it a jigsaw. It's pretty thick plexiglass. I used a hole saw to drill the middle for the stopper. I just use the standard suction method with a stainless racking cane. Definitely don't use a pump as you want to be gentle to your beer
 
What is "the standard suction method?"

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1448298764.804078.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1448298805.120805.jpg

My polycarbonate lid is so heavy and my silicone gasket is so tacky I'm positive I won't even need a clamp or a strap when it's fermenting. It will be easier for it to escape through the bubbler than it would anywhere else. I will need to hold it down somehow when/if I have to use co2 to force it out.

I just ordered this.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1448299245.351728.jpg

http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/miniballvalvewnewrackingarm
 
this is funny... i've been debating this same thing for awhile as well.
I want to build a jacket out of copper for cooling, but if i do that, i wouldn't want to keep disconnecting it in order to get it to the sink to clean it.
glad someone else did more of the reseach for me! haha.

good job sir!
 
My pleasure man. It works great. It's fermenting its 2nd 10 gallon batch now. I love how easy it is to clean. Just open bottom tri clamp and spray and scrub. Then fill with water and 1 oz of oxy clean to soak till I get to it, then open bottom again and rinse with hose.

A few notes. I did have to build a 1" collar on the fridge to fit it. That was simple with 1x1 synthetic decking material spindles from menards.

I live in Michigan so I am having to heat it now. This part I was worried about but the plastic fermwrap heating pad from AIH, taped to it works just fine. I wasn't sure it would be able to keep up but it's been just fine. Not even on that often so it must heat it up quick and shut back off. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1453296590.369900.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1453296640.407607.jpg

I did make two more tops for it too. One was a large $8 plastic cutting board from SAMs club. I cut it into a circle with a jig saw and drilled two holes in it. One for the air lock and one for the thermowell. I liked it because of all the anti microbial and dishwasher safe features.

The second lid I have not drilled the two holes in yet but it is a stainless steel pie pan from eBay for $9.

So if you cut a 7" hole you will have room to clean up the hole and fit an 8" pie pan or cake pan or dog dish or mixing bowl....sorry I was obsessed with this project for a while. And glad I was because it was fun, cheap, and works great.

Let me know if you have any questions.
 
If you guys don't mind me asking, how much have you guys got in these DIY conicals (or is it "keggicals") compared to what you could buy from Blichman, Spike, SS Brewtech, etc.?



Is that a Rubbermaid dolly you used for v2 Artifishal? Clever.
 
It's a $24 flower pot dolly from the garden department at Menards.

I've got about $50 into it.

I've used the first one about 4-5 times now. It's so nice for 10 gallon batches, easy to clean, easy to move around.

I've considered SsBrewtech's bucket but it's only 7 gallons and like $200.

I've considered Chapman brewing supplies' ss fermenter but it's expensive and no bottom drain either.

I have a 15 gallon conical and use it but I've found that I'm liking the keg better just bc it's easier to clean and move around.
 
Super cool setup, I've got a couple extra sankes - going to give it a shot. Thanks for sharing!
 
Question for you,
How to do siphon to kegs/bottling bucket? i wont be able to lift it worth a damn... so i'm debating getting some metal and making a 2' stand for the mini fridge and just filling it while it's in the fridge so i can use a siphon.
 
sirivan said:
Super cool setup, I've got a couple extra sankes - going to give it a shot. Thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...


You totally should. It's the best. I'm going to make another one with a 6" tri clamp ferrule welded to the top. I didn't want to spend the money the first time, but it's working so well I'd like the ease of that. A company called Sabco makes a similar fermenter and sells them for near $600.
 
I'm interested.

Just read all he links above. Good stuff
 
Last edited:
Rivenin said:
Question for you,
How to do siphon to kegs/bottling bucket? i wont be able to lift it worth a damn... so i'm debating getting some metal and making a 2' stand for the mini fridge and just filling it while it's in the fridge so i can use a siphon.
Click to expand...


I like it on the ground. I well it into the fridge and out.

I got a ss racking cane for a few bucks from stainless dewing.com

http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/SS-Racking-Cane_p_43.html

I put a bottling tube on that and stick it in a corny, then push in about 2-3 psi of co2 through the 2nd hole to force it out. Works like a charm.

Those two holes are used for a thermowell and an airlock during fermentation for me, or you could just plug one of them with an un-drilled stopper if you don't want to do the thermowell thing. I really like the thermowell though.

Another option is to build a double pulley system and pull it up to a table.

A third option is to buy a diaphragm pump to gently pump it out.

To be honest though, the easiest way, is to have your neighbor come over and just help you lift it up into a table, that's what I did once and it was a lot easier than the co2 contraption. I'll still keep that handy for when no one is around to help.
 
Artifishal said:
I've recently gotten lucky and picked up two sanke kegs for $15 each. I'm romanticizing about using one of them as a fermenter. I've been using a 15 gallon LME drum and it is fun but very hard to clean.

I would like to use a 2 inch tri clover clamp on the normal opening then flip it upside down and cut a 12" hole in the bottom which will be the new top. I bought a replacement pot lid that is glass with silicone around the outside, and would like to apply some pressure to this to get an airtight seal. I have a diamond holesaw bit and can cut a hole in the glass to fit a stopper and an S bubbler.

If that goes well and it is airtight the next step would be to install a valve and transfer via pushing CO2 through the hole in the top and the beer would come out the valve on the side toward the bottom into my corny kegs.

I cannot find any information on doing it this way online. Has anyone tried this? Can anyone direct me to more information on this? Thoughts?

View attachment 315648View attachment 315650
Click to expand...

Can I ask where you got that lid?
 
Rivenin said:
this is funny... i've been debating this same thing for awhile as well.
I want to build a jacket out of copper for cooling, but if i do that, i wouldn't want to keep disconnecting it in order to get it to the sink to clean it.
glad someone else did more of the reseach for me! haha.

good job sir!
Click to expand...

So, i'm slowly getting there...

20160710_110058 by Noah Scott, on Flickr

Built the stand with the collar on wheels which i'm fermenting everything in the sanke keg... Now i just need to get some tri clamp crap... It just doesn't feel right filling it up with 15 gallons of scalding water, i'm wondering how much money it's taking with electricity and water to clean this damn thing with the oxy soak every time
 
Artifishal, where did you get your polycarbonate lid and silicone gasket from post 18/19? I've been looking online and can't find anything as substantial as yours. Thanks!
 

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