5 gallon sanke as a secondary?

I have recently had the good fortune of coming across a 5 gallon sanke keg.

I know I saw someone on this board who had been using one as a secondary fermenter, but of course I forget who. I'm assuming if I find the right size rubber stopper I can just drill a hole, pop it in with an airlock and ferment away, right?

Thanks

Edit: A-ha! Found it:

Sankes as fermenters are a cinch. All that is required is a #10.5 or #11 drilled stopper in the top once the spear assembly is removed. Also, an orange carboy cap will fit with some warm water and stretching.

Click to expand...

The thread is here

OK, so the next question is, where the heck can I find a #10.5 or #11 rubber stopper?

I know the big homebrew sites sell them, but I'd rather not pay $7 shipping for a $2 item. I will check with my LHBS, but I don't think he has any.

I briefly walked through the Lowes plumbing section this morning and didn't see anything resembling a rubber stopper.

Does anyone have a suggestion of another place I could look?

Thanks

One last bump and I'll drop it, but if anyone can suggest something better, I'm going to try ordering a few of different sizes from this place:

http://www.widgetco.com/rubber-stoppers

They have a $10 order minimum, but shipping is free. Beats getting one stopper for the same price from a homebrew site.

NO NO NO NO NO! Notice the website clearly states,"EPDM is not food safe."

We sell black rubber stoppers in the Do-It Best store where I work, and they contain sulfur.........not good for your beer.

Jim Karr said:

NO NO NO NO NO! Notice the website clearly states,"EPDM is not food safe."

We sell black rubber stoppers in the Do-It Best store where I work, and they contain sulfur.........not good for your beer.

Click to expand...

Yikes! Not good at all, scratch that idea.

My LHBS doesn't carry this size, but as luck would have it, he can order them (the food safe kind), so that's what I'll do.

Thanks!

A sanke would work fine as a secondary. But Secondary's are not used for fermentation. Fermentaion should be completed in the primary.

OR

Do you mean you're using it as a 2nd Primary?

Here's mine:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=57923
Beer will be going in a few days from now for the first time.

It's a comon misconception that a secondary vessel is a fermenter. In actuality the secondary is simply a brite tank or conditioning vessel and serves as a means of getting the fermented beer off trub. Conicals do this with nifty valves and the beer never leaves the primary uness it's needed for another primary.

Occasionally, most ofen with fruited beer, a secondary is applicable as a fermenter as the fruit will cause a second fermentation.

IrregularPulse said:

A sanke would work fine as a secondary. But Secondary's are not used for fermentation. Fermentaion should be completed in the primary.

OR

Do you mean you're using it as a 2nd Primary?

Click to expand...

Sorry, I guess I didn't mean to append "fermenter" to "secondary". I do realize that fermentation is done in the primary, not in secondary.

I am hoping to turn this keg into a secondary.

How's that?

landhoney said:

Here's mine:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=57923
Beer will be going in a few days from now for the first time.

Click to expand...

A-ha! Yes, your picture was the one I saw and gave me the idea.

What size stopper do you use and where did you find it?

xumbi said:

A-ha! Yes, your picture was the one I saw and gave me the idea.

What size stopper do you use and where did you find it?

Click to expand...

Local homebrew shop, its a size '10' and fits down into the bottom of the cylinder. This is hard to explain online, but when you remove the spear/guts the opening is a cylinder thats bottom lip is smaller than the top. Ideally, I guess, you'd want a slightly larger stopper(maybe a 10 1/2) that fit into the top. Mine fits down into the bottom lip and is hard to get out. As I won't be messing with the beer inside for at least 6 months at a time this is not a problem. If I were opening this vessel every few weeks I'd want the stopper to fit into the top so it would be easier to take in and out. Hope this makes sense. A size 10 will definitely fit into the bottom, I imagine a 10 1/2 would fit into the top but I'm not sure. Buy at your own risk.

I am, as of yesterday, getting some 5 gallon sanke's for $15 a pop up to 20 if I want them. I think I'll just buy 3 though. Using 2 for future kegerator and one for long term conditioning. Probably will transfer my Apfelwein to it in a couple weeks.