The Ultimate Sanke Fermentor

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of my new sanke fermentor.

I like to ferment in a chest freezer for a couple of reasons.

* Small size
* Fast and low temp cold crashing
* Capturing (and holding) a CO2 blanket
* Put them on wheels and roll them to my brew location for filling with wort.

If you use a chest freezer as a fermentation chamber you may be interested in a similar setup.

I found that a sanke keg fits perfectly in chest freezer so I had a 6" tri-clover ferrule welded up on one. My welder also installed three (3) 1/2" couplings in the cap giving me a large number of options.

Right now I have a thermowell, cap and blow-off tube configuration but intend to install either a compression/racking cane combo or a set of ball lock posts.

I like having the ability to be able to put my fermentor under pressure like commercial breweries do for dry hopping, cold crashing & carbonating at the same time and moving beer with CO2.

Really like to thank Christian at Custom Built Brewing for helping me put this together.

 

purdy.

 

Neat. How much do the collar thingees cost?

 

Brewer's Hardware carries them.

http://www.brewershardware.com/6-Tri-Clover-Compatible-Tri-Clamp-Ferrule-WMP-Short-Style.html

If you contact Christian at Custom Built Brewing he could get you a price.

 

Man... Thanks and here I thought I had ran out of projects to do.

How much did it cost you in total? Will that collar fit on a 1/4 and 1/6?

 

For labor and materials (ferrule, tank & fittings) was around $250.

You could go with an 8" on a full size keg but with a 6" I can stick my arm in and reach all the way to the bottom.

 

Wow $85 just for the opening. I'd still might do it thouh. Yeast harvesting could get messy.

 

I'm thinking yeast harvesting could be real easy with a dip tube to the bottom of the keg and some C02 pressure.

 

I agree. That's how I'd do it... But on second thought if you can afford this fermenter, you probably don't need to harvest your yeast cause you're rich! :cross:

 

I ferment in unmodified sankeys (and sometimes cornies) and counter pressure transfer the beer out using the sankey spear or corny diptube. Only a tiny bit of the yeast cake comes out with the beer, just what was right under the spear or diptube. The rest stays put. When I want to wash and reuse yeast, I add a little water to the keg once the beer has been transferred, swirl it around to get the yeast cake in suspension, and then push it out with CO2 to collect it.

 

Nice work. I have a 1/4 barrel sanke that I've always wanted to do the same thing to. Just never found a good welder that I trusted. I've had my eye on this for while now too:
https://brewmagic.com/product/select-sankey-keg-7-75-gallon/

I don't really need or care for the sanke spear/fitting, but it has a pressure release valve and it's setup with a ferrule for 4" triclamp. Not sure if 4" is big enough to get my arm down into. I could swap out a modified 4" triclamp cap and have basically what you have. Kind of expensive though.

 

All my sanke fermenters came with 2" tri-clover fittings pre-installed.

No need to weld and I don't need to reach my arm in as I use chemicals to clean and sanitize.

Use this:

 

Why didnt you flip the keg and make use of the tap fitting on the top as a conical outlet with tri clover adapters and a valve? You removed a perfectly good 2" tri clover fitting for a 6". Love the idea i would just install it on the bottom of the keg and flip it.

 

What purpose would that serve? The top of a sankey isn't even close to steep enough for the yeast to move toward the center like in a conical. You'd also need a stand to hold it up off of the valve, which would be an additional cost and cause it to take up more space.

 

I've been using a Burton union for yeast collection, and love it. not messy at all. Cleaning the tubes are a pain but not to the point of it not being worth it.

 

Im willing to bet the sanke top would be enough of a slope, especially if you have a 2" elbow, and 2" valve. That should be more than enough volume to collect some trub and yeast. Yeast tends to settle and flow quite easily think about how washed yeast always slowly shifts and levels when tilted. And you would only need about 10" of legs if you use a 90* bend off the keg.

 

It's not even close. Even a carboy with a steeper shoulder and smoother surface isn't even close, as evidenced by the failure of the gadget that holds a carboy upside down to turn it into a conical. It's been tried by many, and only the yeast and trub right over the hole comes out. Once the yeast starts compacting, you need over a 50 degree slope for the yeast to slide. That's why conicals have a 60 degree slope.

 

Just finished dry hopping (with a sealed fermenter).

Now I'm cold crashing with the whole thing while under CO2 pressure. Could never do that with my carboys!

 

Hello,
Thanks for posting this.
I want to do the same thing.

Would you do anything different if you had to do it over again?

I too ferment under pressure and find cleaning the sankes to be a big pain... A lot of people have success but I am not...and have screwed up a few batches recently due to the fact I did not get the sankes spotlessly clean and had a small infection.
I have tried several attempts so far at cleaning with washers, PBW and even attempting lye, let alone using lighted mirrors to see up under the top of sankes... I am tired of wasting all this time.

Back to your build -
I like the idea flipping the keg and welding the 6" ferrule to the bottom.
Not so much for yeast collection but for cleaning.

I have a bottom drain EBIAB keg/kettle and it is joy to have, never have to flip it over to drain and clean... saves a lot of time and mess.
Same with a setup like this, having that 2" fitting open to clean this fermenter would make life really easy.

thanks again
Kevin

 

I have two. One with a 6" ferrule and one with an 8". I think the 6" is perfect. If I had to do it over again I would make sure I purchased a high quality ferrule such as the ones from Brewers Hardware. The one I have was cheaper and does not hold as much pressure (which IMHO is one of it's biggest advantages).

I didn't think of putting the ferrule on the bottom when I made mine. Please let me know how it comes out!

 

Yeaup that is how I do it too. Makes the job actually fun imho. You don't need to be poor to harvest your own yeast though... but you gotta love working it!

Nice work - it looks awesome! Looking back now I should have gone this way to begin with - soooo many less parts that can fail than my setup. I just love the flexibility of using any of my sankes according to batch size though.

 

Great build! That is perfect for what I need. What size, make and model chest freezer is that?

 

Dert, where did you get the little tube thing for the top of a snake? Do you use it for cleaning or fermentation?

 

What did you use to cut such a clean 6" hole?

 

I'll second that question. I'm considering building a similar setup.

 

Maybe you could do it with this. Radius is kinda small though.

Simplest (?) Keggle Cutting Jig

 

I'm gona have the 6" ferrule welded to the bottom of the keg for ease of fabrication, but I haven't decided if I'll use the 2" or 6" for the top of the fermenter.

 

I'm looking at a similar design. It'll have two 1" triclover fittings below the 5 gallon mark one for a thermowell, the other a racking arm. The racking arm will be the triclover pick up tube from brewers hardware.

https://www.brewershardware.com/1-Tri-Clover-Tri-Clamp-Style-Pickup-Tube.html

The 6" triclover top will be drilled and tapped for NPT instead of welding a half coupling. I'll put a barb in the tapped top for the blow off tube.