What do I need to ferment in a keg?

Looking to buy some cornelius kegs for primary fermentation (I really hate siphoning, and my understanding is you can use gas to force the liquid out instead of having to siphon).

What parts do I need? Seems like most of the threads here about fermenting in a keg are from people who have already been using kegs for other things and have greater familiarity than I do. Only corny kegs I've seen are in the homebrew store, so I've never used one, and only have basic familiarity.

Obviously, I will need a cornelius keg and a CO2 tank. How big of a CO2 tank should I get?

What else will I need? Do I basically want everything they sell in this kit?

I'm not planning to really ferment under pressure. My understanding is that I can either set it up to either automatically release pressure or hook it up to a blow-off.

I'm probably ordering from http://www.bvrgelements.com/ as they have a 2-pack of new ball-lock corny kegs for $196.

Many thanks!

 

I've only tried fermenting in a corny keg once and it was a success. I had this bookmarked for future reference, maybe you can find some good info here:

http://www.thebeerjournals.com/Racking.html

 

Never tried fermenting in a corny. My only concern would be that when you go to transfer your finished brew off the yeast, that you'd get a lot of trub in the transferred beer due to the position of the liquid pickup tube. As I said, I may be totally off-base as I've never done it, but that's what I"d be worried about.

 

Have you tried an auto-siphon? I recently started using one. It takes all the hassle out.

 

I'm going to assume you are only brewing 3 gallon batches and you are talking about using 5 gallon corny kegs.

If the lid is adapted to use a blow off tube and/or air lock, you'll be good to go.

Now if your talking about fermenting 5g batches in a 5g corny keg,... you will have issues,... issues that, will, blow big time.

For a 5g batch you'll be better off with a 7.25g keg, and corny kegs in that size are expensive! You're better off to try and find Sanke type kegs on CL or such.

I started out with 10g batches and 15.5g Sanke kegs for fermentors. Never had an issue at all. Plus you can't see the fermentation action and thus you are less likely to freak out prematurely.

I push my beer out of the fermentor to my corny kegs when the ferment is done with CO2. I have 2, 20lb tanks and a 5lb tank for back up. Again CL is a good place to haunt for them as well.

You may not need as much CO2 depending on your situation.

More questions? Just ask and we will answer. Plus more advice is on the way, I'm sure. That's what's great about this place. You get tons of advice and you can filter it to suit your needs and situation.

pb

 

I'm brewing stuff that thankfully doesn't have too much blowoff, so I'm not too concerned about that still going to be cautious though.

Thanks for the link. it says "As you see in the pictures, all you need to get is a keg, a gas disconnect, and some hose for a blowoff tube."

So it sounds like I need to buy some kind of part that screws onto the keg? Is this what I need? http://www.bvrgelements.com/product/Set-Threaded-Ball-Lock-Disconnects-Liq-and-Gas/

You say you have 2 20lb tanks... 10g batches is way bigger than I can handle. If I'm doing 1 4 gallon batch at a time, roughly how many batches could a 20lb tank force out into another container? How much gas would it use if I decided to force-carb something?

I have an auto-siphon, but I don't find it any better. I still make a huge mess every time I siphon, and end up accidentally stirring some of the yeast deposits into what I'm siphoning. It wouldn't be such a big deal if I had help when siphoning, but I usually don't.

Thanks!

 

I need to clarify a bit.

I use 1 20lb tank just for my kegerator. It will last about 9 months.

The other one I use to push liquids like cleaner, sanitizer, and transfer beer to my corny kegs for storage. I also carb with it. It lasts a long time as well, around 15 half barrels worth. so you should easily get by with one for the most part.

pb

 

Corny keg/s, CO2 tank, CO2 regulator, gas QD, liquid QD, gas hose, beer transfer hose. I recommend using MFL style QD's rather than the barbed style, since you'll be using the hose for different purposes at different times, and it will make switching things around much easier. It will also make it easier to drain off the first few ounces which will have a lot of yeast/trub in it.

It depends on how often you want to refill your tank. One pound of CO2 will push ~3-4 corny kegs depending on the transfer pressure used.

Yep, but it doesn't specify if the QD's are plain barbed or MFL, and the pic shows one of each (which is unlikely), so make sure you get the MFL style with the barbed fittings.

To automatically release pressure over a set amount you need to buy or build a spunding valve. It's really easy to hook up a blow off tube though. The easiest method is to connect a gas QD with a hose attached and run the hose into a jug of water/sanitizer. If you think the krausen might reach the hose (filling above 4 gal) I'd remove the poppet valve from the gas post to prevent clogging. Another method is to remove the gas post fitting, and simply stretch a piece of 3/8" ID hose over the gas post, and then put a hose clamp over it to hold it in place.

If you either have a long primary or cold crash before racking, you'll only pick up the yeast/trub right next to the diptube. It's easy to run the first 3-4 oz into a waste container, and then start transferring to the serving keg/bottling bucket, and it will then run clear until the last couple oz in the keg. Once you see the line turn cloudy, pull the liquid QD to stop flow.

I've fermented 4 gal volumes in corny kegs without any issues, and 5 gal by using a couple drops of fermcap-s. I prefer to ferment 5 gal volumes in my slim quarter sankey's, but I don't always have enough of them.

 

JuanMoore, you deserve a medal for that post. Thank you so much

And thank everyone else as well!

 

There is a loooooong thread on closed system pressurized fermentation that discusses all the different facets of fermenting in kegs no matter the size. I brew 4.5 gallon batches successfully in cornie kegs with fermcap and have developed my process several times over. Take your time, read up on the subject, experiment, and enjoy the process.