Someone just refreshed the glass carboy nightmare thread, I tweaked my back a few months back, and just don't like fermenting in plastic. I know the extractibles/leachables profiles from my work, and i seriously think all beverages taste better in glass than plastic...water, beer, Coca Cola, etc. next best to glass is stainless. Cant see why a non pro would spend on conical vs just using a corny. I'm already standard on pinlock kegs and they are dirt cheap. I think I will just make me a spunding valve, and slowly standardize on kegs for fermentation. Now that I'm about 8 batches into the hobby, not seeing the Krausen drop probably not a big deal.
Any reason I should not start perusing kegconnection/Craigslist, and order 2 more kegs for fermentation? Anyone harvesting yeast by simply collecting trub in the "first runnings" during transfer? Also, I hate going into glass carboys for SG samples. Seems if I do a bent/cut diptube, I would start with blowoff tube on the gas line threads as stated earlier in this thread, then about 4 days in (7 days for lager)screw on the post/QD/spunding valve assembly. Wondering then if you can just set valve at a low pressure, and sample off the liquid line with a short line picnic tap for SG readings....another advantage.
I guess I'm trying to figure out why anyone who already has kegging equipment doesn't just ferment in the kegs, seems like many advantages. I see my keg herd growing in the future....god I love cornies, they are awesome. God bless the diabetes-spreading soda Barron's!
Well, I've fermented 6 or 7 batches in my 6.5 gallon corny kegs from williams brewing. I like not using glass, and I like the lack of light, even though I am using a converted perlick kegerator as a fermentation chamber, so there is little light exposure anyway. If you are talking about 5 gallon batches, you will have no headspace with a standard 5 gallon keg, so that needs to be your first consideration. And consider trub volume loss as well. I tend to start my batch out closer to 5.5 gallons, so my final batch size is 5g. As far as collecting yeast from first running - my method of transfer is to connect the OUT connector of fermenter keg to the out of the secondary/final keg, and use CO2 to force beer transfer. I have found that really very little of the trub comes out, just a few seconds, then it clears out. When the transfer is complete and I open up the primary fermenter to clean it, its easy to see at the end of the dip tube that it just sucks up a bit around the end of the dip tube and leaves a little dimple there in the trub. As far as getting gravity samples, I do as above with transfer, only I have a black connector on the OUT connection of the primary connected to a bit of beverage tube, add a bit of CO2 pressure after I've sealed off the blow off, and fill up the test tube for the hydrometer.
If you go to instagram and search @valsignadbrewing you can see a few photos and a video of the fermentation setup. Someday I will take better photos.
I recently built a spunding valve, but haven't really used it yet, so I cant speak to the success of that method.
If you look at my photos, you may be able to see that I modified some keg lids and placed male camlock fittings, and then have female camlock with a section of silicone tubing for blowoff. I also have a hose clamp on that so that I can seal off the blowoff tube for sampling or transfer (DON'T FORGET TO UNCLAMP IT!!! I found out the hard way once, big mess...) I just didn't want to use the gas connector for blowoff.
I don't think cleaning corny kegs is a big deal. Just DON'T let it dry out. Rinse it out right away, use a brush to clean out the gunk, and get good at taking the whole thing apart to clean all the small parts (I can have a keg disassembled in about 45 seconds). Yes, a widemouth fermentor would be easier to clean, but not by that much.
Sorry, a lot of info, and it may not all make a ton of sense. Let me know if I can clarify my process.
Mark
