Are 1/6 barrel commercial kegs good for anything?

[cincybrewer]

I've seen a listing for one of these for $20 but didn't know if these can be used for anything related to home brewing. Is this a good deal? Any suggestions for what these can be used for?

 

[kpr121]

Sure! 1/6 barrels are almost exactly 5 gallons. So anything you can do with a corney you can do with a Sanke.

Serve in it with a Sanke tap. Use it as a secondary/brite tank. Or you could use it as a primary for smaller batches (3-4 gallons).

 

[kpr121]

Or buy it for 20 bucks and take it to a distributor that will accept a return. Keg deposits around here are $40.

 

[cincybrewer]

Cool, thanks.

 

[TomStew]

I'd use it to keg homebrew, that'd be cool!

 

[DustBow]

Isn't it much more of a pain to deal with the coupling/spear and getting those things open and sealed back up each time? Or do they have a tool out there to make it easy?

 

[lamarguy]

Or do they have a tool out there to make it easy?

They make a tool ($$$) but a flathead screwdriver, rubber mallet, and pliers work just as well. That said, I've replaced the spiral ring on my sanke kegs with a snap ring.

 

[marzsit]

my brother is into making wine, he uses a pair of 1/6 barrel kegs as fermentors by removing the spears and using tri-clamp fittings to attach airlocks, etc. he says the benefits of total light exclusion result in a much better product.

 

[wyzazz]

Isn't it much more of a pain to deal with the coupling/spear and getting those things open and sealed back up each time? Or do they have a tool out there to make it easy?

With a small screwdriver and a pair of pliers I can remove/reinstall a sanke spear in around 30 seconds. Sanke's are all I use to keg my beer. All those little poppits, gaskets, etc on the cornies aren't for me.