Yeah yeah everyone says they're hard to clean. I built a long rod that goes down in there with some holes drilled in the end that attaches to a hose to clean it well. Filled it with 15 gallons of PBW, sanitized it with star-san. I pulled the spear from the bung and put the bung back in and #7 stopper fits perfectly. We'll see how it goes. I've got 11 gallons of ordinary bitter fermenting in it right now. I've got a light on a string I can dangle inside the fermenter after this and a dental mirror to see if I miss any mung when I clean it. Considering you absolutely can't scrub the inside of a better bottle to get the mung off I don't figure I'm in any worse shape with a keg except that it's harder to see where I have to clean. Anyone else ever done this? Sorry for the stream of consciousness post.
Fermenting in a sanke keg
- Thread starter mward
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
A few people have converted them to ferementers using various methods.
67coupe390
Well-Known Member
That seems like a great idea. I will consider doing that too. But not to brag for now I'm going to use my new ferminator when it comes!!!!!! Damn, that sounds like bragging doesn't it.
sirsloop
Well-Known Member
Well... yeah its hard to clean but not unlike a glass carboy. I think the biggest drawback is the fact that you cannot actually see what you are cleaning, or not cleaning. Ya know... with glass you can see if you got all the gunk.
I have been reading some articles on the net and I am very curious as to if you guys think a 12 gallon batch would be safe with a regular sanke keg and tap setup. I am kinda debating myself about a completely closed system that would purge the secondary keg with primary fermentation CO2. I am thinking that even if a little krausen ended up in the secondary that would be ok, and then tranfer would be completely clean from any O2 or open to room air. I am basing this on 3/4" being cutoff of the primary sanke dip tube of course. I just wonder about the amount of head space in the primary keg and the room around the gas part of the tap and keg. Anyone have any insight?
Grimsawyer
Well-Known Member
Fill it up with water, boil it, dump it out, soak it overnight with pbw/dishwasher detergent/ oxi-clean/whatever/etc... and boil it. Remember These can go on a burner unlike a glass carboy. there are more options here than people think. It's just like a glass carboy EXCEPT you can't break it with fire(ok, i'm sure i could find a way but with a banjo burner you are fine). If you drop it it's ok too for the most part. Might bend a bit and your floor is screwd but for the most part it'll be fine!
What I am talking about is not cleaning them, but using them during fermentation. I am cautious, but curious about basically filling the keg/primary with fresh wort and then resealing it like you would a serving keg. I am interested in the amount of high krausen for a 12 gallon batch in the 15.5 gallon container and if it would clog up the gas part of the keg and the tap. I would use modified sanke taps for this blow off purpose if it would work. I really don't want to use krausen killing agents so I would be very happy with some incite. I have other plans about a pseudo Burton-union device that would allow me to only put gas in my secondary from the primary fermentation.
Well, I decided to try the keg out but with out the Burton-Union device. I simply put the gas check valve in the other way on the sanke tap and closed off the beer side of the tap completely. I am monitoring the keg frequently and at the first signs of blow off coming through the gas valve on the tap I will pull it and pull the stem. I am hoping high krausen will be just under the top of the keg at it's greatest and won't interfere at all. Next time I will purge my secondary with the free CO2 from primary if this works. I will keep you guys informed. I brewed my first decoction (only liquid wort for mash out) yesterday and it will be well watched. It is already the clearest wort and clearest post-boiled wort I have ever seen. Anyways that is another thread.
Lil' Sparky
Cowboys EAC
I picked up a keg on craigslist for $10 this week. I'm seriously thinking of using it to ferment 10 gal batches. I'm guessing boiling water/oxyclean for a while will clean it pretty good. If I'm not satisfied, then I'll cut the top out and use some plexiglass and a gasket.
HarvInSTL
Well-Known Member
What do you guys think about using this?
Description info:
2" Modified End Cap $95
2" TriClamp End Cap modified with 1/4" hose barb for Gas-In, 1/2" hose barb for wine out, safety pressure relief valve, and stainless tube to draw wine from bottom of the keg, and Sanke-TriClamp gasket. There is also an additional port to install the optional carbonation/nitrogen Stone III.
2" Modified End Cap will work on any American Sanke keg (with the valve removed).
It was designed to be used with a Keg w/ 2" Sanke ferrule. Here is the description for the Keg w/ 2" Sanke ferrule.
Description Info:
Keg w/ 2" Sanke ferrule $160 in stock
15.5 Gallon with 2" Sanke ferrule. This is simply a standard beer keg without the valve (spear). You will need 2" End Cap, Sanke-to-TriClamp Gasket and Clamp to seal off. 304 stainless with high-polish exterior.
So if I am reading that right for about $110 you can used a Sanke 15.5gal keg to ferment in. Where is Yuri? I bet he could make some of those for less than $95!
Thoughts?
Description info:
2" Modified End Cap $95
2" TriClamp End Cap modified with 1/4" hose barb for Gas-In, 1/2" hose barb for wine out, safety pressure relief valve, and stainless tube to draw wine from bottom of the keg, and Sanke-TriClamp gasket. There is also an additional port to install the optional carbonation/nitrogen Stone III.
2" Modified End Cap will work on any American Sanke keg (with the valve removed).
It was designed to be used with a Keg w/ 2" Sanke ferrule. Here is the description for the Keg w/ 2" Sanke ferrule.
Description Info:
Keg w/ 2" Sanke ferrule $160 in stock
15.5 Gallon with 2" Sanke ferrule. This is simply a standard beer keg without the valve (spear). You will need 2" End Cap, Sanke-to-TriClamp Gasket and Clamp to seal off. 304 stainless with high-polish exterior.
So if I am reading that right for about $110 you can used a Sanke 15.5gal keg to ferment in. Where is Yuri? I bet he could make some of those for less than $95!
Thoughts?
What about using a $35 all-stainless steel sanke tap? I wanted to keep it simple and inexpensive. You can use the tap for everything, just shorten the dip tube on the primary and no welding, cutting (other than the tube), or any changes other than rigging up the sanke tap to do what you want it to do (take out the one-way valves). I hope this works out without the krausen clogging the gas parts of this system. that is my only worry, but it seems like the same or more area compared to 3/8" to 1/2" normal blow off tubing some use on much smaller fermenter-to-fermenting beer ratio. We'll see in a couple more days. I just really like the idea of simply hooking up an as-is sanke tap and transferring right into another closed/purged sanke keg for secondary/conditioning/serving, with no extra parts.
Well, I brewed it on the night of the 17th and put it in a keg with the spear and ring put back in. Then I tapped it with my modified sanke tap. I checked that baby the next morning and nothing , no worries though as I had the thermostat set to 60*F on accident. So I bump up the temp and later that day when I checked my chest freezer, all I can smell is that nose burning confirmation. Ok, so I had been scared to put my spunding valve on my primary right off the start, and I knew the high krausen I was so worried about was still going to be coming shortly. However, I brazened up and replaced the gas one-way valve on my modified sanke tap and attached my spunding valve. I checked it today and had to increase my potential psi on my release valve, but other than that there are no signs of the krausen coming out of the keg yet and everything seems to be going as planned. The CO2 today was so bad I had to blow it out of the chest freezer with a fan just to work over the keg, lol. I have been doing some reading on closed system pressurized fermentation and it just seems like a fun experiment. I will keep posting any results.
, no worries though as I had the thermostat set to 60*F on accident. So I bump up the temp and later that day when I checked my chest freezer, all I can smell is that nose burning confirmation. Ok, so I had been scared to put my spunding valve on my primary right off the start, and I knew the high krausen I was so worried about was still going to be coming shortly. However, I brazened up and replaced the gas one-way valve on my modified sanke tap and attached my spunding valve. I checked it today and had to increase my potential psi on my release valve, but other than that there are no signs of the krausen coming out of the keg yet and everything seems to be going as planned. The CO2 today was so bad I had to blow it out of the chest freezer with a fan just to work over the keg, lol. I have been doing some reading on closed system pressurized fermentation and it just seems like a fun experiment. I will keep posting any results.
Why not remove the spear and valve assembly and just insert a stopper into the 2" hole?
Bobby_M said:
Because at some point you would have to put the spear back in to transfer, so why not just have the whole thing hooked up and ready to go? Also, after transferring from primary to secondary/serving keg you know you have a clean fermenter ready to go for the next batch right on top of your yeast cake. I just like the aspects of a completely closed system. If the beer turns out the same then I feel why not take advantage of less steps. If the krausen had been a problem I would have done what you said, but it wasn't. So now I just sit back for a couple of weeks and then transfer already carbed beer into my serving keg. I have spunded my secondary for over a year now, just taking it one step further and should be wasting a little less beer than a double transfer.
Oh, and I found this article that was very interesting about pressurized fermentation.
http://www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/3986.html#3986-3
http://www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/3986.html#3986-3
Mike & John
Member
I have one of the Sankey w/ corny lid kegs that SABCO used to sell. Its the best piece of equipment that I own.
Mike & John said:
Have you ever had a batch blow krausen off and out of your modified keg? I am thinking that if I stick with 12 gallons in this thing I will never have to worry about high krausen but I just wonder.
