Sanke Fermenter Conversion

[thorongil]

Just ordered one of these...

Also found new kegs at a decent price ($169 + shipping) here. Ordered one of them to be the fermenter. I like the idea of a new tank for fermenting (not to mention the theft issue)...

 

[Irrenarzt]

Any update on the size of the larger o-ring? A local brewery saw my setup at the teach your friend to brew day and was interested in the large o-ring size. I would also like to order some from McMaster to have some on hand.

 

[mordantly]

its a 2" tri-clover. the gasket can be had really cheap on ebay. i just got 10 buna type for ~$4 shipped.

 

[Brewers Hardware]

The large o-ring is a 138. A gasket will not work since there is no groove on the keg.

I haven't changed the website yet, but the current model has a 1/2" blow-off port and tube now. 3/8" are still available by special order if anyone needs a 3/8".

 

[starsailor]

Hi Derrin, you say this fitting is made from 2" tri-clover cap and clamp, but my keg measures 2 1/2 across the Sankey top. Am I confused or is my keg somehow different?

 

[Brewers Hardware]

Hi Derrin, you say this fitting is made from 2" tri-clover cap and clamp, but my keg measures 2 1/2 across the Sankey top. Am I confused or is my keg somehow different?

The size is based on the nominal size of the pipe these fittings would normally be used with. The actual diameter is about 2.5"

 

[Beermaker]

Can you add a prv to this set to 15 psi and use it for a bright tank?

 

[bubbachunk]

I guess I am just not getting it but would anybody be so kind and please explain how exactly this works? By that I mean do you cap the ends while it is fermenting and how do you rack under pressure?

 

[lamarguy]

Do you cap the ends while it is fermenting and how do you rack under pressure?

Here's a couple of action shots for how I use it to ferment and rack under pressure. Pretty self explanatory but the details are covered in this thread.

 

[Irrenarzt]

If anyone wants one, I'm selling my used once setup from Derrin. It's got the thermowell and it's in perfect condition. 65 shipped. PM if you want it.

 

[mordantly]

dang it! im already half built one.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Picked up 2 used Sanke kegs from the scrap metal yard yesterday...only $23 each! And today I ordered two of these kits. Can't wait to ditch the glass carboys, and go entirely with stainless fermenters. I weighed out the pros and cons, and it seems like the right way to go.

Pros:
- Can heat sanitize a keg with steam OR boiling wort ala no chill brewing - (I plan to boil 2 gallons on my HLT burner in a keg to sanitize, while the boil is going)
- Not breakable
- 15 gallon capacity means one keg to one batch, and only needing to clean one fermenting vessel per batch.
- Can do a pressure transfer to kegs with CO2 adapter
- Can easily harvest yeast by lowering the racking cane
- All stainless construction completes my stainless brewery

Cons:
- More difficult to clean and/or see what needs cleaning. Carboys can be visiually inspected easily.
- Cost is greater: 2xCarboys = $80. Sanke keg + Conversion kit = $90-110
- Cannot see the fermentation (when fermentation begins, when krausen falls, etc.)
- 10 gallons in one vessel is harder to move around than 2 carboys.

 

[Mirage]

I saw this sanke fermenter conversion which is quite a bit more work than Derrin's but alleviates many of the cons. http://forums.morebeer.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13712&start=30 this is probably the route I am going to follow (as the top is already cut) and it seems like it does the same thing but allows you to see all inside the keg and clean it out nicely. Derrin's contraption is really amazing though and I would have a decision had my top been in tact but if you have a keg with the top cut off already, this seems very viable.

 

[trailblazer]

im getting to polished collage kegs from my buddy for making him 5 gallons of nut brown ale. he has a kegerator so im just gonna put it in a cornie and give him my co2 to use. its only costing me 25 bucks to brew it. i just need to order those fermenter adapters and ill be set. then i can sell all this glass i have.

 

[lamarguy]

And today I ordered two of these kits. Can't wait to ditch the glass carboys, and go entirely with stainless fermenters.

Welcome to the club!

After using the sanke kit for 5 batches now, I can make the following suggestions/recommendations:

• Do ensure the cap is completely centered on the flange (to cover the spiral ring notch). I did a poor job centering the lid on my last batch and had a small leak that prevented pressure buildup (after 24 hours). I now apply 1 psi of starting pressure to check for leaks.
• The flare fitting nut only needs to be hand tight. If you're fermenting under pressure (like me), you'll need to get the nut hand tight plus 1.5 full turns to safely hold 1 bar (14.5 psi). In that case, you'll destroy the soft silicone o-ring and I recommend using an extra hard (90A durometer) o-ring.
• You'll inevitably get wort/gunk buildup in the top welding seams. I found it hard to clean and was worried about it compromising the welds over time (years), so I applied a tiny bit of JB weld to form a hermatic seal.
• To avoid trub pickup, I recommend attaching a racking cane tip. After cold crashing, I almost completely avoid yeast pickup and only lose ~0.5 gallon of wort to the trub on a 5 gallon batch (racking cane fully extended).

 

[flananuts]

I've made about 4 batches using Derrin's setup. Since I've adopted a single fermenter no secondary approach, it's great. Cleaning is done courtesy of oxyclean. I use a mirror on a stick to peer in the top after rinsing. I wish i had not actually cut the top off my other spare keg so I could use two instead of one. Carboys are relegated to 5 gallon batches and the keg fermenter gets the 10 gal. brews.

 

[caspio]

Someone PMed me, so I thought I'd post up here. I've now put 4 full batches through my two fermenters, and numbers 5 and 6 are currently chunking away. I'm completely happy with my purchase. The adapters make low-pressure racking to keg a breeze, and the adjustable racking cane makes it stupid simple to save and/or wash your yeast.

I built a washer to help ensure the kegs are 100% clean inside, and also so I don't need to mix up 15 gallons of PBW. It's also set up to do carboys or corny kegs:

Anyway, I've been constantly singing the praises of this setup. After seeing it in action I convinced TwoHeadsBrewing to build a keg washer, and as you can he above he picked up two adapters from Derrin.

Saturday or sunday I'm going to be pulling a sample from a pale ale, and if it looks ready I'll keg it and try to get some pictures.

 

[mmb]

Do you have a breakdown of the kegwasher? Is it just a sump pump in a bucket or is it a little more complex than that?

 

[BillyBeer]

I would love to see some more details on your keg washer as well...it looks very interesting.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I would love to see some more details on your keg washer as well...it looks very interesting.

I just built one exactly like it...and it works beautifully. Fill the bucket with hot water and PBW/OxyClean and leave it for a couple hours. Rinse with hot water, and you've got a sparkly clean vessel with no scrubbing. Caspio posted a build thread in our local home brew club forum with details: http://www.chicohomebrewshop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&p=1223#p1223

 

[caspio]

It's a pretty simple setup - just a pond pump and some PVC. I cross posted to HBT so people don't need to register for our dinky little forum. (although just the folks clicking through from this thread would probably quadruple our normal daily visitor count)

 

[mmb]

If you used a reducer at the top and then a nozzle you might get a little more pressure from the system.

Very nice. Going to have to do something of the sort to place in the brewery tub sink.

 

[caspio]

I thought about looking at pond sprayer parts and finding some sort of cool nozzle, but I decided not to. The biggest reason was pressure - most of the guides I found were people using powerful sump pumps with twice the output of my little pond pump. I wasn't sure if I'd get adequate coverage.

The other thing is ease of cleaning - I can pop the top off and rinse it out with no problem, and if it ever gets too crusty a replacement is only 50 cents. Some spray nozzles looked like they might be hard to unclog. Really though, do whatever works best for your setup.

 

[bhatchable]

So Derrin, would this nifty contraption work for a 30L "S" type sanke keg that I have?

 

[Brewers Hardware]

So Derrin, would this nifty contraption work for a 30L "S" type sanke keg that I have?

I'm not sure. If you can email (or post) a picture of the connector I can tell you. The tri clover clamp connects around and over the Sanke connector. The only ones i know for sure work are the "American Type Sanke Connector" Our local brewery has some kegs that take a regular Sanke coupler, but the connector on the keg is a very large block, only the insides are the same and this clamps to the outside.

 

[flananuts]

Sppdbrews, are you taking about "sixtals"? If so it will work. I had a sixtal of a local brew pale ale for a party a while back. It's tall enough for Derrin's fermenter conversion and the tap connection is identical to the 15.5 gal sanke I use for fermenting.

 

[bhatchable]

I'm not to concerned with it fitting so much. with the adjustable height racking cane it doesn't matter the height really. the main difference between the american sanke and the european sanke (heineken pony keg) is that instead of the slinky style retainer clip, it has a threaded inside. as far as i know and can tell the threads on the inside of the extension from the top won't affect the installation of this part.

EDIT: when I think I have the money i'm going to order one of these. from what i can tell, the outer diameter of the protuberance at the top is the same as an American sanke, except with a threaded inside, which should be of no consequence with the tri-clover type of seal.

EDIT TIMES TWO:
here is a pic of the spear that came out. you can imagine the threaded inside of the neck. it doesn't seem as though threads on the inside of the neck would stop me from using this. Low pressure transfers here I come!!!!

 

[thesanch]

I'm thinking of going with this setup, but I'm having some difficulty thinking up a simple way of attaching my gas line to the blow off port to push the beer out when racking. I would really like to keep my gas lines they way they are (ball lock quick disconnects attached on the end).

I have the 2 keg basic kit from kegconnection. They use some sort of worm clamps that prevent them from being loosened.

Any ideas are welcome.

 

[flananuts]

Hi there

I would recommend you use a dual gauge primary regulator with dual ports. Run one port to a secondary or a set of secondary regulators. The secondaries will control co2 pressure to the kegs, while the second port on the primary will allow you to attach a gas line to run to Derrin's fermenter for pressure transfer. I found that if you map out what you want for your kegerator and for your co2 needs, you can do better than buying a kit. The kit is of course still a good way to go. Here's pictures of the the secondary reg's. I recently added a splitter on one secondary so I can use one regulator to power two kegs at 12lb psi while the other one gets used for force carbing.

Here's the regulator

 

[lamarguy]

I'm having some difficulty thinking up a simple way of attaching my gas line to the blow off port to push the beer out when racking.

You can connect the gas line using a 1/4" male flare fitting and 3/8" push-connect tube adapter (1/2" for the newer design). Just unhook and attach the existing MFL connector from your gas line.

If it helps, here is a parts diagram (click to enlarge) for my liquid/gas setup: