Sanke Fermenter Conversion

[lamarguy]

mind showing that contraption to me? That sounds like something I would be interested in and have the rims heater and pump already

I'll try to remember to snap a photo of it this evening. I'm hosting for family this weekend.

It's pretty simple and satisfies my requirements:

1. Support sanke (1/6 - 1/2 barrel) and corny kegs (2.5 - 10 gallon).
2. Integrate into my existing brew rig (pump and RIMS heater).
3. Auto-heat the cleaning solution (PBW) to 140F.
4. Cover the entire interior surface of the keg (120° clog resistant nozzle).
5. For sanke kegs, clean the spear.
6. For corny kegs, clean the dip tube, gas tube, and poppets.
7. Do it in 15 minutes per keg.

 

[user 40839]

Just spotted this that seems to satisfy all the criteria - a heated keg and carboy cleaner, over on Wort-o-Matic:

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Heated-Keg-and-Carboy-Cleaner

 

[lamarguy]

Just spotted this that seems to satisfy all the criteria - a heated keg and carboy cleaner, over on Wort-o-Matic

Ya, I've seen that design before. It should work for most people, I just decided to go a different route since it doesn't meet several of my requirements.

Things it didn't meet are (1) isn't keg height adjustable (2) lacks an automatic heating control loop, (3) uses a less-than-stellar spray nozzle, and (4) requires a dedicated pump and heatstick. Not saying it's a bad design, just didn't meet my requirements.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

My cleaning solution is pretty simple.

1. Fill bucket with hot water and PBW
2. Put pond pump/spray nozzle assembly in bucket
3. Put lid on (has opening for nozzle)
4. Plug in
5. Come back 1/2 hour later and rinse with hot water

Clean as a whistle, and cost about $40.
http://picasaweb.google.com/benuntu/KegWasher#

Works great for cornies too!

And carboys:

 

[oldschool]

could someone use this to actually use a keg as a sanke? I have two 1/6 barrel sankes i either need to sell or use.

 

[Photopilot]

I just picked up a few kegs including 2-1/6 barrel sankes yesterday. I know people use 1/2 barrels for there beer. It takes a little more to clean but I like the option of having a sanke tap in the keezer. It will allow me to have the option to put a full sanke for a house beer or a 1/6 barrel in there.

 

[ScottyBones]

My cleaning solution is pretty simple.

1. Fill bucket with hot water and PBW
2. Put pond pump/spray nozzle assembly in bucket
3. Put lid on (has opening for nozzle)
4. Plug in
5. Come back 1/2 hour later and rinse with hot water

Clean as a whistle, and cost about $40.
http://picasaweb.google.com/benuntu/KegWasher#

Works great for cornies too!

And carboys:

wow, this is awesome! nice idea

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

wow, this is awesome! nice idea

I can't take credit, although I'd like to! I ripped this off Caspio, who in turn ripped it off elsewhere...can't remember where.

 

[SankePankey]

My soon to be method of keg cleaning, once I complete it, is to put boiling water (with PWB, SS) in a corny keg and then from there, attach a gutter cleaner wand (just makes a 65 degree bend to the straight wand) to the liquid out and spray all corners with the kegs right side up.

Just have to find the right wand - that will work well at 20 PSI, or whatever I charge the keg with. Most of the sprayers are '3000PSI!!' or so but some say 'hi/low pressure'. Will have to figure that one out.

What do you think.

 

[user 40839]

This looks like it could be a nice tool for folks who use a standard sanke for fermenting...


(Feel free to poke fun at cheesy "host" hahah)

 

[thesanch]

I finally got around to putting together my CO2 siphon rig based on the ideas posted in this thread and to fartingdog's pictures he sent me.

• 26" Stainless Steel racking cane (Local Home Brew shop)
• Carboy cap for 6.5g Carboy (LHBS).
• 5ft of 1/4" beer line (LHBS).
• 1/4? nut and stem(LHBS).
• Beer out Quick Disconnect (LHBS).
• 1ft of 3/8" vinyl tubing (LHBS).
• Brass 1/4" Male Flare Fitting to 1/4" Female Pipe Thread (Ace Hardware)
• Brass 1/4" Male Pipe Thread to 3/8" Barb (Ace Hardware).
• Several Stainless Steel worm clamps (Ace Hardware).

 

[SweetSounds]

I finally got around to putting together my CO2 siphon rig based on the ideas posted in this thread and to fartingdog's pictures he sent me.

• 26" Stainless Steel racking cane (Local Home Brew shop)
• Carboy cap for 6.5g Carboy (LHBS).
• 5ft of 1/4" beer line (LHBS).
• 1/4? nut and stem(LHBS).
• Beer out Quick Disconnect (LHBS).
• 1ft of 3/8" vinyl tubing (LHBS).
• Brass 1/4" Male Flare Fitting to 1/4" Female Pipe Thread (Ace Hardware)
• Brass 1/4" Male Pipe Thread to 3/8" Barb (Ace Hardware).
• Several Stainless Steel worm clamps (Ace Hardware).

Cool idea, but is that glass?
You couldn't pay me to be anywhere near that thing when it's pressurized!
I know, I know, it's only a few PSI, but I've heard way too many stories of glass carboys just falling apart in people's hands - resulting in trips to the hospital and some physical therapy.

The risk of shattering in my hands at 0 PSI is enough to keep me away from glass all together. Adding pressure? Not so much...

I'd do this in plastic though! I like.

 

[thesanch]

Yes, it is glass. Except for when I was taking the pictures, I kept the lid to the chest freezer closed. This was just a test run. I plan to fully utilize it for when I move to a sanke fermenter.

Thanks for the concern though.

 

[SweetSounds]

That's the same direction I'm going - I'm using BB now, but I have the kegs and Derrin's fermenter kit - I can't wait!

Let us know how it works for you... It's certainly cheaper than stainless solutions

 

[Islandboy85]

Derrin, do you mainly secondary in the keg or use it for primary fermentation as well?

 

[BrewMoreBeers]

My cleaning solution is pretty simple.

1. Fill bucket with hot water and PBW
2. Put pond pump/spray nozzle assembly in bucket
3. Put lid on (has opening for nozzle)
4. Plug in
5. Come back 1/2 hour later and rinse with hot water

Clean as a whistle, and cost about $40.
http://picasaweb.google.com/benuntu/KegWasher#

Works great for cornies too!

And carboys:

how does this clean inside of the beer dip tube? Or, are you still pulling the post and cleaning that manually?

 

[Randar]

The only thing that's holding me back from going for one of these is the nervousness of cleaning out the inside of the fermenter between brews. Yeah, I know - boil it with some PBW, soak it in Oxy, etc. - but if you get a lot of cold break in there (as I often do in my carboys), then it's still a lengthy and challenging process to get the inside clean enough to pass muster. It'd be awesome to get all of the features of this, included in a corny lid - then just cut the appropriate sized hole in the top of the keg, sort of like this one:

I clean mine with the following set-up using OxyClean & TSP/90 solution. I clean all cornies, sankes, and carboys with this and it's very similar to 2-heads setup, just uses all copper instead of PVC or plastic. I have inspected the insides of Sankes after cleaning with a light and dental mirror and it's clean as a whistle.

 

[Randar]

how does this clean inside of the beer dip tube? Or, are you still pulling the post and cleaning that manually?

I pull the posts/tubes to do it this way. It's faster and easier IMO to do it that way than to try to soak and siphon under CO2 with cleaning solution. Since I wait until I have 4-5 cornies to clean and do them all at once, I get a little assembly line action going and it's pretty easy/quick to disassemble. Then I just rotate the cornies until clean and reassemble and sanitize before pressurizing for storage.

 

[Islandboy85]

What size pump are you using?

 

[BrewMoreBeers]

I pull the posts/tubes to do it this way. It's faster and easier IMO to do it that way than to try to soak and siphon under CO2 with cleaning solution. Since I wait until I have 4-5 cornies to clean and do them all at once, I get a little assembly line action going and it's pretty easy/quick to disassemble. Then I just rotate the cornies until clean and reassemble and sanitize before pressurizing for storage.

If you are doing an assembly line to clean multiple kegs, have you ever thought about building a second bucket as a rinse station?

 

[Randar]

What size pump are you using?

Who me? I am using a little giant TE-5.5-MD-HC. I also have an 809-HS-C with the upgraded impeller and it works well if it was all I had, but that big ass pump really does a top notch job.

Have I thought about adding a second bucket for a rinse station? Yep, would use my 809 for that guy, but I am a bit anal retentive about rinsing with fresh clean water, and I just pile a few of the cornies up and rinse them between changing cornies/kegs about halfway through the session (2 rinse sessions for about 8 cornies, for example). That way I can crank my tankless hot water heater to 180 and do a very high temp rinse and then a cold rinse in relatively short succession and use my high pressure slop sink sprayer... Seems to work very well and isn't terribly labor intensive.

I put that first copper-based wash station together in about an hour, so it's not a ton of time to do it.

 

[uabericm]

Can you show some more pictures of your copper-based wash station?

That Little Giant pump is a pumper.

 

[Randar]

Pictures and links to a couple videos of it in actions are in this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/1-hour-keg-carboy-cornie-cleaning-station-215908/

cheers!

 

[uabericm]

Thanks. Awesome setup.

By the way, off topic, how do you like fermenting in sankes?

 

[Randar]

Thanks. Awesome setup.

By the way, off topic, how do you like fermenting in sankes?

I have a Stout Tanks conical and I will only use it if I am doing a hefty dry hopping with whole hops. I also built my fermentation chamber to only fit Sankes, so those 2 things should probably be an indicator, hehe.

 

[tomasej]

I really like this set-up but I just can't bring myself to going back to racking. I love my 7.5 gallon conical and although I would love to start doing 10 gallon batches it just seems like I would be going backwards. I guess I have spoiled myself with the ability to steam clean (pressure cook) my Tri-Clamp valves, pipes, pieces, dump trub, catch yeast and keg directly from the fermenter. Although I could supposedly do many of those things with this set-up I know my yeast will not come out as clean. I put way too much effort into catching, storing, freezing and reusing clean yeast to settle. One day I will have to come to the realization that there are way too many good ideas when it comes to brewing and I can't use them all.

 

[Pimp Juice]

7 years of fermenting in 2 plastic buckets that exploded quite often. Finally upgraded 2 batches ago. I agree that there a little heavy compared to the split batches, thats why I have a little plywood on casters to wheel the beast around.

 

[kevin509]

Anyone have pictures of the part that goes inside the keg? Interested in either the St Pats one or the one from Brewer's Hardware. Also curious how long the thermowell on the Brewers Hardware model is?

 

[Reelale]

Anyone have pictures of the part that goes inside the keg? Interested in either the St Pats one or the one from Brewer's Hardware. Also curious how long the thermowell on the Brewers Hardware model is?

No pictures, but the only parts that go in the keg are the thermowell and the adjustable racking cane. The thermowell is 15.75" to the tri-clamp. The adjustable racking cane is 24" to the crook. There is a port for a blow-off tube on the fitting as well. This is the BH model.

 

[Randar]

Anyone have pictures of the part that goes inside the keg? Interested in either the St Pats one or the one from Brewer's Hardware. Also curious how long the thermowell on the Brewers Hardware model is?

You'd have to be brain dead to order anything from St Pat's, IMO. I little google or perusing on probrewer will tell you all you ever wanted to know.

The BH option is a terrific design and the customer service is first rate.