Sanke Fermentor Idea, Airlock...

[Pick]

I've got this Sanke, I am thinking about fermenting a brew in. The plastic orange carboy boots will fit on with a little fiddling, but I got to thinking after I removed the spear.....

The spear has a gasket and some weight to it. I am thinking if I just put the spear back in and DO NOT lock it down, it will seal somewhat from it's weight. When CO2 builds up enough pressure it will burp, just like the weight on a pressure cooker. The only problem I see with this, is it could get noisy.

Heck, Uncle George used to ferment his beer in a plastic garbage can, with cheesecloth covering it.

Your thoughts?

 

[HalfPint]

A lot of people ferment in sanke kegs. I know that a rubber stopper/airlock will fit right in that hole. Do a bit of searching to find what size stopper you need.

 

[wyzazz]

Just use the orange carboy cap, that's what I do and it works a charm! You won't be able to use it with a carboy again though.

 

[dcbeerboy]

can i piggy back on this topic and ask how one would clean and sanitze a sanke fermenter?

 

[wyzazz]

The same way you clean and sanitize a carboy. I fill mine with hot oxiclean and soak overnight, then fill with about a gallon of StarSan and shake/roll around for a few minutes.

 

[JonW]

After doing the PBW cleaning for the gunk, I put mine on the burner and boil about 5 gals of water in it while the mash is sitting. The lower section is cleaned by the boil and the top section is steam cleaned.

 

[springer]

I use this with a Sanke keg. Completely sealed and you can use C02 to push the beer to the corny kegs

Sanke

 

[thesanch]

I plan on fermenting in a sanke at some point, but wanted to get my CO2 racking rig complete. You can see it completed here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/sanke-fermenter-conversion-128262/index5.html#post2067267

 

[HalfPint]

Being my cheap self, I'd probably just put an airlock on it for fermenting, then using an autosiphon for when I'm racking out. I don't see why a day with oxyclean then a bunch of rinses with water wouldn't do the cleaning trick.