sanke kegs??

[whiskeyjack]

Yea just connect and set at 30 PSI for 36-48 hours. Then vent all the pressure built up and set it to your normal pressure, good to go!

 

[hopfool]

I've been acquiring a good bit of used brewing and dispensing gear off of CL lately, and while I was originally intent on setting everything up for Cornies, I'm realizing a growing wealth of Sanke stuff. Bought a Summit "Kegerator" in great shape for $150 that came with a couple of empty kegs, a half filled 10 lb. CO2 bottle, tap, lines, and some spare fittings. On the way home I tried the local keg distributor and managed to recoup $50 of that. Somebody else sold me a frig conversion "kit" that they had pieced together that included a nice Perlick S/S faucet & shank, along with a full 20 lb. tank, a nice pressurized line cleaning kit, tools, brushes, lines, and a nice regulator with dual gauges and a guard, all for $100. It also included an 8'" party pump, tap fitting, and a full set of cleaning chemicals. Also had a couple of neighbors donate some orphaned kegs that they had accumulated once they heard I was a "brew guy".

The Kegerator will just barely fit (4) pin lock Cornies, so I'm still going that route for now, but the accumulating Sanke gear has me thinking more and more about maybe tackling a higher capacity chest freezer conversion where I can use both. In talking it over with the owner of the LHBS and he warned me about the O-Ring hassle, which I honestly haven't tried to tackle as yet, but with two quarter, two sixth, and two empty half kegs sitting nearby I'm definitely gonna spend a day tearing everything down for a good cleaning, so I guess I'll get my practice in then. I'm not particularly good at following verbal instruction (probably residual issues from my time in the military) so I didn't really grasp what he was talking about at the time, but he mentioned having fabbed up some kind of tool to help somehow. Like I said, I haven't even disassembled one as yet, so I don't have a very good visual reference of the O-ring tits he was complaining about, but any ideas on any kind of tool definitely sounds appealing. His other warning was about getting that spiral lock back in place. Guess I'll find out more in the doing than sittin' here typing about it.

I will say however about the Cornies... those black rubber cushions just plain suck. One of the LHBS guys warned me to grab the red topped ones to help keep my hands from getting all crudded up when cleaning them, but the bottoms are no picnic either. Unfortunately I didn't realize that fact until after I had rocked one back and forth to force carbonate... while it was sitting on the family room carpet, and I of course was paying more attention to the vidiot box than to what I was doing. And wasn't da wife pleased when my beer making claimed yet another minor disfigurement of our abode. I'm still trying to get those marks out and she's using the occasion to start looking at new laminated flooring for me to install. More work for me is never a good thing. That's why I retired!

 

[wilserbrewer]

removal
http://www.brewhausforum.com/showthread.php?3455-Removing-the-spear-valve-from-a-Sanke-keg

installation
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/installing-retaining-ring-sanke-keg-64128/

removal and installation
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZPfZ_AL380[/ame]

Tools required, small SHARP thin flat screwdriver and a small pair of pliers, channel locks work well. When prying out the spiral ring, ONLY pry the top layer, or 1/2 of the ring, not both layers!

With a little practice it becomes easy...if you are all thumbs with no patience you won't do well at this game.

Tip...reinstall the spiral ring so you have about a 1/4" overlap of the groove to make for easy removal.

 

[bondra76]

Wilser hit the nail on the head with those videos and advice.

I will say when I first started sankes I got frustrated toying around with the o-ring for hours. But it takes practice. Once you do get the open/close process down though, it's easy as pie. A lot of it depends on procuring your DIY tool to help you open the o-ring.

I was using a nail file for quite some time that looks exactly like this:

It bent though after a while and I had to switch. I'm now using a small flathead screwdriver. It's important you get one that will not bend and is made of good quality.

 

[wtaylor3]

Just kegged in a 1/2 bbl sanke today...my first attempt at kegging...its going to sit at 30 psi until 2 p.m. tomorrow...I hope it carbs by then because were gonna drink of for a family dinner

 

[wilserbrewer]

Just kegged in a 1/2 bbl sanke today...my first attempt at kegging...its going to sit at 30 psi until 2 p.m. tomorrow...I hope it carbs by then because were gonna drink of for a family dinner

At 30 psi for roughly 18 hours your beer will still be rather flat, and likely not even that cold yet.

Tomorrow at 2 pm is way too soon IMO, but if you are dead set on trying it,,,I would shake the keg for a minute or two at 30 psi as well.




Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[tektonjp]

My concern is everything I see on force carbonating sanke kegs is saying 1-2 days. I was hoping to be carbed in 24-48 hours...

I just did the math and it seems to me that 1-2 days is indeed 24-48 hours.

 

[bondra76]

Keep it on 30 all the way until the party. Turn it down to around 12 at the time of the party and purge co2 and then serve. It's probably goin to be somewhat flat though.


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[wtaylor3]

It went well...beer was carbed up nicely maybe not perfect but it did sit at 30psi for a full 24 hours and everyone really liked it...next time ill try to give myself more time...we served it at about 8 psi which may have been low but it had a decent head

 

[chawn]

This is a subject that really interests me. I had a supplier quote me roughly $84 for 1/6 barrel sanke kegs shipped. I thought I'd wait until after Christmas to research and make a decision on the type of keg to buy. I have to say if I have to buy expensive equipment simply to clean the kegs, I'll go a different route.

 

[bondra76]

Cleaning a Sanke is like cleaning a glass carboy. Soak in PBW and hot water for some time. Then soak/swirl around some sanitizer. You don't need some wild contraption to clean a sanke unless you're leaving your kegs open and letting stuff dry on the inside walls. Even then the PBW soak would take care of it.


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[wtaylor3]

I just did this for the first time and I read and read about sanke kegs and the process and I assure u it sounds very complicated until the keg is sitting in front of you and you're going through the process....you may even say to yourself "ohhh...that's what they were talking about"