Sankey Fermenter Build

[OneHotKarl]

Hopefully someone has some experience with this before I pull the trigger and get my ideas welded into a keg. I have had enough with glass carboys and 10gallon batches.

Has anyone welded a bottom drain on the bottom of a sankey keg to work similar to a conical fermenter?

Second, if so any strong aversions against using 1/2" connections if so? I was thinking larger would be better to prevent clogging (if thats a problem) but I don't want to change connection size since I have standardized on 1/2".

I plan on cutting a hole in the top and using a plexiglass lid with custom gasket for pressurized transfers to corny kegs. Anyone have any pitfalls with this system? I was planning on adding a corny keg post to the plexi lid so i can connect a gas corny keg connector to push the beer.

 

[Monster Mash]

The bottom isn't steep enough to use as a conical so you will only be able to pull the yeast that has settled right next to the hole. I would just do what you are suggesting but cut the top off and pour the yeast out of the top after transferring.

 

[Golddiggie]

I simply have TC caps adapted for fermenting in sanke kegs. For my kegs 1/4bbl and below, it's a standard 2" TC cap. I have a thermowell welded into it, along with a fitting to accept a corny liquid ball lock post. This allows me to get good temperature readings during fermentation and then simply drop a [sanitized, and cut to the correct length] dip tube to do the transfer to serving [corny] keg. Hardest part was getting the fittings for the ball lock post reamed out some so that I could easily send the dip tube down into the fermenter. I've measured, and cut the dip tubes to leave certain amounts behind. I find that leaving 3 quarts behind in a 1/4 bbl fermenter keg (tall sanke keg) works out very well for me. I also have tubes that are set to extract as close to 100% of what's inside the keg as possible (mostly for aging items). I also have ones set to transfer my meads out of the 1/6bbl kegs.

When transferring, I use another fitting (no thermowell fitted to this one) so that I can push to the bottom via another dip tube. I've not put tubing into my fermenters, for transfers, in some time now.

The only thing welded to the sanke kegs is a fitting so that I can install a gas ball lock post. That was easy, since I just drilled the hole (positioned to allow the QD to function properly) and then had the base fitting welded in place. Set the gas ball lock post onto it, and you're good to go.

BTW, I simply fit an airlock (via a short piece of silicone tubing) to the base fitting for the liquid post (with the dip tube not installed) during fermentation. On transfer day, it's easy to pull that off and install the dip tube and post (takes all of a minute, or two, at the most). Also, with my setup, there's very few parts that need to be cleaned. No issues with ball valves and such either. I also didn't need to do what you're talking about (with the plexiglass) in order to transfer. IMO, that's more than just over-thinking it. I believe I have pictures in my gallery of the fittings and such.

Pictures:

 

[OneHotKarl]

The bottom isn't steep enough to use as a conical so you will only be able to pull the yeast that has settled right next to the hole. I would just do what you are suggesting but cut the top off and pour the yeast out of the top after transferring.

I wonder how much beer you would dump out the bottom before it would drain clear. I suppose the rotating racking arm is what people use to handle this without a conicle bottom.

 

[OneHotKarl]

I simply have TC caps adapted for fermenting in sanke kegs. For my kegs 1/4bbl and below, it's a standard 2" TC cap. I have a thermowell welded into it, along with a fitting to accept a corny liquid ball lock post. This allows me to get good temperature readings during fermentation and then simply drop a [sanitized, and cut to the correct length] dip tube to do the transfer to serving [corny] keg. Hardest part was getting the fittings for the ball lock post reamed out some so that I could easily send the dip tube down into the fermenter. I've measured, and cut the dip tubes to leave certain amounts behind. I find that leaving 3 quarts behind in a 1/4 bbl fermenter keg (tall sanke keg) works out very well for me. I also have tubes that are set to extract as close to 100% of what's inside the keg as possible (mostly for aging items). I also have ones set to transfer my meads out of the 1/6bbl kegs.

When transferring, I use another fitting (no thermowell fitted to this one) so that I can push to the bottom via another dip tube. I've not put tubing into my fermenters, for transfers, in some time now.

The only thing welded to the sanke kegs is a fitting so that I can install a gas ball lock post. That was easy, since I just drilled the hole (positioned to allow the QD to function properly) and then had the base fitting welded in place. Set the gas ball lock post onto it, and you're good to go.

BTW, I simply fit an airlock (via a short piece of silicone tubing) to the base fitting for the liquid post (with the dip tube not installed) during fermentation. On transfer day, it's easy to pull that off and install the dip tube and post (takes all of a minute, or two, at the most). Also, with my setup, there's very few parts that need to be cleaned. No issues with ball valves and such either. I also didn't need to do what you're talking about (with the plexiglass) in order to transfer. IMO, that's more than just over-thinking it. I believe I have pictures in my gallery of the fittings and such.

Pictures:

Thanks for the pictures, very clean build indeed.

The reason to use plexiglass top is so you can cut a large opening in the keg to make it easy to clean the keg. I'd like to avoid having the fill the keg all the way up with water and oxiclean to avoid wasting water (I'm on a water meter) to clean it after each use. Is that what you are doing with yours?

If there is no advantage to draining out the bottom like I originally wanted to do I suppose the next best is a rotating racking arm OR out the top like yours. Since I wouldn't have a true conical it might cause more harm to bottom drain the beer without eliminating the yeast first.

Does that 2" TC fitting fit over the lip of a standard sankey keg lip without modification? If so, that might be the right way to go. Where did you get the 2" round 'disc' to which you welded a thermowell and corny post?

Are you saving any yeast with your method? I guess you could just pick the keg up and dump it in to mason jars after racking beer off.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

Yes a 2" TC end cap fits the neck of the sanke... If you are looking to go cheap you can stretch out an orange carboy cap and use as normal... if you can, or know someone that can weld for you, you could easily do the approach that Golddiggie has taken. If you want a pre-made one you can check these out

 

[Golddiggie]

I used standard 2" TC caps to make my fermenter caps. I also used the silicone o-rings (you can get them from Amazon for a really good rate) under the caps since they mate really well to the top of the sanke keg.

I originally purchased some of the assemblies from Brewer's Hardware (I also get many of the parts for my setup from them). I found that it was difficult (at best) to use with dip tubes and liquid posts. It's also more difficult to push via CO2.

As for cleaning mine up, I simply use one of the keg cleaners (pads on a rod) with a couple quarts of PBW solution in them. When it's really cruddy, I soak it inverted with a solid cap over the opening. I've also used a solution of citric acid to clean it even better (when needed). For that, I use one full cup (dry measure) of citric acid per gallon of water.

BTW, one of the best things about my setup is you don't need to move the fermenter one millimeter before starting the transfer. I did two kegs (6 gallons out of each, into 3 gallon kegs) with some 5/16" ID hose between a pair of liquid QD's.

With my setups (I have pretty much all my kegs fitted with gas posts) I can also age for an extended period, with a solid cap over the opening, and hit it with CO2 to protect it. I have my 25L kegs for aging batches. I also have a 50L keg that I had fitted with a 4" TC ferrule. I then had the matching cap setup with gas and liquid post fittings along with a thermowell (down the center). IF I was to make a bigger modification on a keg, it would be to install a 4" (or maybe 6") ferrule and use a modified solid cap to do everything. The 4" ferrule opening allows me to really get in there. IF you go that route, make sure you either know someone that can install it well, or you're good cutting stainless steel as well as welding it.

I'm looking at some MIG or TIG welders to pick up soon. I want to be able to do some welding myself.