Secondary ferment in sanke keg

[shantron]

Hi there awesome brew forum!
I am a newbie to brewing and have been searching around for answers but can't find exactly what I'm looking for. Here's a set up I've been thinking about but not sure if it will work:
1. primary ferment in bucket or carboy
2. Rack to sanke keg with plug and blow off for secondary ferment. Note: I'd like to get the conversion kit but need to hold off on that for now.
3. Cut the sanke spear, insert and force carbonate

So my questions are:
(actually just thinking this over it probably won't work.) Will it work to just use the sanke secondary fermenter to dispense? Now, I'm thinking this might be a bad idea since any jostling might mix the yeast layer build up.

For those that ferment in kegs, do most do the entire ferment in the keg or is it still necessary to do some primary/secondary set up?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[shantron]

Hm...I did find this thread which is close: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/5-gallon-sanke-secondary-58515/
and I also did not mean to say secondary 'ferment' I think that's probably a newbie mistake in wording.
So, I'm still wondering if using the secondary (keg) if I can just cut the spear to dispense...or do I need to rack to another keg or bottle?

 

[shantron]

Sorry, don't mean to bump my own thead but have been reading more and I think I have my questions answered (kind of.) Looks like I also posted this in the wong category...whoops.
Seems like ther's a few schools of thought on this and I **think** I'll try this:
Primary (ferment) in bucket
Secondary (condition) in carboy (14-16 days total between primary and secondary or until FG is correct)
Rack to keg and either carbonate or natural condition with priming sugar (still torn on this)
No need to cut the spear since the first few pours will pull out the yeast

I know that racking increases oxidation chances so this does have me concerned.

Other option seems to be:
Go straight to keg as primary
No secondary
Condition in keg
CO2 carbonate or natural with sugar
First few pours will get rid of yeast

Would still love any thoughts on any of this. Since I'm a newbie, I'm trying to get fermentation processes down before moving on to other fun stuff.

Oh, and why does my homebrew make me pee more than store bought?

 

[tophmck]

Yeah, there's really no right answer on this. You'll just have to experiment and see what works for you. Personally, unless I'm doing a big beer that needs to condition for 6+ months, I don't secondary. So if wanted to serve from a sanke, so I'd just transfer straight from primary to the sanke anytime after the fermentation is complete. You can cold crash before transferring, if you like, to minimize sediment in the keg. I prefer to force carbonate.

 

[shantron]

Thanks!
I'm a little bit confused on force carbonation though. I have done it but I've only done one corny keg so far (it turned out awesome.)
If folks are force carbonating (putting on CO2 for a week or so) but want to do more than one keg, are they just using a regulator with multiple hose attachments?
I have a kegerator now that I use for what I want to pour at the time but if it doesn't have room for all my kegs, I guess I need to add an additional CO2 tank with multi hose regulator?
And yes, I want to have lots going all the time

 

[tophmck]

That's right. I have a 3 tap kegerator, so after the regulator I have a 3-way manifold. Once I polish off a keg, I'll put in a new one, hook up the co2, and -- aside from sneaking tastes -- wait about 5 days before serving. If you have room in your kegerator, you could also have a dedicated line just for carbonating the keg that's next up to bat (so you'd have a 4-way manifold in a 3-tap kegerator, for example.)

You mention a second tank -- that's fine, too. Or you could use a "dual body" regulator instead of a manifold. (This would also give you more flexibility to set different kegs to different pressures.)

Sounds like you're thinking of force carbing outside the fridge. If you do that, just remember to take into account the warmer temperature when deciding on appropriate carbonation level using one of these tables:
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

 

[shantron]

Thanks again!
Hopefully I'll be posting soon about some great beer.
I have one batch now that is in secondary and I plan on kegging on Wednesday and force carbonating.
I have another in primary that I'm not going to rack to secondary and keg next Monday. Then I'll have 2 to compare the methods.