Secondary Fermentation in 15.5 gallon sanke keg

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sgambale

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Hey all:

This is my first post on HBT so please forgive any newbie mistakes I have just brewed a 10 gallon batch of a chocolate nut brown ale (looks and smells fantastic)! This is also going to be the first batch that I keg (using a 15.5 gallon sanke). So here are my questions:

1) I was thinking about doing my secondary right in the keg. Is there any problem with putting 10 gallons in a 15.5 gallon keg (too much head space etc..)?

2) I'm assuming I can fix my first problem by putting CO2 into the keg. Is there any problem pressurizing the keg during secondary?

3) If I do put CO2 in during the secondary, is there any particular level of pressure? I was thinking about just doing it at 10psi or

4) Could I force carb right away (at 30psi) and then just let it sit for a month?

Thanks!
 
Why secondary?

I use 15.5 gallon kegs as primary for all my batches (10 gallon). Let it ride for 3-4 weeks and then keg/bottle.
 
Thanks for the reply wi brewer. The extra head space isn't an issue doing 10 gallons in the 15.5 gal barrel? I have the 10 gallons split between two primaries right now which I need for my next batch. They've been there for two weeks - maybe I'll just let them ride for one more week and then keg it!
 
I'd go ahead and keg it, but stop calling it "secondary." Just rack it to the keg, seal it, purge the headspace with CO2, put it in the fridge on gas and start carbonating it. If it's done fermenting, it's done. Any additional "conditioning" can occur at serving temperature, under pressure while it carbonates.
 
Thanks for the reply wi brewer. The extra head space isn't an issue doing 10 gallons in the 15.5 gal barrel?

Nope, it's actually pretty awesome. Once fermentation starts the headspace fills up with CO2 pretty quickly. And you'd have to try really hard to ever get blowoff gunk coming out of the airlock with all that extra room. Plus it allows you to do pressurized transfers pretty easily if you want to. My beer sees almost zero oxygen post fermentation by transfering with CO2.

If you were to secondary in one I would recommend purging it with a lot of CO2 before transfering in...I don't bother personally.
 
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