Using Corny Keg as secondary....

[r8rphan]

In order to make my second carboy available for a 10G boil weekend after next, I was thinking of going ahead and transferring the beer after primary is complete (one week into the ferment), and letting it finish fermenting in the corny keg...

Has anyone tried this?

I am thinking of installing a gas out ball lock fitting with either a tube to a small container of star san (miniature blow off) or some sort of rigid tube and air lock assy (supported by the ball lock fitting itself)..

Otherwise, I'll have to wait an additional week to do the brew, and I'd rather get it going as soon as possible...

advice/opinions appreciated...
Thanks

 

[samc]

I use corny kegs all the time for fermenting. You will find however that many of us would not transfer beer from primary after 1 week and many also go straight from primary to serving keg. However if you have reached Final gravity, go ahead and make the transfer. No reason of course you can't primary in kegs, once you do it you will be hooked.

 

[lanvp]

Corny kegs are great as secondary fermenters. The best part is that you can use CO2 to transfer the beer after fermentation is completed with out exposing it to oxygen!

More info here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/setting-up-corny-fermenter-200597/


Hope this helps.

Cheers!

 

[r8rphan]

Corny kegs are great as secondary fermenters. The best part is that you can use CO2 to transfer the beer after fermentation is completed with out exposing it to oxygen!

More info here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/setting-up-corny-fermenter-200597/


Hope this helps.

Cheers!

A little confused.. If I left the majority of trub in the carboy by racking into the corny using the same methods I do for a full ferment in the carboy, why would I need to transfer yet again?

Why not just leave it in the corny that was used for the secondary, and then put it under pressure in the kegerator?

Although, one thing like about your picture, is the filter in between the cornys... And I actually have a couple of those laying around unused out in the pump house... what kind of filter are you using... coarse or carbon?

 

[stevehaun]

Ales 10-14 days in primary then pump to kegs.
Lagers 21-28 days in primary then pump to kegs.
My secondary keg is also my serving keg.

 

[zanemoseley]

I do all beers in a primary then "secondary" in a corny then serve in the same corny. The first pour you will dump as there is some sediment but then you're good. The last pint also has some sediment as the keg sputters. I wouldn't be shocked if most people that keg do this.

 

[r8rphan]

I do all beers in a primary then "secondary" in a corny then serve in the same corny. The first pour you will dump as there is some sediment but then you're good. The last pint also has some sediment as the keg sputters. I wouldn't be shocked if most people that keg do this.

Just so we're talking apples and apples.. By 'primary' I'm talking about the first three or four days, when all the violent fermenting is going on.. By secondary, I mean the remainder of the first two weeks of fermenting..

Under 'normal' conditions, I would transfer to the corny after this 'two week' period (primary and secondary') Then leave it for ten days or more carbonating under refrigeration during the 'conditioning' phase...

What I want to do, is to transfer to the corny after about a week in the carboy. in the middle of what I would normally consider the secondary ferment.. And then after the two weeks is up, put the keg under pressure in the fridge to 'condition'.. (cold crash and carbonate)

This is okay, right? Just want to make sure I'm using the terms correctly. or at least the same way as you are...

If it 'is' okay.. Do I need to use a air lock during this second week.. I am assuming I do.. But OTOH, maybe the ferment is slow enough that it will just carbonate itself..

And why do you dump the first and last beer? Yeah, they 'look' like crap.. but they still taste fine... Seems like a waste of beer.. Or will it be worse than I'm used to being that I used the same corny for secondary ferment?

 

[lumpher]

i primary 2-3 weeks in a regular fermenter, then secondary in keg. that's also my serving keg

 

[r8rphan]

i primary 2-3 weeks in a regular fermenter, then secondary in keg. that's also my serving keg

I'm still trying to figure out if we're all using the terminology the same way...

 

[lumpher]

what i'm saying is no, i wouldn't transfer to secondary a week into fermentation. i wait at least 2 weeks, more like 3, before i move the beer out of the primary. may be or may not be the best way, but that's how i do it

 

[r8rphan]

The reason I'm going through all this, is that I am in the process of setting up for AG.. so my last kit order was an extract kit and an AG kit.. The extract kit went into the fermenter a few days ago.. I was originally going to do a 5G batch of AG and put it in the other fermenter this weekend (today)..

But it appears that my AG rig will not be ready for a couple more weeks (probably sometime in the middle of week after next)...

Seeing as I've heard it's not good to wait too long to brew the grains after they've been milled, I'm concerned about time.. So I ordered another extract kit and another AG kit.. Should be here in time to brew the extract kit next weekend..

I'd like to do both AG kits together the following weekend (Christmas weekend).. Then it will have been going on a month since the first kits grains were milled, and two weeks for the second...

The problem is, that the batch I'm brewing next weekend will only have been in the fermenter for a week... The one that is in the fermenter now, will be done.. I only have two fermenters, and will need both of them for the 10G batch...

If I wait to brew the extract kit till after the AGs are done, I'll go through a two to three week (or more) stretch with no beer... And that'd be a sucky way to start the new year.....

 

[lumpher]

do you have room in the freezer for the milled grain and the hops? it keeps very well frozen

 

[r8rphan]

do you have room in the freezer for the milled grain and the hops? it keeps very well frozen

Naw.. It's pretty much packed.. I had to go through a whole bunch of gyrations yesterday just to get all the groceries in there...

Bought a vacuum sealer about a month ago so that I could save money buying meats in bulk.. So now my freezers are full of steak, and chicken, and hamburger patties...

I plan on buying hops in bulk next month.. so I'm gonna have to figure out how to get them in the chest freezer at that time...

Everything is about saving money for me right now.. getting costs down.. And that means making my own beer AG with ingredients bought bulk, buying roasts and butchering my own steaks, going to restaurant suppliers for chicken and hamburger patties, etc..

And that requires 'storage'.. space is becoming a premium...

I'm all happy that I found out on this forum yesterday, that I could make dog treats out of spent malts... Saving me even more money for something that is better than what I would buy in the store... I'm becoming a 'penny pincher'

The other thing is that if I freeze the AG kit and wait to brew it, I'll end up with a stretch of three weeks or so where I'm buying beer from retailers.. And 'that' is expensive... especially once you add taxes and botle deposits on top of it all..

 

[milldoggy]

If you want, transfer the beer to you keg after at least a week(check the gravity), get a number 2 or 3 rubber stopper, place this over the gas thread and jam a plastic air lock in there. This seems to work. The only issue I have is that some of my kegs need pressure before the lid seals, so with the airlock, it might not be a super tight seal around the lid.

I am trying this airlock method for a sour ale, hope it works.

 

[bendavanza]

Many of us skip the secondary. I'm a miser, too, and I'm also a bit lazy. I haven't used a secondary fermenter in quite some time. I'd just rack the beer into a corny, put some pressure on it and if there's too much sediment, rack again. As long as my kegs aren't moved around, I only get sediment in the first pull, after that it's clear until the keg gets moved around, which they typically don't. You can also cut your dip tube a bit shorter to leave more muck behind.

 

[r8rphan]

I'm a miser, too, and I'm also a bit lazy.

LOL.. Are we related some how?

 

[Hogcrewer]

What do you guys think about adding fruit extract to the corny after a couple of weeks. Usally it flares up again for a couple of days. Have a 10 gallon in right now and i am thinking, 5 normal pale and 5 raspberry pale.....Thoughts?