What size shanks for collar and coffin

[summerofgeorge]

I'm building a keezer and starting off with a simple collar. I'd like to eventually upgrade to a coffin style...so my question is should I go with 3" or 4" shanks?

I think the 4" would be better for the collar since more of the shank would be exposed to the cold and help keep the taps cold. I'm attaching the collar to the lid so having more sticking out isn't a problem. My concern is more with the coffin. Most seem to be too thin to house 4" shanks. I guess I could just make sure to make the coffin big enough to handle whichever I choose.

Has anyone converted from collar to coffin without major additional equipment? Any tips/suggestions?

 

[user 40839]

Absolutely on the 4". And while you're thinking about shanks, check out Farmhouse Brewing Supply for them - John's got an awesome deal on stainless shanks at the moment, and he's one of our own.

(Please ignore my ridiculous contributions to that thread)

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/s-s-shanks-back-stock-223022/

 

[summerofgeorge]

Thanks ubermick. I've been waiting for the shanks at farmhouse to come back in stock. That's where I'll be getting them. Now I just have to decide on 4 or 5...

 

[lotbfan]

I use the 3" shanks just fine on a 1X10 collar. I use 10 feet of 3/16" tubing, so foaming isn't an issue due to slightly warm shanks for me, not sure if it would be using 1/4".

The money I saved not buying 5" shanks for 5 taps paid for the 6th, but ymmv.

 

[summerofgeorge]

Do you think it would be a problem using 4" shanks in a coffin?

ubermick - not to get too personal but what are the dimensions of your coffin? It looks great btw!

 

[lotbfan]

depends on the dimensions of your coffin, you could always get the curved tail pieces so that you don't have to worry about kinking your beer lines trying to turn a hard 90 degree angle.