Sanke Keg Conversion Kit

[BrewMasterBrad]

I would suggest a straight blowoff port. Once primary is done it would be easier to place an ordinary air lock on a straight port. I would hope the skirt/handles at the top of the keg would support an easy bend in the blowoff tube to keep it from kinking.

I thought about that too. When I used to ferment in Cornies, I would always just leave the tubing in a blow-off bucket. It's easy enough to weld the straight tube in and include the bent tube as well as a piece of 3/8" tubing to connect them.

I like it the way it is. If people want a straight one, they can just cut it off.

[jward]

I would suggest a straight blowoff port. Once primary is done it would be easier to place an ordinary air lock on a straight port. I would hope the skirt/handles at the top of the keg would support an easy bend in the blowoff tube to keep it from kinking.

I thought about that too. When I used to ferment in Cornies, I would always just leave the tubing in a blow-off bucket. It's easy enough to weld the straight tube in and include the bent tube as well as a piece of 3/8" tubing to connect them.

I like it the way it is. If people want a straight one, they can just cut it off.

Just charge extra for the bent version.

[backyard brewer]

lol.

I think it's easy enough to supply this cut:

[brianc]

Cutting the tube is not a bad idea. I'm experimenting with mine and was thinking about capping the blow-off tube, leaving the racking cane out, and coming up with a way to attach the airlock to the racking cane port.

[brahn]

I'd probably want the blowoff as-is, I don't really see a need to use an airlock in a setup like this.

Have you done any tests regarding cleaning/sanitizing one of these guys? For sanitizing I think you could just add some water and boil it off, but I'd want to be pretty careful about the pressure building up in there. Would you need to fill the whole thing with PBW (or similar) to clean it? 15G worth of PBW for every batch would get a bit pricey.

[jward]

Brian, thanks for bringing your Sanke keg conversion kit to the meeting.

[backyard brewer]

The newest design includes a two-piece blow off tube and an FDA cap for the blow-off tube

.

[BrewMasterBrad]

The newest design includes a two-piece blow off tube and an FDA cap for the blow-off tube.

What about a male 1/4" flare fitting on the end of the blowoff tube so I can directly connect to my CO2 line for pushing the beer out of the fermenter? That would be convenient. Then I will just need someone to brew the beer for me and lift that beast into my chest freezer.

Seriously, as soon as I get a job, I am looking for a used keg and I am buying one of these - maybe two.

[backyard brewer]

The newest design includes a two-piece blow off tube and an FDA cap for the blow-off tube.

What about a male 1/4" flare fitting on the end of the blowoff tube so I can directly connect to my CO2 line for pushing the beer out of the fermenter? That would be convenient. Then I will just need someone to brew the beer for me and lift that beast into my chest freezer.

Seriously, as soon as I get a job, I am looking for a used keg and I am buying one of these - maybe two.

I really thought hard about adding some way to make it easy to do pressurized transfers, but I just felt like there was too much liability in offering a mechanism to pressurize the keg. I'd have to add a relief valve and when it gets down to it; I'm not qualified to spec a relief valve and while robbing one from a corny would probably work just fine it's just not worth the potential headache. Couple that with the fact that I'm not a certified welder it just sounds like a horrible court case to me. So if people decide to blow a little CO2 back through the blow-off port to push their beer out, that's up to them but I don't recommend it.

It's the same thing that's holding me back from offering complete systems as well.

[jward]

I would expect that a properly sized hose pushed directly on the blow off tube would hold the few psi you would use to push beer.

[backyard brewer]

I would expect that a properly sized hose pushed directly on the blow off tube would hold the few psi you would use to push beer.

At your own risk of course!!!!

[brahn]

Me too, I love the idea. My only concern is figuring out how I'd keep it cool during fermentation.

Why can't you still use a water bath? Those large round tubs you'd normally place a keg in would be perfect.

As it turns out, just using a tub for the water bath made it really hard to get the frozen water bottles I use into the water. I ended up making a couple of bulkheads and using a fountain pump to move the water, it works great for keeping the fermenter cool:

[maltbarley]

Is this your first batch in the fermkegger? How is it working for you?

[BrewMasterBrad]

I'm so jealous of that thing. I wish I had two kegs to replace my fermenters. Just when I think I'm done buying equipment, Derrin comes up with another bitchin' idea. Damn you Derrin.

Hey Brent, where do you take a shower? I always laugh when people ask me if I make my beer in the bathtub. I will have to tell them that I know someone that does.

[brahn]

Tim, the picture is actually of my second batch. The first batch I just crammed ice next to the fermenter in the tub but it was a pain and not as effective. My 3rd batch is fermenting right now. The thing works great. Cleaning is a little bit of a hassle but not too bad. The first batch I did the racking cane got completely clogged with trub/yeast, but once I learned that lesson it's been great.

Brad, that's my spare bathroom shower. For this system it works great in case there's a leak or the pump works faster than the drain, the water just goes into the tub.