I have six 1/6 barrel sankes, should I just use those instead of cornys?

[bhamade]

I am having trouble finding a good deal on cornys. I have six 1/6th barrel sanke kegs. Should I just go with the sankes? I hear they are a pain to fill up, but I want more information from someone who uses them frequently for homebrewing.

 

[Irrenarzt]

I have one as well. Even though it is brand new, I never use it. I'd trade it for a good condition corny in a heartbeat.

 

[samc]

Check the classifieds, someone is looking to trade Cornies for Sankes.

 

[user 64661]

Too bad their not slim 1/4s, I'd trade YOU in a heart beat! I've been trying to find one or maybe two to use as fermentation vessels.

 

[Irrenarzt]

Mine might be the 1/4, I never checked. I'll check it out.

 

[smakudwn]

I have 2 of the 1/6 (5 gal) and 2 1/4 (7.5 gal) and I'm thinking of using these instead of the 2 cornys I have.

 

[LordUlrich]

Sanke kegs have the disadvantage , that it is not possible to inspect the inside, and you must use cup methods. Cleaning is done by flipping the keg upside down, pumping cleaner in the beer line and draining out the gas line of the coupler. To fill you need to use a modified coupler (check valve removed) and run beer in center line. I like sanke kegs better, as they seem to have fewer problems with sealing and such, but the investment is greater.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yes! I would advise using them. Removing and reinstalling the stem gets easy w/ practice. I and several others feel they are superior to corny kegs FWIW. Search around and choose.

 

[brooklanebrewing]

I have 5 sankey sixtels and i use them as primary fermenters. i ferment in them with a blowoff tube for 2-3 days then i put in the spig and add a spunding valve and continue the ferment under pressure (check out the wiki on pressurized fermentation for spunding valve info). after a week i throw it in a keezer set at 35 (which i also use for lagering) then pressure transfer to a corney for secondary fermentation at 65. after secondary fermentation i throw the corney into my serving fridge and once it's cold it's generally ready for serving. no waiting for forced carbonation.

i like the sankey kegs for fermenting and have gotten used to taking them apart. they do get quite gunked up during fermentation but i just throw about a gallon of hot water and pbw in the keg, put the spig back in and let it sit upside down for a night. i have a little inspection mirror and a flashlight to inspect the underside of the top. (i had to use a carboy brush the first time to do some scrubbing but i didn't use very hot water with the pbw.)

i've only done about 5 batches this way and i like it much better than racking and force carbonating. I like serving from the corneys because they just fit in my fridge better than the sankeys.

the main problem i originally had with the sankeys was the expense of the couplers. i just kept watching ebay and actually bought 7 for 45 bucks. only five were useable, but the price was still good. i use the couplers for the spunding valve setup and run a bunch of tees to one relief valve and guage. i put a check valve after each coupler before the tee.

all in all, if i had access to more 1/6 barrels and couplers i would just as readily use all sankeys (if i could fit more inmy fridge). i would actually like 1/4 barrels even more.

hopefully, this wasn't too overwhelming and gave you some insight. luckily i'm not drinking yet or this might have started to get long. lol

monk e