Anyone ferment in kegs?

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sleepyjamie
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Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by sleepyjamie » Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:52 pm

Anywhere here experimented with fermenting in kegs? Pros/cons

I have the 3 gallon kegs from OBK and wouldn't mind trying this out.
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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by jason.loxton » Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:57 pm

I haven't tried it, but I looked into it a bit. It seems like the big upside is the ability to ferment under pressure (which is supposed to reduce ester production, but at least some of the experimental homebrew trials haven't showed a noticeable difference at our scale) and the big downside is not being able to visually monitor fermentation. I think the main reason people do it is get a cheap large fermenter (by converting 15 gallon kegs). I am not sure that I'd see a lot of upside to doing a ferment in a 3 gallon keg over a carboy.

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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by Buccaneer » Mon Apr 04, 2016 7:47 am

Check out anything here written by GRock.

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Keith
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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by Keith » Mon Apr 04, 2016 8:09 am

sleepyjamie wrote:Anywhere here experimented with fermenting in kegs? Pros/cons

I have the 3 gallon kegs from OBK and wouldn't mind trying this out.
I've only secondary fermented juice in kegs which I always add at kegging. No issues other than the bit of sediment that clears after the first few pours.
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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by Keggermeister » Mon Apr 04, 2016 11:34 am

I ferment in 15 gal corny kegs. it works well for transferring. Most cut an inch off the dip tube for trub/yeast. I just leave the vent open and foil the top.

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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by sleepyjamie » Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:18 pm

My goal is to simply ferment in the same keg where I serve without having to do any transfering. My concern around this is the amount of trup that could be left over and possibly clogging.
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Topaz SMaSH
Cranberry Rye Saison
Monde Souterrain (Dark Saison)

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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by Keggermeister » Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:38 pm

sleepyjamie wrote:My goal is to simply ferment in the same keg where I serve without having to do any transfering. My concern around this is the amount of trup that could be left over and possibly clogging.
I'd imagine the first few pints will be pretty gross, AND if the keg lingers a few months you will get autolysis.

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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by RossBee » Mon Apr 04, 2016 6:22 pm

Don't forget to cut the dip tube back.
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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by RubberToe » Mon Apr 04, 2016 9:24 pm

Grab a big pot, do a stove top BIAB, boil, cool, add yeast to pot, cover, primary ferment, transfer to your corny to "secondary" and condition. Carb and serve in keg. You could add a spunding valve to carbonate naturally too. Still cut back the dip tube.
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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by LeafMan66_67 » Mon Apr 04, 2016 9:41 pm

RubberToe wrote:Grab a big pot, do a stove top BIAB, boil, cool, add yeast to pot, cover, primary ferment, transfer to your corny to "secondary" and condition. Carb and serve in keg. You could add a spunding valve to carbonate naturally too. Still cut back the dip tube.
That method worked very well for GRock.
"He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by sleepyjamie » Tue Apr 05, 2016 12:29 am

LeafMan66_67 wrote:
RubberToe wrote:Grab a big pot, do a stove top BIAB, boil, cool, add yeast to pot, cover, primary ferment, transfer to your corny to "secondary" and condition. Carb and serve in keg. You could add a spunding valve to carbonate naturally too. Still cut back the dip tube.
That method worked very well for GRock.
Was he making moonshine? lol :cheers2:
On Tap:
Falconers Galaxy IPA
Simcoe SMaSH
Topaz SMaSH
Cranberry Rye Saison
Monde Souterrain (Dark Saison)

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Re: Anyone ferment in kegs?

Post by MitchK » Thu Apr 07, 2016 5:50 am

You could go the other way with it and spend the ungodly price tag for a brewha 4 in 1 - the higher end conical that is pressure capable so you can carbonate in it after dumping the yeast and trub.

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