Tall and narrow fermenters

[jmc]

Brew in 2 x Corny kegs?

Use grey disconnect with blow off tube to bottle SS

[Rad]

I was thinking about using kegs but I do like having a tap at the bottom. I don't know if I could bring myself to butcher up a keg like that.

[orlando]

Could you ferment in kegs?

That's given me an idea. PM asd on here, he has a load of those non returnable plastic kegs that a few guys on here bought, they can act as fermentors as well as er kegs. There only a few quid each and may just be the perfect size, only height might be the issue. Does someone have a link for the thread?

[jmc]

Could you ferment in kegs?

That's given me an idea. PM asd on here, he has a load of those non returnable plastic kegs that a few guys on here bought, they can act as fermentors as well as er kegs. There only a few quid each and may just be the perfect size, only height might be the issue. Does someone have a link for the thread?

I use the 30L polykegs I got from asd for brewing cider.
I've put a tap on 1. see this tread

[jmc]

more info from Barneey here

[orlando]

Heights the problem with the polykegs, he's only got 63. cm shame as they are perfect in their width.

[Rad]

Thanks for all the pictures and measurements. Looks like we're onto a winner. Just add a tap and flatish blow off tube. Let's see if ASD has any left. It's been 2 years.

[roscoe]

I regularly ferment in dolium and other plastic 'one-way' kegs. They are fairly easy to pick up for free and do the job more than fine.
Don't really see the need for the hassle of a bottom tap, just use a syphon.
I usually only use them 1 or 2 times & generally only the odd time when I get in the mood and want 3/4 brews on the go at the sometime.

There are all sorts of shapes, sizes out there....

[orlando]

Thanks for all the pictures and measurements. Looks like we're onto a winner. Just add a tap and flatish blow off tube. Let's see if ASD has any left. It's been 2 years.

Trust me he has. What about height, the measurements you gave suggested something 90 cm would be too tall?

[Rad]

It looks like it's 59cm in the picture, isn't it? That would leave me with about 4cm for blow off. I just watched a clip about using cornies for fermentation. No drilling, just using pressure for taking samples and transferring.

[orlando]

It looks like it's 59cm in the picture, isn't it? That would leave me with about 4cm for blow off. I just watched a clip about using cornies for fermentation. No drilling, just using pressure for taking samples and transferring.

You're quite right. I know asd and others like jmc have fermented in these very successfully, a lot cheaper than cornies.

[Fil]

Fil: do you mean something like these?. I can see why they are a pain to wash. Is the surface on the inside smooth? Are the walls strong enough for bucket tap?

On the bright side, if I lay them on the side I could fit 4 in and still have space for the heater

yes those or you can also get some more square too, its the squarer ones i use, cleaning is a doddle, warm oxy just over half full and stand it upside down for 10 mins before standing upright for ten mins to soak off all crud, its the draining of the rinse cycles completely thats a pain, there is a knack to tipping them square on which i have yet to master it just takes a few retips to drain completely.. but if not warned could be overlooked easily, i did initially thankfully i discovered it after collecting 50l of free RO water and testing it with a tds meter revealed more dissolved matter than tap water, emptying them then revealed how tricky it is to drain them and i realised circa 100-200ml of original cleaner had just been diluted by the rinses.. thankfully discovered before a brew was ruined

they are stronger than you think search in here for jerrykeg as jerrycans have been used for low pressure low conditioned ale serving kegs with the addition of a drain tap.

The trick to fitting a drain tap through the narrow neck is some gaffer tape or string tied to a length of 1" x 1" or similar and wrapped round and secured round a locking nut.. carefully push that down the narrow neck
to mate with the taps threaded shank pushed through the hole cut, if using gaffer tape tape a good 6-8" up each side of the 1x1, so you dont leave the tape behind with the nut

[BenB]

LOL! I was scratching my brain trying to find out the maths solution to this. So I asked a friend who is a maths prof. He worked it out from first principles. Turns out the answer is d= ( X + Y - square root (2 X Y))

Which for the 501 * 597 box works out at 32.5cm



I'm still trying to work though the maths bit!

[Rad]

Did this really bug you so much that you had to find the equation? I like you and thank you for it. I managed to unearth the fridge and take exact measurements. It's actually 63x45 cm. Quite a bit different than on manufacture's website. but it changed very little in terms of max width (32.7cm). I've decided to give fermenting in cornies a go and kind of got accustomed to thinking about shiny stuff.

I came across these 2 on ali: One Two

First one looks almost like the Balliihoo one, except it seems to have a rounded bottom and different clamps. The other is a keg with 4" tri-clamp. Both stupidly expensive so I'll wait and see if any local shop will get a boat load of them at more reasonable price.

One non shiny option I came across are chutney barrels. There's a 30 liter type that has a clamp and is taller and narrower than the screw top type. Like the top one here.

[alexlark]

I use 2 of those for storing grain. Last one I bought was a used chutney barrel. Really good quality for the price! It was around £10 delivered. No wonder people also use them for boilers.