fermeting in a 15.5 gal keg

[ggltd]

One other observation: do you need the 2nd tri-clover on the 3 way valve? What does this do for you?

[dstar26t]

2 things:

1. With everything together it's big, bulky and side heavy when trying to attach it to the keg. Taking the spunding part off makes cleaning/sanitizing/handling easier.

2. I can replace the spunding valve assembly with a 1"/1.5" tri-clover cap for using on secondary vessels. That way I don't need all the spunding parts just to cap a secondary where the spunding isn't needed. I was thinking of adding a barbed fitting to that 1" tri-clover cap so I can add CO2 for racking/carbonation.

[ggltd]

My brother... you must have a pretty good slush fund for brewing. These parts are starting to add up for me. Before I go the whole road and move to the tri clover etc. can we make a deal and you send me the two tailpieces so I can ferment my first brew?


Thanks so much,
Gary

[dstar26t]

Sent you an e-mail.

The annoying thing to me about the first set-up with the keg coupler was that when you remove the thermowell after fermentation to insert the racking tube, all the stuck on krausen gets wiped off on the coupler probe and the micromatic valve. I'm pretty happy with the new design, I'll keep this thread updated if anything changes.

[beltbuckle]

i love fermenting in sankes and use the brewershardware.com kit with thermowell. cool project with the spunding valve. my question though is why use sanitary fittings at all if they just have pipe thread on the other end (which are harder to clean and ensure they are sanitary)?

[dstar26t]

I'm not using the 1/1.5" tri clover that attaches the spunding set-up because it's sanitary. I'm using it for ease of removal, like a quick disconnect. To make this set-up sanitary, it'd be very expensive if possible at all (without major modifications). On beers that go to secondary (lagers, dryhopping, etc), I'll use the main assembly except replace the spunding set-up with a tri clover cap with a small valve and barbed fitting on it for a CO2 hook-up. I'll post pics when the time comes.

[dstar26t]

Here are pics of transferring a Pale Ale from Brite keg to serving keg. The Brite keg was at 10 psi and 32F for a week while the biofine did it's thing. This pale ale was heavily dry hopped and came out crystal clear.

[ggltd]

Great stuff! I don’t have the rest of my parts finished yet for the D valve hookup so I have been using one of the orange rubber keg caps. I just finished my first 10 gallon keg ferment and transfer and I have to say this is so easy compared to glass carboys, siphons and the like. I will never go back. All brewers should try this method. Oh by the way my version of Smiticks turned out great! Kudos to the pioneers!