Sanke Fermenter Kit -- transferring under pressure

[bwarbiany]

Like a lot of you, I've got Derrin's sanke fermenter kit. I typically transfer from the sanke to my cornies under CO2 pressure.

I attach a hose to my racking cane, on the other end of the hose is a female MPT fitting to mate to the black liquid QD, which goes into the liquid out post of the corny. This usually makes it easy to switch the hose between keg 1 and keg 2 with pretty much zero spillage.

This usually works pretty damn well, but sometimes on very hoppy beers I get the QD or the post clogged. It happened last night on a Pliny clone due to the insane amount of boil & dry hops in that beer, and I probably lost about 2 gallons that I couldn't properly transfer.

Just wondering how the rest of you do it -- I'm thinking that I might just skip the QD and post altogether and run a longer hose that just reaches all the way into the bottom of the corny (to avoid oxidation). That will require me to either put a valve into the beer line or be ready to release the pressure that's built up in the keg quickly to stop the transfer once I get to the end of the keg.

Alternatively, I could fit some sort of screen on the end of the racking cane, or some sort of filter inline in the hose...

Any thoughts?

[backyard brewer]

While I don't condone pressurized transfers for the sake of safety with no pressure release valve....

You can remove the keg poppet and the pin in the QD leaving a free path of travel. It only leaves about a 3/16-1/4 pathway but will be far less likely to clog with hops. After transfer, pull the keg post, replace the poppet and you're good.

[JonW]

The problem with that Derrin is that you have to switch cornies in the middle of the transfer and with no valve in the QD, you can't stop flow.

Brad, I've thought about the same problem and I'm probably going to search for a 1/4" ball valve that I can outfit with an MFL so I can either attach a QD to my Sanke output and transfer as normal, or use the valve with a tube attached to transfer highly hopped beers.

I will say though that when I kegged my pliny clone, I was able to transfer all of it and it only clogged at the very end when I was lowering the racking kane to get the last bit. I had to take the post and QD apart to clean out the hops, but I didn't lose any beer.

Losing two gallons like you did is a very sad affair!

[backyard brewer]

The problem with that Derrin is that you have to switch cornies in the middle of the transfer and with no valve in the QD, you can't stop flow.

Good point. My intention was to release pressure between kegs.

[bwarbiany]

I'm actually not sure how much was lost. I overshot my OG by 13 points, so I suspect I missed my volume a tad anyway, and I've never really tried to calculate losses due to hop trub as I've never used 2 1/2 pounds of hops in a batch before... I don't know if there's *actually* 2 gal of leftover usable liquid in the keg...

But I think I'll have to modify a QD and pull the poppet when I transfer, and add a valve for the flow as well...

[bwarbiany]

Okay, so I just cleaned out the Sanke, and what was left inside was straight sludge. So I don't think I could have gotten much more out of there...

Now I'm left with a dilemma -- do I dilute each keg with 1/2 gal of distilled water? I know I'm well over the target OG, so a 10% or so dilution will probably help bring the beer back in line with my intent.

[BrewMasterBrad]

I would taste it first before attempting any dilution. I always prefer quality over quantity.

I have never had any clogged transfers using the sanke fermenter under pressure. At the end of fermentation, I always crash cool to about 40F and let it sit a few more days before transferring (except for lagers, which I slowly cool down a couple degrees per day). I usually slide the racking cane up a few inches before I transfer so I don't pick up too much gunk. I rack directly into my kegs through tubing attached to the racking cane with a beverage ball lock on the other end at about 2psi. I have not had any issues with clogging, but I have not used dry hops in the sanke fermenter yet and I generally transfer pretty clear wort into the fermenter, so most of my sludge is yeast (dead and alive) anyway.

[brahn]

I would taste it first before attempting any dilution. I always prefer quality over quantity.

+1

I use a longer hose that reaches to the bottom of my kegs for the transfer. I purge the kegs with co2 and then depressurize, remove the lid, and run the hose to the bottom of the keg. I just move really quick to swap from one keg to the next, although I can quickly and easily vent the pressure from the sanke if I want to. I generally have an extra 1/2 gallon or so of clear beer in the fermenter so I don't mind spilling a tiny bit.

[bwarbiany]

I would taste it first before attempting any dilution. I always prefer quality over quantity.

I asked the question on G+ as well, and someone mentioned that there's be oxidation risk... So I'd have to go through the trouble of boiling and chilling the water first to take care of that. Definitely not worth it prior to a taste.

I'll taste it first, and if I need to make a change, then I'll go through the trouble of de-oxygenating the water to add.