Corny Keg as Secondary Fermenter

R

Robert McKeon

Member
Started using a Corny keg as a secondary fermenter so I can push the beer into the keg to avoid oxygen.
I cut a small portion of the dip tube off to get a little space for any settlement so as to not transfer later.
I sealed the keg, then injected CO2 and vented thru relief for about 10-15 seconds to clear out oxygen.
I then transfered the beer into the out port so it fills from the bottom up.

My question is about venting:
I currently go down twice a day and pull the relief valve to let off any pressure. Usually has some pressure in keg.
Is this the way to do it?
I could also remove the gas ball lock port and hook up a blowoff tube into a star-san bucket.
This is my first attempt at this so want to see if anyone has experience with this.
Thanks, Bob
 
I have taken the whole gas post off and used a drilled stopped games over the threads with a standard 1-piece airlock. That worked pretty well. But really you want a spunding valve. That will maintain low pressure but not let it build up too high.


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Is it done fermenting when you put it in the keg?
If so would it make sense to not release the pressure to let the beer start carbonating?
Just a thought.

Or you could remove just the pressure release valve or gas post and use a stopper and airlock?
 
i'm with @Dan Slater. You are using it as secondary. If fermentation is complete and you are not trying to have an actual secondary fermentation (fruit, brett, bacteria, etc), there is no reason to vent at all. hydrostatic pressure on the yeast is inconsequential and the vessel is rated to hold pressure.

my $0 fix.
 
For most ales, I leave in primary for 1-3 weeks and rack to keg, force carbonate, sometimes add gelatin to clarify, and it's good to go. No need to vent off pressure, and a full length dip tube will suck out any settled yeast in the first pint or 2 of beer.


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+1 on the no secondary approach*. I actually ferment in a 10-gallon keg (with the advantage of being able to rack to the serving keg under CO2 and avoid any incidental oxygen pickup, which I love), but I don't do a secondary for the majority of my ales -- a minimum of 14 days, more often 21+ in primary under controlled temperature, then rack directly to the serving keg or bottling bucket.

If I'm dry-hopping I do that right in primary, after the first week or so to avoid the CO2 driving off the hop aromas.

Now, for lagers I do rack to a Corny keg and lager in a temp-controlled chest freezer, ditto for any ales that require extended aging (barleywines, RIS, etc.)

* I am firmly of the opinion that a secondary is largely unnecessary, it's a holdover from the "olden days" of homebrewing when it had some benefits given the more rudimentary homebrew process, lack of fermentation control and prevalence of low pitches of dry yeast.

Even if your temp control is whatever room in your house is most even and appropriate for the style you're brewing, I still feel secondary isn't necessary for the majority of ales. Conversely, there are significant advantages to leaving the beer on the yeast for longer, so even if you choose to do a secondary I still recommend no less than 14 days in primary, to let the yeast clean up the byproducts of fermentation -- diacetyl, acetaldehyde, etc.
 
Brian Pylant said:
[post]2033[/post]
* I am firmly of the opinion that a secondary is largely unnecessary, it's a holdover from the "olden days" of homebrewing when it had some benefits given the more rudimentary homebrew process, lack of fermentation control and prevalence of low pitches of dry yeast.
Click to expand...

I started kegging recently, 2 so far, and I did 1 as secondary for dry hopping which was probably my best batch to date. Now I have 2 batches coming to an end in primary, but both are so laden with krausen debris on the surface I'd be hard pressed to get them transferred to a keg without major sediment. Obviously it'll settle in the keg, but I'm not sure I want that much in there. I've been rocking them back and forth every night in hopes of getting more to drop out. They both should be within a couple points of FG at this point.

I've always used secondaries (and cold crashing), with good success in my opinion, and not sure if I should continue when kegging. I will continue to use them for bottling however. The 1 I dry hopped in the keg was clear even on the first pour (dip tube may be a bit high).
 
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