Corny's or Sanke's

Hi Folks

I have been really busy work wise so apologies that I haven't posted for I while but I have been an active viewer!! I am going to order a couple of kegs in the next few days but not sure what to buy. I want the least hassle and would love to see a set up that anyone has within the Leigh, Bury, Bolton area if anyone could help.

Regards

Matt

personally i have cornie kegs for my cider but if i was starting again i would buy sankies now

steve

personally i have cornie kegs for my cider but if i was starting again i would buy sankies now

steve

Why would you now buy Sankey?

I started off with Pepsi type cornie kegs, and recently got some A-type kegs (same as Sankey but a slightly different coupler), so I have both.

Things you should consider are;
Are keg dimensions an important issue in your setup?
What's the cost of the keg + couplers.
Do you want to be able to easily open the keg to clean, or dry-hop, clarify, sweeten, flavour etc. ?

From using both types of keg, these are my impressions so far:

I'd say Cornie kegs are probably cheaper (keg plus couplers), easier to clean and easier to make in-keg additions to (clarifying agents, hops, spices, sweeteners/flavours for cider etc.) as they are easier to open, they are easier to purge or de-gas too. The tall slim Pepsi kegs also fit well in my fridges as they take up less foot-area and the couplers sit very low. Sankey couplers are rather tall (they can add 4-5 inches on top of the keg height) which can cause difficulties if height is a restricting factor. Cornie kegs are also easier to perform a quick carbonation by shaking under high pressure. To do the same with a Sankey requires you to block the product line of the coupler, possible to do but a bit more hastle and risk.

Where the Sankey are better is, it's all metal so no rubber top or base ever comes un-stuck, they are also slightly larger volume (18.9L vs 20L I think), they seal much better than a Cornie which can suffer from leaky o-rings (and this is probably their main advantage), but de-gasing is a bit of a hastle if you over-carbonate them. The coupler is also fitted with one-way valves so no liquid can get into your gas line and no air into your beer line. Sankey or A-type etc. are commercial standards, so if you want to serve your beer/cider at a function then Sankey might be easier, although there are a number of types (A, S, M, D, U .....) so that's not guaranteed.

A final note; Sankey kegs are designed to be filled under counter-pressure with an already filtered and carbonated finished product, and then to prevent tampering once filled. That's not necessarily what's happening in the homebrew environment.

What about a one of these?
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.p ... uctId=4765

There is a thread discussing the use of these on here.

Good answer from JPK
I have cornies but have always had issues with the oil rings and disconnects, once lost most of the contents due to a faulty poppet. I have in mind to try those universal l poppets that were on here a week or two ago.
I would go sankey if I did it again, although I do prefer bottles as most of my is at home these days and product can be rationed easier.
S

Sold 16 cornies to go down the Slimline Sanke route . . . A Couplers were £6 each! I have a filling Coupler and a Gassing Coupler, when you have JG fittings on the inlet and outlet it's easy to pop off a line and insert a blanking plug. I Fill with fined beer, gas as required, I tend to add all additives into the Conical FV after dumping the yeast so not an issue, being able to open them. They work and seal with a cask aspirator, so ideal for hand pulled beers ... the 1/2" dip tube is a big help on this as it offers virtually no restriction to beer flow, which means a partial vacuum isn't formed causing CO2 breakout in the line.

Remember Cornies are meant to dispense thick soda syrup at high pressure ... That's not necessarily what's happening in the hombrew environment

What about a one of these?
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.p ... uctId=4765

There is a thread discussing the use of these on here.

£99 Thats cheaper than i've seen before
they say 35L/9.25Gallons i converted it and i made 9 gallons as 41L who's right?

steve

35l is 9.25 us gallons

....They work and seal with a cask aspirator, so ideal for hand pulled beers ... the 1/2" dip tube is a big help on this as it offers virtually no restriction to beer flow, which means a partial vacuum isn't formed causing CO2 breakout in the line.

That sounds very interesting. Is there a "How-to-guide" somewhere on that setup?

[Joe1002]

....They work and seal with a cask aspirator, so ideal for hand pulled beers ... the 1/2" dip tube is a big help on this as it offers virtually no restriction to beer flow, which means a partial vacuum isn't formed causing CO2 breakout in the line.

That sounds very interesting. Is there a "How-to-guide" somewhere on that setup?

No that I've seen but it is pretty simple. CO2 line to aspirator then to sankey coupler. Beer out of sankey coupler to beer engine. Switch co2 on and pull the beer engine handle. As the beer is drawn out the aspirator will let co2 through until atmospheric pressure is reached again.

I see, so simple, there really is no need for a how to.

Do you add primings and finings to the keg at racking as you would a cask?

[Joe1002]

I see, so simple, there really is no need for a how to.

Do you add primings and finings to the keg at racking as you would a cask?

I didn't, I used to force carbonate so less sediment in the keg. For a beer engine it would be low carbonation.

Thank you very much for the reply's. I have bought two corney's and now I just need a gas supply and regulator. I would prefer to own the gas tank rather than rent. Does anyone know of any suppliers in the Bolton, Leigh or Wigan area for the gas and regulator.

Regards

Matt

Hi, I used Brentex / NFS Fire, the address is as follows. They fill empties for around a tenner (3Kg) and also sell larger cylinders, which are proprtionally cheaper to fill.

Morton St, Middleton, Manchester M24 3AN

Hi, I used Brentex / NFS Fire, the address is as follows. They fill empties for around a tenner (3Kg) and also sell larger cylinders, which are proprtionally cheaper to fill.

Morton St, Middleton, Manchester M24 3AN

Many thanks for that. Not too far for me, I used to work in Middleton, but never heard of Brentex.

I will give them a buzz in the morning.

Regards

Matt

Owning can be good - IF you have a gas seller that will refill cylinders which aren't their own. Fire-extinguisher people often seem more used to this than some more general purpose CO2 sellers, but it isn't exclusive. In some cases you may be charged extra for periodic safety testing, which they would automatically do for their own cylinders.

To my mind, pretty much as good or better are sellers who charge a cylinder deposit but (crucially) no rent. They take responsibility for the routine cylinder maintenance, and you just pay for 'refills' which in practice are usually swaps with a full cylinder. Many just roll on the returnable deposit so you never lose out should you wish to end... That isn't a given; some can reduce what deposit you get back over time to zero, though depending on prices and time that may not be a big deal .

Renting cylinders can be economic if you have a high turnover, but most of us don't... so it has to be a very low rent indeed to compare financially with owning or deposit-only methods.

Hi Folks

I went to Middleton to pick up the cylinder this afternoon. £48.00 inc Vat for a 6.35kg with a 5 year safety test. So I am quite happy with that.

Re the regulator, please will you have a quick look at the link and let me know if it will do the trick.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Futuris-Stage- ... +regulator

Regards

Matt