It was a long drawn out process, so I will show some highlights to the Sanke keg mod. I fermented a beer in a corny keg and like it so much I wanted to do it again, but the corny keg is only 5 gallons, so I looked to 1/4 barrel tall Sanke kegs. I added 2 gas and one liquid corny ports to the Sanke keg and got rid of the Sanke connection completely. The second gas port allows me to vent through an air lock and inject Co2 at the same time. This keeps a positive in the keg if I take of the cap to add dry hops or clarifying agents and once the cap is back on I can contiue to vent the keg to reduce any oxygen that may have gotton in from the hops or whatever.
I found Corny keg post fittings and add them to the top of the Sanke keg (gas) by brazing them with 56% silver braze/solder:
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Here's the website I got them from:
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/kegpostweld.htm
It's a little tricky brazing the posts, you have to make sure the post is brazed on both side and has flowed nicely to avoid crevasses on the inside that may hide particles and bacteria. I think there is a no solder version available as well. Cleaning the inside of the the keg after brazing was a complete PITA, but once it was done it was beautiful, not to mention permanent.
Then I made a cap for the top of the keg. The spear was taken out and I gave it to a local brewery since I wouldn't use anymore.
The opening on the Sanke keg is 2 inches and a tri-clamp cap fits on it perfectly. I added a liquid post and pressure relief valve on to it. Both were brazed in place for a hermetical fitting.
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The second picture is the bottom side (inside the keg) show this is no open threads or places for bacteria to hide. I didn't use a tri-clamp seal because they are too thick, so I use a silicone seal (size dash 928) so the clamp would fit better and it still had a good seal. The pressure relief valve was a commonly found relief valve. It's a 1/4" NPT valve, so I drilled and tapped the cap with 1/4" NPT tap, disassemble the valve and screwed in just the body. Just a note, the clamp itself works better if the groove in the clamp is made slightly larger with a grinder.
I then brazed it in place to seal the threads. Here is wear I got the valve:
https://www.grainger.com/product/CONTROL-DEVICES-Brass-Air-Safety-Valve-with-45MG91 The valve has a dimple on the side that prevents it from being dis-assembled, so I drilled it out and the poppet screwed out. This helps with cleaning too. It's no longer a 50 psi relief valve, it's slightly lower because the pressure can be adjusted by compressing the spring, I don't screw it in as far for safety's sake.
I then bought a floating pick up from Williams Brewing :
https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Top-Draw-Beer-Pick-Up-Tube-P4643.aspx
It fits through the 2" hole in the Sanke Keg:
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The picture to the right shows how I put a Corny post seal on the base of the base adapter to seal the posts. This seal insures a good seal because 2 post are gas ports with no tubes inserted.
So why did I do all this? Because no one make a tall 1/4 barrel Sanke fermenter. They make a 1/2 hectoliter here:
https://kegfactory.com/products/keg...VzhNidRzPzOS1kC-WT5xxDqj5sn_JLFRoCn9AQAvD_BwE but it was too big and I would have to add another gas post. Corny kegs are too small and have almost no head space. Tall 1/4 barrel Sanke is perfect. The same height as corny kegs, but slightly larger in diameter. They fit beautifully in my kegerator.
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They can be used for a keg or a fermenter. You can pressurize the fermentation and spund. Closed transfers are easy, the beer never touches air until it's poured in a glass. I serve right out of the fermenter too.
It's a lot of work I'll admit, I made 4 of them. But once it's done they will last a lifetime. They have made brewing easier and the beer is way better because of lower oxygen ingress. It's not for everyone, but if your little handy, it can be done.