I have been making wine for about six years. I started out making all 5 - 6 gallon batches. I then made a few 11 - 12 gallon batches. I am now considering making a few 26 gallon batches. I always bulk age one year before bottling. I am looking for bulk aging alternatives for these larger batches that don’t require so many carboys. What are you using? multiple carboys, demijohns, stainless steel? I would rather not use oak barrels right now… TIA!
Bulk Aging Larger Batches - 26 Gallons
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After an accident involving five gallons of wine, a glass Carboy and a trip to urgent care, I’ve switched over to using beer kegs instead of glass carboys for anything bigger than 3 gallons.
I’ve found that stainless steel beer kegs are readily available in a wide range of sizes. At this point, I have 5, 7, 7.9 and 15.5 gallon sizes. I bought them off Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for prices between $20 and $50 over the last six months. Nice thing is big sturdy handles - although a full 15.5 generally gets moved on a dolly or with two people.
I’ve found that stainless steel beer kegs are readily available in a wide range of sizes. At this point, I have 5, 7, 7.9 and 15.5 gallon sizes. I bought them off Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for prices between $20 and $50 over the last six months. Nice thing is big sturdy handles - although a full 15.5 generally gets moved on a dolly or with two people.
I'll second what @GSMChris says. Sanke beer kegs work great. You take out the central spear, and the top fits a 2inch tri-clamp. I have a large variety of sizes 15.5gallons, 5gallons and a couple of 50 liter ones. I have paid as much as $50 and as little as free.
The last bunch I got were 5 gallon size from a Kombucha business that was closing. 5 for $100.
The last bunch I got were 5 gallon size from a Kombucha business that was closing. 5 for $100.
I second the recommendation of stainless steel kegs... I have 3x 15.5 gal, they work well for fermenting and longer term storage. Mine have 2" triclover fittings which can be used for a solid cap (after all fermentation is done), or they are also the right size to fit a regular barrel bung (I use silicone fermentation bungs). They are not cheap to buy new but as @CDrew say you sometimes get lucky (as I did!) and find some at bargain prices.
I have 25 and 54 liter demijohns, which work very well, although the glass is far thinner than carboys and that makes me nervous.
While I don't have the stainless steel kegs, many folks recommend them. They are probably the most space efficient of large containers.
Look on Facebook Marketplace.
While I don't have the stainless steel kegs, many folks recommend them. They are probably the most space efficient of large containers.
Look on Facebook Marketplace.
Cdrew, this is really interesting, thanks for sharing. Can you expand on how the screw style sankey port gets converted to a bung? I can almost make it out from your photo.
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So the screw style spear comes on European kegs. All others I have seen have a retaining ring and little notches to get it out. So after fully releasing the pressure, you unscrew. The spear will still be held in by a safety catch. You need to insert a small screwdriver in the top to release the safety. Then the whole spear pulls out. Then I just use a 2 inch to 1.5 inch reducer plus a gasket and clamp. Give me 15 minutes and I’ll edit with pictures.
This is the top of a 50l Euro sanke keg-note the threads.
This is the top of a more typical American sanke keg
Her you see the gasket-it’s typical tri clamp on one side and flat on the other. Buy from Brewers Hardware.
Here is the 2 inch to 1.5 inch reducer
And here it is all clamped together with a 2 inch clamp.
I hope that helps.
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Oh that’s clever. I’ve just been using a two inch bung - which doesn’t fit perfectly so I end up fussing with it. This is much more straight forward
Thanks
Thanks
Whoa baby! Thanks. I need some time to digest!
I forgot to mention, to seal the 1.5 inch diameter you need properly sized bungs. I think they are #8s. Catalyst Manufacturing sells them if you want the vented bungs. If you are sure all the co2 is gone, you can just seal with a stainless cap and gasket.
Here’s an illustration. The bung below on the right is a standard vented carboy bung. The middle bung seals the 1.5 diameter perfectly.
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@ovjock
The most important step @CDrew mentioned above is to FULLY release the pressure. I witnessed someone removing the spear with just a little pressure remaining- they got a stale beer shower. If there had been more pressure or beer, it might have been ugly - instead we all got a laugh out of it.
Btw - the spears come out of the non threaded aka American kegs as well. Small screwdriver and some pliers does the trick.
@CDrew - thanks for the bung pictures. Helps me know what to shop for.
The most important step @CDrew mentioned above is to FULLY release the pressure. I witnessed someone removing the spear with just a little pressure remaining- they got a stale beer shower. If there had been more pressure or beer, it might have been ugly - instead we all got a laugh out of it.
Btw - the spears come out of the non threaded aka American kegs as well. Small screwdriver and some pliers does the trick.
@CDrew - thanks for the bung pictures. Helps me know what to shop for.
Haha. The stale beer shower risk is real and ever present. When releasing the pressure by pushing down the central button, always put the keg on its side and point it away from you. And do it outside.
The spears can be a bit of a challenge until you learn the tricks. The retaining ring can really fight you. There are several specialized keg tools that can help. I ended up getting a “keg knife” which makes that retaining ring a breeze.
Here’s a link to the flat on one side 2 inch gasket:
https://www.brewershardware.com/half-flat-gasket-for-2-tri-clover-compatible-cap-sanke-keg
And brewers hardware has basically every fitting and clamp you will need. Their fittings and clamps are significantly better than the ones sold on Amazon and not much more money. The Amazon clamps in particular are not worth using in my opinion.
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Thanks for the info! I have found a few available at good prices - but I am wondering what to watch out for and what questions to ask. Can these be cleaned up and used no matter how old / nasty they are? Of course broken, leaking, or previously used for petroleum or nasty chemicals would disqualify them.
Your timing is perfect. I am going to pick up a 1/2 barrel sankey keg (15.5 galloins) today and have the same questions.
When shopping, I would be looking for generally clean kegs on the outside - take a wet rag with you to wipe off dust and make sure it’s just dust. No major dents which might make it leak or reduce capacity. I’d ask about the history of the keg - the best ones I have gotten were from a brewery where they had a bunch of kegs from other breweries where the other brewery wasn’t willing to come get it. If the spear is out, I smell it. If it’s in, I push down on the metal ball and hope that some liquid comes out.
Once I get it home, I wash the outside in a large garbage can with plain water. Then take it out and wipe the outside down down with PBW cleaner solution and hose it off. Let it dry then remove the spear. I then fill it about 1/4 full with water, put in a barrel bung and agitate it - shaking left right up and down. Dump water out and see what comes out. Repeat with a PBW solution. I then put it on a Carboy washer again with PBW and let it run for 15/20 minutes. Then repeat with water to get all the PBW out. Keep an eye on the washer reservoir to see if the solution or water is getting murky. If so, dump out the solution and start over with fresh.
After all this it should be pretty clean. I fill it to the top with water and let it sit overnight. In the morning, dump the water but looking to see if anything dissolved. Next to Last step is one last rinse with a citric acid solution and then water again. Last step, pour in about a gallon of k meta solution, insert bung and shake it around to make sure all surfaces get coated. Dump out k meta and fill with wine.
Once I get it home, I wash the outside in a large garbage can with plain water. Then take it out and wipe the outside down down with PBW cleaner solution and hose it off. Let it dry then remove the spear. I then fill it about 1/4 full with water, put in a barrel bung and agitate it - shaking left right up and down. Dump water out and see what comes out. Repeat with a PBW solution. I then put it on a Carboy washer again with PBW and let it run for 15/20 minutes. Then repeat with water to get all the PBW out. Keep an eye on the washer reservoir to see if the solution or water is getting murky. If so, dump out the solution and start over with fresh.
After all this it should be pretty clean. I fill it to the top with water and let it sit overnight. In the morning, dump the water but looking to see if anything dissolved. Next to Last step is one last rinse with a citric acid solution and then water again. Last step, pour in about a gallon of k meta solution, insert bung and shake it around to make sure all surfaces get coated. Dump out k meta and fill with wine.
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Thanks GSMChris. Can you expand on the carboy washer please? I assumed (yep, I know) that a keg would be too big for a carboy washer.
This is the one I use. I originally got it for cleaning carboys but it actually came from the beer industry and was designed for kegs. Works great on both!!
https://a.co/d/f0vSUOw
https://a.co/d/f0vSUOw
Thanks for all the details!
I've had the best success cleaning the kegs out with PBW. It's made for the task and when used with hot water really cleans the stainless to new condition. The Kumbucha kegs I got were super funky inside, and an overnight soak with PBW/Hot water cleaned them right up.
I also use a racking set up that I bought on Catalyst Mfg's Link to Catalyst website to move the wine in and out of the kegs. Even though it's made for their Intellitanks which I also have, it's easily adaptable to kegs and can be used with pressure or vacuum.
The tri-clamp or tri-clover gear is such a great pro solution to our needs that I'm surprised there isn't more discussion of that here. All the wineries I go to use the tri-clamp gear for literally every connection in the winery.
One other thing that's pretty cool, is that kegs are available that already have a welded tri-clamp on the top. I don't have any of these but if I were buying new, I would at least consider. TCW <<<<Link to TCW who makes them.
I also use a racking set up that I bought on Catalyst Mfg's Link to Catalyst website to move the wine in and out of the kegs. Even though it's made for their Intellitanks which I also have, it's easily adaptable to kegs and can be used with pressure or vacuum.
The tri-clamp or tri-clover gear is such a great pro solution to our needs that I'm surprised there isn't more discussion of that here. All the wineries I go to use the tri-clamp gear for literally every connection in the winery.
One other thing that's pretty cool, is that kegs are available that already have a welded tri-clamp on the top. I don't have any of these but if I were buying new, I would at least consider. TCW <<<<Link to TCW who makes them.
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