PET carboys for sour/mixed beers

[armedcor]

Picked up a HBC corny on the way while I drove down the country today with all the intention to use it for my next sour but now I'm thinking of doing all my fermentation in kegs! God damn I'll need to get a few more can't hold this one up for 12/18 months! This hobby....

[molc]

Funny you mention fermentation in kegs, as it's something I've started thinking about as well. It's quite tempting as they're quite tall and narrow in the fermentation fridge as well...

[armedcor]

Yea I've just been obsessing over that ss brewtech bucket and for the price I could ferment in like 4 cornys if I really wanted to. Bit of a no brainer as I want to cut down on batch sizes as well.

[Leann ull]

Bought one of these a couple of years back, used it 3 times and it now winks at me every time I open cupboard, maybe time to dust off again

[armedcor]

5 dollars!? They easy to get?

[johnrm]

At that price they are worth considering as a replacement lid for cornies that don't seal well, I'd weld up the hole and use them.

[nigel_c]

Would they really need the bubbler? If you used a standard one the pressure produced wouldn't be enough to seal the keg but enough to keep nasties out.

[armedcor]

I'm planning the connect a gas in disconnect and run a blow off tuning into sanitizer. But I'd love one of those lids....or maybe two!

[Shanna]

I'm planning the connect a gas in disconnect and run a blow off tuning into sanitizer. But I'd love one of those lids....or maybe two!

Would a corny filled with fermenting wort have sufficient headspace to act as a primary fermenter? Reading comments - http://www.homebrewing.org/Cornelius-Keg-Lid-for-Secondary-Fermenter_p_999.html on that site CH posted the link to does not recommend it. I suppose you could reduce the amount of wort in it to give more headspace.

Maybe using a 30 litre brewery keg would be the way to go.

Shanna

[armedcor]

Yea like I said I'm looking to reduce my batch sizes slightly so I wouldn't mind putting 15/17 liters in there.

[molc]

Just use 2 filled to 10-15 litres?

[Dr Jacoby]

Yea that's what I do. I have two gas disconnects attached to some tubing to use as blow offs. I can fit four cornies in my fridge so I can ferment two 19L batches at a time.

Here's some more info on using cornies for fermentation: http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/index.php?topic=5937.0

[Simon_]

Why would you need head space or need to let it blow off? Why not just put the lid on tight as you can get it and let it seal itself. It should ferment fine under the small amount of pressure generated

[Simon_]

http://brulosophy.com/2015/04/27/under-pressure-the-impact-of-higher-psi-fermentations-exbeeriment-results-2/

[Dr Jacoby]

Why would you need head space

If you only used one corny the krausen would block up the disconnects. Things would get messy. That's why I use two cornies each half filled.

or need to let it blow off?

Even breweries that cap fermentations to allow a build up of pressure only do so after the initial vigorous stages are over and they usually control the pressure build up using release valves so that it doesn't go above a certain level. I use blow off tubes for the initial stage and then sometimes I'll attached a spunding valve to allow a build up of pressure to ensure no oxygen gets in. 

Why not just put the lid on tight as you can get it and let it seal itself. It should ferment fine under the small amount of pressure generated

Assuming the lid did actually form a seal that didn't allow the gases to escape throughout fermentation, I think the pressure build up would be considerable. It's one thing to cap off a vessel towards the end of fermentation. Quite another to do it from the start. I'd be worried the pressure would make life too difficult for the yeast.