Ferment IN the keg.. anyone heard of this system?

[homebrewjapan]

Is this product common knowledge? I found it on a Japanese website.

- Two kegs which you brew in
- A box which chills the beer as you pour it
- Mini CO2 cylinders

You actually brew in the kegs - pour your wort in there and pitch your yeast, then leave it there for 3 weeks.



Link 1 (scroll about 1/3-1/2 way down the page)
Link 2

Can this be done with a normal keg?

[Trough Lolly]

Sure can....all you need is a relief valve on the keg lid to let the excess CO2 escape the keg. Here's an example of a sanke keg fermenter with a modified Corny keg lid fitted...


The problem with this method is trying to avoid sucking up the trub, break material etc from the bottom of the keg when the fermentation is done. Racking under CO2 to another keg, through a filter, is one answer - so to is cutting a couple of inches off the bottom of the beer out dip tube!

Cheers,
TL

[skurvy84]

i spoke to somone who does it this way, but i to would be concerned with the sucking of the trub on the bottom of the keg once fermentation has completed.

wouldn't it also be a problem leaving it for a considerable time in the same container as the yeast cake?

[Trough Lolly]

...wouldn't it also be a problem leaving it for a considerable time in the same container as the yeast cake?

Considerable is a relative thing! Remember, you'll most likely have the container in a fridge to keep cold when you're serving it out so there's less likelihood that the yeast will active and available to autolyse in the cake. I wouldn't be worried unless you were planning on putting it away for more than 6 months. That said, I'll qualify my guess with the assumption that you were using a good quantity of fresh viable yeast for the ferment, to begin with.

Cheers,
TL