I have access to sankey kegs-- collect them for AG brewing?

[driftwood]

Right now I am doing extract brewing with a 12 gallon brewpot. I have dirt cheap sankey kegs available to me-- should I collect 2 or 3 for going to all grain in the near future? I've seen photos online of people that are using 1/2 barrel kegs for brewing, or even a mix of kegs and brew kettles.

The equipment I have right now is a 12 gallon brewpot with a ball valve spigot on the botton and a lid. I also already have one cut open sankey keg with a SS hinged false bottom, ball valve spigot, and a copper pickup tube.

I guess my question is-- is it worth it to collect one or two more kegs, or is it better to just buy one of those B3 brewing sculptures? Could I buy just a frame and incorporate the brew kettle & kegs into a 3 stage gravity system? I thought some of you AG brewers could guide me in the right direction to hopefully maximize the equipment I already have. I have access to reciprocating saws, welding equipment, etc., so I could do some custom work although I'm not sure if I could easily find some nice angle iron, etc. for building the frame.

Thanks for any ideas-
Andy

[kace069]

I have a 3 keg setup. Of which I used the keg MLT 3 times and went to a cooler. I will give the keg MLt another shot in the future but righ tnow the cooler is working great for me. I batch sparge.

If money was no object I would toatally have a B3 setup. But I am a poor bastard. So I went the cheap way. At the moment I haven't scaled up to 10 gallons yet, still have parts of my process to perfect, like consistent effeciency. Right now I am thinking about converting a pony keg for a kettle. The 1/2 barrel is nice but it is a bitch to clean for only 5 gallons of beer. I guess it won't be so bad when summer comes and I can clean it outside. But all winter I had to wrestle that bastard at the kitchen sink to clean it. That sucks.

I would and did use 1 inch square tubing for my stand. I used angle iron for where the keg sits over the burners. I think the square tubing is stronger and easier to work with.

I would imagine that you dropped some cash on that kettle and would incorperate it into your brewery. The setup doesn't have to be pretty it just has to make good beer.

[bergerandfries]

I would grab two of them, if legally available

Here's my input:
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/phpBB2 ... php?t=3334

And watch the bottom chime on the keg, that sum gun gets HOT under a flme, so don't go bumping into it.

[J.Brew]

Always take any brewing equipment you can for the cost of dirt, you never know how it might come in handy.

[Techie101]

They are useless to you, you don't need them. I'll PM you my address and you can send them to me so you won't be tempted to screw up your brewing process by picking them up and trying to use them.