Hoff-Stevens Keg to Fermenter

[bikefoolery]

I am now the owner of 2 15.5 gallon and one 7.75 gallon hoff-stevens kegs. I plan to turn the 7.75 and one 15.5 into fermenters. I'll save the other for cask conditioned ale for home brew fests, etc. The 7.75 is already disassembled.

The 15.5s have 3 ports. One Bung on the side, on H-S tap on the top, and on strange looking one on the bottom. How do i remove the bottom valve? Looks like it requires a special tool.

I googled and could not find a good picture tutorial for disassembling the 15.5s

Anyone else using these to ferment in?


The Fool

[PUD]

If your NOT the owner then what are you worrying about?

[bikefoolery]

I don't know what you're talking about

[PUD]

Damn edit.

[LostDogsBC]

New to the forum - considering the same with two Hoff Stevens Kegs I just got my hands on - some guy was using them to ferment wine in, but is upgrading to larger batch sizes.

One still has the dip tube in it; I guess that didn't bother the previous owner. Optimally I'd like to remove the dip tube, clean them out, and then potentially put a ball valve in the bottom edge so that if I store them at a slight angle (like one would a bottle of wine), I could transfer/bottle straight from the ball valve without a siphon. Gotta love gravity.

Anyone done anything similar? Know how to disassemble the keg?

Any info is appreciated.

[LostDogsBC]

Correction - one is a golden gate, and the other a Hoff Stevens. the HS still has its dip tube.

What have I gotten myself into...

[bikefoolery]

Sorry I missed your response. I had to find a piece of metal to put over the weird washer/nut to get the tap and gas side loose enough to remove. I haven;t fermented in them yet. Still trying to get them super clean, which is proving to be a problem. They look clean, but my nose says otherwise.

The Fool.

[Whitebeard_Brewer]

See this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18197&start=0