Tiny, the 15.5gal fermentor...

I had a keg that I wanted to make into a 15.5gal fermentor. Initially I wanted it to be a "conical" one, but I soon realized that the cost of adding the cone to the bottom was enough to warrant a real conical. I don't have $500 right now (for more beer "tools"), so I just added a dump valve and a collecting valve and engineered a way to make a lid that seals. Well, actually I saw a similar idea in the Internets and made my own version usiong leftover brewery components. The gasket is 1/8" Thick, 12" X 12", FDA Buna-N Rubber Sheet Gasket(McMaster-Carr)...

(above)The lid is a little wider than the hole, for overlap. I kept one of the lids from a previous keg conversion and reinstalled it's ball valve after removing the old pickup tube. (below) I seal the lid by using a bar that clamps using the handles of the keg. One side is stationary, the other has a bolt that pulls the bar down and applies top pressure to the lid. I used a couple scraps of the gasket material to make it extra tight.

The finished product was pretty nice. I made a stand out of scrap 2x4s, but the only part that doesn't function well is the dump valve for harvesting yeast and dumping trub. You could not bother with a dump valve and just set it wherever you like. Still a great fermentor!