Cornelius vs Sanke Kegs for Homebrew: Which Should You Choose?

Key takeaways

• Cornelius kegs are purpose-made for homebrewers: simple ball or pin lock disconnects, tool-free disassembly and easy cleaning.
• Sanke kegs mirror commercial pub setups: a single coupler, robust build and ideal for serving commercial draft beer at home.
• Corny kegs usually fit better in converted fridges and kegerators thanks to their slimmer profile and smaller sizes.
• You can still enjoy commercial-style mini kegs at home with options like a PerfectDraft San Miguel 6L keg if you prefer a plug-and-play approach.
• Your best choice depends on whether you mostly serve your own beer, mostly serve commercial beer, or want a flexible hybrid setup.

Cornelius vs Sanke kegs: A quick overview

Although they do a similar job, Cornelius and Sanke kegs evolved from very different worlds. Corny kegs came from the soft drinks industry and were quickly adopted by homebrewers because they are easy to open and clean. Sanke kegs come from the commercial beer world: pubs, bars and breweries rely on them, and they are built to take a hard life while still being quick to connect and disconnect.

The biggest visible difference is at the top. A Cornelius keg has separate gas and liquid posts, each with its own quick disconnect. A Sanke keg has a single central spear and needs a specific coupler that locks over the top and handles both gas and beer through that one fitting.

Once you understand what that means in practice for cleaning, maintenance, cost and flexibility, the choice between them becomes much clearer.

Fittings and couplers: How each keg connects

Cornelius keg connections

Cornelius kegs use two small posts on top of the keg lid: one gas, one liquid. Each post takes a quick disconnect fitting, usually ball lock or pin lock. These push on and pull off by hand, with no tools needed in normal use. This makes swapping kegs, purging oxygen and cleaning extremely straightforward.

For a new homebrewer building a first kegging system, this simplicity is a huge benefit. Standard homebrew regulators, gas manifolds, party taps and kegerator towers are all commonly sized around corny keg disconnects. You can mix and match components from many suppliers without worrying too much about compatibility, particularly if you stick to ball lock fittings.

Sanke keg couplers

Sanke kegs, by contrast, use a single spear and coupler. The spear runs down into the keg, and a coupler locks into the top with a twist-and-lever action. Gas is fed down the spear and beer is pushed up through the same assembly into your beer line. Different Sanke standards exist (A, D, G, S types and more), and the coupler type must match the spear type.

This arrangement is very robust and ideal for busy bars, but it introduces more complexity for a homebrewer. You will need the right coupler and slightly different hoses and adaptors compared to a typical corny setup. If you want to run both corny and Sanke kegs in the same fridge, you may end up collecting a small box of adaptors and fittings to switch between them.

If you want the most straightforward, plug-and-play homebrew system with minimal adaptors, Cornelius kegs and ball lock fittings usually offer the smoothest path.

Cleaning and disassembly: Day-to-day maintenance

Cleaning Cornelius kegs

Cornelius kegs are popular largely because they are incredibly easy to open. You simply release pressure, pull the bail on the lid and lift it out of the top. The opening is wide enough to get a hand and sponge inside, and you can completely strip the keg by unscrewing the posts, removing the dip tubes and pulling off the O-rings.

This makes it simple to deep-clean, inspect and replace seals. If you pick up a second-hand corny keg, you can usually bring it back to like-new condition with a soak in cleaner, some fresh O-rings and a bit of elbow grease. Many UK homebrew shops also sell convenient O-ring rebuild kits, which keeps running costs low.

Cleaning Sanke kegs

Sanke kegs are designed to be cleaned with specialist equipment: breweries use pressurised cleaning rigs that wash, rinse and sanitise through the spear without removing it. At homebrew scale, you can still use a bucket of cleaner and a pump, but it is much easier if you have a dedicated keg washer or a DIY spray wand that fits the coupler.

It is possible to remove the spear from many Sanke kegs, but it usually involves tools, circlips and careful handling. This is fine if you enjoy tinkering, but more demanding than simply popping the lid off a corny keg. For new homebrewers who are still getting comfortable with sanitation and off-flavours, the added complexity of spear removal can feel like a lot.

Used availability and cost in the UK

Cornelius kegs used to be extremely cheap and plentiful as the soft drinks industry moved to other formats. Over time, that surplus has dried up, but used Cornelius kegs remain common enough in the UK that you can usually find them via homebrew shops, online marketplaces and brewing forums. New kegs and refurb kits are also widely sold, which makes building a standard corny-based setup straightforward.

Sanke kegs are tightly controlled by breweries and usually remain their property, so truly legitimate second-hand Sanke kegs can be harder to come by. Buying a branded brewery keg that has clearly not been decommissioned is effectively buying stolen property, so it is important to be selective. There are some purpose-made Sanke-style kegs sold for home use, including smaller sizes, but they are generally less common and sometimes more expensive than corny alternatives.

If you are purely cost-driven, standard corny kegs (especially used, refurbished ones) usually win, particularly once you factor in the extra couplers and adaptors that Sanke kegs need.

Size, shape and fitting kegs in kegerators

Cornelius kegs typically come in volumes such as 9.5 litres, 12 litres and 19 litres, with tall, slim bodies. Their diameter is designed to fit inside many domestic fridges and kegerator cabinets, and they can often be stacked or arranged side-by-side with little wasted space. For tight under-counter spaces, chest freezers and converted tall fridges, Corny kegs are usually easier to plan around.

Sanke kegs are often wider and heavier, especially in standard commercial sizes. A full-size commercial keg can be awkward to move on your own and may not fit through the door of a compact kegerator at all. That said, there are smaller Sanke-based options, including 10–20 litre kegs designed for home or small bar use, but you need to check dimensions carefully before buying.

For many homebrewers working with a converted kitchen fridge or a small kegerator unit, the slender shape of Cornelius kegs makes layout planning much easier. If you want multiple taps in a single cabinet, corny kegs are typically the more flexible option.

Suitability for different beverages

Both Cornelius and Sanke kegs are stainless steel and can technically handle any carbonated drink you wish to serve, from beer and cider to sparkling water and soft drinks. Where they differ is how practical they are for multi-use setups.

Because corny kegs open up fully and strip down easily, they are often chosen for beverages that can leave strong flavours or residues, such as fruited sours, heavily dry-hopped IPAs or flavoured ciders. You can remove and soaked-clean dip tubes and posts to clear out hop debris and fruit pulp, then visually inspect everything before you put the keg back into service.

Sanke kegs can still be used for a wide range of beverages, but deep cleaning the spear and internal surfaces is more involved. Many brewers who employ Sanke kegs at home tend to dedicate particular kegs to specific drink styles to avoid cross-contamination or flavour carry-over.

Adapting commercial Sanke kegs for homebrew

One strong reason some homebrewers choose Sanke kegs is the opportunity to serve commercial draft beers at home using the same hardware as pubs. In a hybrid setup, you might keep your own homebrew in Cornelius kegs and occasionally connect a commercial Sanke keg via a suitable coupler, regulator and tap arrangement.

Adapters are available to convert Sanke couplers to use typical homebrew disconnects and beer lines. This allows you to swap between a homebrew corny keg and a commercial Sanke keg without rebuilding your entire system. However, every extra adaptor introduces more joins, more places to leak and more parts to keep sanitised.

If you love the idea of having your favourite lager on tap, you might also consider systems based on compact kegs. For example, some home drinkers enjoy the convenience of a Stella Artois unfiltered 6L keg for PerfectDraft machines, which offers a simple route to pub-style beer without needing to manage full-size Sanke hardware.

Parts sourcing and maintenance in the UK

For Cornelius kegs, UK homebrew suppliers stock almost everything you might need: replacement O-rings, new lids, dip tubes, ball lock or pin lock posts and pressure relief valves. This makes it easy to keep a small collection of spares on hand for quick repairs. If a post starts leaking or a lid seal looks tired, you can swap parts in minutes and get back to brewing.

Sanke kegs use more specialist components. While couplers, seals and spear parts are available, they are less common in typical homebrew shops and may involve ordering from more niche suppliers. Learning to strip and rebuild a Sanke spear safely takes a bit more time and attention.

If you want the lowest-maintenance path with locally available parts, Cornelius usually wins out. If you enjoy the engineering side of the hobby and do not mind sourcing slightly more specialised components, Sanke setups can still be entirely workable in the UK.

Safety, venting and cask-style use

Regardless of keg style, safe pressure management is critical. Cornelius kegs often feature a manual pressure relief valve in the lid, which lets you relieve excess pressure by pulling a ring. This is very handy when you are force-carbonating or fine-tuning serving pressure.

Sanke kegs rely more heavily on the regulator and coupler for pressure control. Some couplers include built-in relief valves, but it is still important to understand your regulator settings and to keep everything in good working order.

Homebrewers who also enjoy traditional cask ale sometimes experiment with venting and conditioning in different vessels. If you are exploring cask-style serving, simple accessories such as soft wood venting pegs for beer barrels can be handy for managing gentle carbonation and conditioning in appropriate containers, whether or not you are also using kegs for fully carbonated beer.

Cornelius vs Sanke: Which should you choose?

When Cornelius kegs make most sense

Cornelius kegs are usually the best choice if your main focus is serving your own homebrew. They are easier to open and clean, better supported by homebrew shops, and sized conveniently for typical batch volumes. If you are moving from bottles to kegs for the first time, or if you want to build a flexible kegerator that can serve several small batches at once, corny kegs are the most straightforward answer.

They are also ideal if you like to brew a wide range of styles and want to thoroughly clean and inspect the inside of your vessels between every batch. For many brewers, the ability to pop off the lid and see exactly how clean a keg is gives valuable peace of mind.

When Sanke kegs are the better fit

Sanke kegs shine when you want to replicate a commercial bar setup at home. If your goal is to regularly serve brewery-fresh commercial beer in the same format that pubs use, a Sanke-based system with the right couplers and beer lines can be very satisfying. The hardware is extremely durable, and connecting or disconnecting a keg is fast once everything is set up.

They also make sense if you are supplying beer to events where robustness and leak-resistance are critical. However, for a typical homebrew-only setup, the extra complexity is rarely worth it unless you specifically enjoy working with commercial-grade equipment and do not mind the steeper learning curve.

Hybrid and alternative kegging approaches

Some homebrewers opt for a hybrid approach: Cornelius kegs for their own beer, plus the ability to hook up the occasional commercial Sanke keg or compact draft keg. This might mean dedicating one tap to a 6-litre draft system while the rest of the fridge holds corny kegs, or keeping a compatible coupler and adaptors on hand for special occasions.

If you are not ready to commit fully to either format, starting with a simple corny-based system and occasionally supplementing it with compact draft kegs can be a comfortable compromise. For example, running your homebrew on Cornelius kegs while picking up a 6L San Miguel draft keg for a party can offer the best of both worlds.

To plan a system around Cornelius kegs in particular, it is worth reading more about common homebrew keg sizes and this step-by-step guide to full kegging setups.

Conclusion

Choosing between Cornelius and Sanke kegs is really about deciding what kind of kegging experience you want at home. For most homebrewers who simply want an easy, reliable way to serve their own beer, Cornelius kegs offer the best balance of simplicity, flexibility and support. They open up easily, fit well in domestic fridges and have a huge ecosystem of compatible parts and accessories.

Sanke kegs come into their own if you want to mirror a commercial pub setup or regularly serve brewery-packaged draft beer. They are tough, proven in busy bar environments and rewarding if you enjoy working with professional-grade gear, but they ask more in terms of setup, cleaning and sourcing legitimate kegs.

Nothing stops you combining both approaches. Many brewers are happiest running their homebrew through a corny-based kegerator while occasionally enjoying the convenience of compact draft options such as a 6L unfiltered lager keg for variety. Whatever you choose, understanding the trade-offs between Cornelius and Sanke kegs will help you build a system that suits your brewing style for the long term.