Co2 Question For Keggers!

[Spiderpig]

Hi all, A mate of mine is about to start kegging and has everything bar the CO2 bottle. He can pick up for $150 a 1kg size bottle which'll be his to own. As it empties, it operates under a swap and go and refills effeectively will cost $8 at the LHBS. If he is only running 2 x 19ltr kegs, how long do you guys estimate this size would last? He will want to force carb, then push beer out if that bit of info helps. What do you guys reckon?

 

[newguy]

I have a 9kg bottle. I last swapped for a full one about 21 months ago. In that time I've force carbonated and dispensed about 42 x 19l kegs. The bottle is running out - I expect it to be completely empty in a month or two. In that time I'll probably drain another 2-3 kegs.

There are people who make a bottle of CO2 last a lot longer than me, but your friend can probably expect his bottle to force carbonate and dispense about 5-6 kegs. Just make sure he tests the fittings and hoses with soapy water to track down & eliminate leaks.

 

[happy benno]

Hi all, A mate of mine is about to start kegging and has everything bar the CO2 bottle. He can pick up for $150 a 1kg size bottle which'll be his to own. As it empties, it operates under a swap and go and refills effeectively will cost $8 at the LHBS. If he is only running 2 x 19ltr kegs, how long do you guys estimate this size would last? He will want to force carb, then push beer out if that bit of info helps. What do you guys reckon?

thanks spiderpig for adding this post, i have now registered, from happy benno

 

[stowaway]

i would recommend buying a biggger co2 bottle.

i have a 9kg one. I havent had to swap it yet, but its not that much extra outlay,a nd its a once off, once you have it you just fill it up and co2 costs per kg.

i use alot of co2 just cleaning my lines, and carbing up and cleaning rinsing my lines again and finally pouring.. I probably use a bit excess but I wouldnt like to have a smaller bottle, it would shit me if it was emptied in the middle of a keg too often.

 

[buttersd70]

+1. kegging becomes addictive, as does the the ease and consistency of force carbing. I'm planning on 5kg, myself.

 

[wyatt_girth]

I know this doesn't answer you original post but might be worth some consideration.
I just picked up a rental yesterday from BOC for my first kegging set-up. It was just shy of $40 for the first full 6kg tank, and bout a tenner a month rental. Some of the advice I have received is that rental is just dead money, but for me it was a simple and affordable way to get started and I can maybe hand over the hard earned a bit later to buy a bottle outright.

 

[KGB]

The only 1kg cylinders I've seen have been dry powder fire extinguishers but if its a swap and go system run by the LHBS it sounds all right.

I started with a 9kg Supagas cylinder on the same deal as Wyatt ^^ but couldn't wait for the lease to run out by the end of the year and stop forking out cash. Now I'm using a 3.5kg CO2 extinguisher and would like to get another one to have as a spare in case I run out mid beer.

1kg would be handy because of the small size, but the refilling could be annoying after a while. Ideally I'd say get two and cycle them, but the outlay costs are obviously high. Getting just the one cylinder still sounds like a good idea but I'd consider grabbing one of those little portable keg chargers and some CO2 bulbs so you can drink on in case you run out of gas.

 

[Spiderpig]

Have thought about the fire extinguisher option, but where on earth can you get these refilled for Home Brew purposes? Most outlets won't touch them??

 

[Cracka]

The only 1kg cylinders I've seen have been dry powder fire extinguishers but if its a swap and go system run by the LHBS it sounds all right.

I started with a 9kg Supagas cylinder on the same deal as Wyatt ^^ but couldn't wait for the lease to run out by the end of the year and stop forking out cash. Now I'm using a 3.5kg CO2 extinguisher and would like to get another one to have as a spare in case I run out mid beer.

1kg would be handy because of the small size, but the refilling could be annoying after a while. Ideally I'd say get two and cycle them, but the outlay costs are obviously high. Getting just the one cylinder still sounds like a good idea but I'd consider grabbing one of those little portable keg chargers and some CO2 bulbs so you can drink on in case you run out of gas.

Or a soda stream cylinder. 330g, about $35 bucks new. Good for backup. $12 a swap

 

[QldKev]

I get about 19 brews from my 2.3kg air up.

QldKev

 

[KGB]

Have thought about the fire extinguisher option, but where on earth can you get these refilled for Home Brew purposes? Most outlets won't touch them??

...if you tell them its for HB purposes that is. Why do they need to know? When mine runs out im planning on trying a couple of places first to see if I can get the trigger replaced with a tap but if that fails I'll just take it and get it filled as an extinguisher.

 

[gros21]

um as a general rule
1.3kg does 50L so he will be right to get 2x19L kegs out of it

 

[keedoery]

From my experience i have found that if i use commercial beer that is already carbonated, you will be looking at approx 7g/litre of co2 to dispence. If you want to carbonate, it's an additional 7g/litre. (based on a kegerator system)

So if you are home brewing and you system is free of leaks, you should be consuming 14g/L or in other words you should be getting 71L for every kilo of co2.

These figures are based on use with a kegerator, PUB systems use a little more because they are generally running at higher pressures to lift the beer up from the ground floor or basement, or keg room, cellar etc.

The cheapest place to purchase your cylinders is from www.kegking.com.au or one of Keg Kings distributors, but i'm a little bias because I am good mates with the guys there. But it's a pretty good deal. They are $190 and they come with a lifetime warranty and servicing. So you will never have to pay for hydrotesting or replacement of valves and burst disks.

2.6kg cylinders are a good managable size and fairly safe. The size of the cylinder should also be chosend to suit where you are using the system.

If i had a confined bar room with little ventilation i would definitely not use any more than a 3kg cylinder. In the case of a leak, a concerntration of more than 30% co2 can be lethal. 3kg will be enough to make a 50cubic meter room a lethal environment.

 

[KGB]

Nice spam dude, want to dig up any more threads and post the same info? :s

Reported.