Gas options for new cornies..

[TheRtHonorable]

Hey guys,

I know this has been asked a lot, but I'm after some advice when using cornelius kegs.

I went a bit mad on eBay recently, and now have two 9L kegs and a 19L keg. The plan was to use the 9L kegs for parties and weekends away, as they're nice and portable. I'll then bottle the remainder to enjoy whenever :drink:

So, I was planning on getting a proper CO2 cylinder. Whats the smallest size available? My other hobby is restoring cars, so I have a welder and a CO2/Argon cylinder that is pretty tall, about waist height.. are smaller ones available?

I know I'll need a regulator, but what else is required to get from that to the disconnect on the keg?

Then, to make it all more portable, what are my options? I was thinking of pressurising the keg with the big cylinder at home, then using something more portable away from home. Are the systems using those tiny disposable CO2 cylinders any good? How about things like paintball cylinders? How portable are they and can they be refilled easily?

I've just brewed this weekend so could do with sorting this in the next couple of weeks so I can fill a keg!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Fil]

kegs work best with a regulated constant gas pressure, so a full sized 6.5kg bottle of co2 is the best vfm available, the co2 also comes in handy when cleaning/rinsing and sanitising the kegs moving the fluids through a closed system, so smaller bottles soon work out expensive, some use 2kg fire extinguishers but line up a refil service before you commit as the fire extinguisher is modded slightly? and some dealers wont touch it.

for maintaining a good enough serving pressure in a 9l keg sat on the shelf so not cooled for optimum condition, i would look at the co2 bulb cycle tyre inflators on ebay for about a tenner, some have a pressure gauge built in, and all you need do is connect it to a corny gas in disconnect, i think someone sells em modded but at a premium.. you might use 2 bulbs to drain the keg..
but back home at keg central a big co2 bottle is best imho..