Kegging and gas supply question

[Simonh82]

I've decided to move to corny kegs after getting sick of bottling and being disappointed with mini kegs. The mini kegs definitely saved time but I felt like they didn't do well with hoppy beers an at least once I felt like I got a tainted taste from them that I'd never had with bottles.

I've got a couple of questions about kegging and particularly about CO2 supplies.

Firstly does anyone have a good supplier of CO2 in London? I don't want to rent tanks as I think my usage would be too low to justify it.

Secondly, how quickly do people get through CO2? My initial plan was to get two cannisters. A small one that would sit in my kegerator along with two kegs and a larger one that I would keep in my brew shed for force carbonation.

I've found one gas supplier who I think will deliver to London but looking at the small print if you keep the tanks go more than a year you start losing a proportion of the deposit. If I had a 7KG tank and was only using it once a month to force carbon some beers I guess it would last for ages and I'd end up losing my deposit.

So, what's sensible. Should I ditch the idea of two tanks? If I only brew once a month and want to get through a tank in under a year, should I just get one small tank 1.5 or 3KG? Alternatively does anyone know any gas suppliers who don't do you over on the deposit if you keep the tanks for a long time? Or am I worrying about nothing as I could easily get through two tanks of gas in a year at average homebrew levels?

Lots of questions I know but this is an area I know nothing about.

 

[Simonh82]

Follow up question. If I just had one cannister and I was using it for a couple of days to force carbonate, would the kegs still pour a few pints if they were pressurised to say 11PSI before being disconnected?

 

[Jakeyboi]

I know a really good gas supplier but they're in Hastings. I got a 6kg tank for �£20. That's �£10 deposit on the tank and �£10 refill. I'm not sure if they do smaller sizes. But at that price it could be worth the trip?

I was thinking about getting a second tank say 1.5kg to be able to bring into the house when kegging or take to party's. I probably will but it's just the extra cost of a regulator and fittings that has stopped me so far. You really don't want to be disconnecting and reconnecting to your kegorator it's a pita.

I brew about the same quantities as you, and so far my tank still fills pretty full, I've had it a year now. I would say at worst I'm 1/3 through it.

I took a keg to my family's on Boxing Day, couldn't be arsed to set the co2 back up when I got home. Had friends over on the 28th and managed to get 5 1/2 pints out of a pressurised keg before being forced to go and get the co2 from the car. I keep my kegs between 10-15 psi.

You won't regret going to cornies, just takes a few brews to get to know your equipment, pressures and temps etc. It changes depending on the ambient temperature your serving too as well. When it's cold in the shed I can serve under a higher pressure. When it's warm in the summer i have to have it much much lower.

 

[Simonh82]

I know a really good gas supplier but they're in Hastings. I got a 6kg tank for �£20. That's �£10 deposit on the tank and �£10 refill. I'm not sure if they do smaller sizes. But at that price it could be worth the trip?

I was thinking about getting a second tank say 1.5kg to be able to bring into the house when kegging or take to party's. I probably will but it's just the extra cost of a regulator and fittings that has stopped me so far. You really don't want to be disconnecting and reconnecting to your kegorator it's a pita.

Thanks, do you have the name of the supplier? Might see if I can convince the family they want a rainy trip to the sea side.

 

[BarnBrian]

I'm on keg 32 from my 6kg cylinder. I usually force carb at around 25-30psi and then serve at 5-7 psi.

 

[Jakeyboi]

https://g.co/kgs/tzp58E

Give them a call, I would be interested to see if they do smaller bottles.

 

[Simonh82]

I've just found this place which is a lot closer to me so I might give them a call.

Don't suppose anyone has used Gas Bottles Wimbledon before?

 

[Simonh82]

https://g.co/kgs/tzp58E

Give them a call, I would be interested to see if they do smaller bottles.

Thanks, if the local place doesn't come up with the good I'll try these guys.

 

[Druncan]

Like you I started with minikegs and had problems with gas leaks and sanitising. I cut some open and found dirt under the tap even after thorough cleaning and corrosion,,,, Cornies do the job for me!
My CO2 6.5 has done 62 Gyles in two years. But I have a spare. I cold crash @ 20psi and serve 4-6psi I have 14 25l Cornies and use a sparklets mini cylinder for alfresco dispensing (beach!/friends houses) I transfer to another sanitised cornie to get bright beer. Very happy but the only problem is refilling the mini cylinder at the moment.

 

[marlon]

Got my CO2 - 6.15kg - from www.adamsgas.co.uk over a year ago still says 'full' on the gauge. It was dearer than jakeyboi's but they deliver in London. Think I paid ����£55 deposit and ����£20 for the gas. Got the gauge from keg kingdom.
Got a small one for away functions and stuff.....like sperm donor beach party's for example.... if I decide to take a corny with me. :party:

 

[Simonh82]

Got my CO2 - 6.15kg - from www.adamsgas.co.uk over a year ago still says 'full' on the gauge. It was dearer than jakeyboi's but they deliver in London. Think I paid �����£55 deposit and �����£20 for the gas. Got the gauge from keg kingdom.
Got a small one for away functions and stuff.....like sperm donor beach party's for example.... if I decide to take a corny with me. :party:

Thanks, I think I've come across these guys. They are definitely a possibility if other options don't work out.

 

[CX500T]

CO2 is like LPG in that it's normally liquid in the tank and the pressure will stay fairly constant until the liquid runs out and then it's only gas. Pressure will drop rapidly after that.

Sent from my 2PYB2 using Tapatalk

 

[marlon]

CO2 is like LPG in that it's normally liquid in the tank and the pressure will stay fairly constant until the liquid runs out and then it's only gas. Pressure will drop rapidly after that.

Sent from my 2PYB2 using Tapatalk

That'll be why it still says 'full' then I guess. :thumb:
It'll probably run out this week now :lol:
I suppose I could weigh it.......nah...! Can't be as.....d :whistle:

 

[Jakeyboi]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I will be buying another reg when I get a smaller co2 bottle. The one I have now I bought from thehomebrewcompany for £70. It seems to stick when regulating pressures lower than 5psi and I have to tap it to get it going. I plan to use this regulator for cleaning/sanitising indoors and taking away. Can anybody recommend a decent regulator that is sensitive to them lower pressures. I'm happy to buy a 4 way one that allows each pressure to be different.

Thanks

 

[Simonh82]

Can't give you a definite answer but I was going to get mine from the Malt Miller I think it costs £50 and is Italian made. I met Rob the owner at the recent Brew Con event and he seemed a pretty straight up guy. I'm sure if you asked his opinion he'd give you an honest answer.

Good luck finding one.

 

[Simonh82]

I decided to go with Adam's Gas in the end. The convenience of delivery to my door outweighed the thriftiness of a trip to the south coast.

I did check with Wimbledon Gas Bottles but they wanted me to buy the canister outright for £70 and then pay for refills. Apart from the significant cost this would also puts all of the burden for maintaining the canister and ensuring that it's safe onto me, so I didn't fancy it.

Really excited to get my kegging set up working now. I hope it all arrives by the weekend!

 

[Shaun-O]

Hi Simon

I started kegging about a year ago for the sme reason....bottling beer can be very tedious.

I have found that force carbing beer with bottled co2 uses it up fast and although i had great results i think i am just going to go back to putting my calculated sugar solution into the keg and let it carb naturally. Unless you need to carb a beer quick, why waste co2? This way my co2 last for ages when just using it for dispensing.

cheers

 

[cerberos]

I'm picking up a 6.35KG bottle from Horsham tomorrow, couldn't find anyone who'd rent me one so I have to buy it. Saw the link above but Hastings is more than an hour each way. £60 + vat for the bottle, £15 + vat for the gas, more than I'd like to spend but I figure it will be worth it for the bottling hours saved.

The bottle owners make money from selling the gas, they want high turnover customers, some rent the bottles themselves. Every bottle they give a homebrewer is one that's not brining money into their business, that's the impression I got at least.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
J&R Gases supply my working men's club; their price for a 6.35kg bottle is £60 for a five-year hire, plus £24 per recharge. They only serve the North of England, but perhaps other pub gas suppliers have a similar charge - check out your local pub's supplier.

 

[peebee]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I will be buying another reg when I get a smaller co2 bottle. The one I have now I bought from thehomebrewcompany for £70. It seems to stick when regulating pressures lower than 5psi and I have to tap it to get it going. I plan to use this regulator for cleaning/sanitising indoors and taking away. Can anybody recommend a decent regulator that is sensitive to them lower pressures. I'm happy to buy a 4 way one that allows each pressure to be different.

Thanks

I'm amazed you got 5PSI out of them, most I've tried are pretty sticky below 10PSI. Move to "secondary" regulators and leave your current one (now a "primary") fixed at 2-4BAR. Many secondary regulators are pretty naff and don't deliver 10PSI reliably, but some can get down to 2-3PSI, usually "diaphragm" designs not "cylinder" designs, like these I use: http://www.shako-online-sales.com/frl/regulators/miniature-regulator-nr200-01-nr200-02. I also replaced my "primary" with a diminutive fixed jobbie from CO2art (don't seem to do them now so try these: https://www.co2supermarket.co.uk/co2-regulator-single-gauge-horizontal-valves-p183.html). The primary regulator linked will need a bit of messing about to take 3/8" tube if that's what you use, but I moved over to the vastly more flexible polyurethane tube (6mm OD, 4mm ID).