CO2 Keg Charger And Natural Carbonation

Hey Guys,

So I purchased one of the CO2 Keg Charges (Like so: Here) what I want to be able to do is naturally carbonate the beer and then use the little charger to beef it up when needed. Just to get me by. However it says to not attach it to a keg under pressure, I would imagine the same would go for one making pressure. So then I would end up trying to force carb the beer off the this little thing anyways...

Is this thing really that useless, and should I just say "eff" it and go out and buy a larger tank and set up? I really want to save money to get everything at once instead of slowly.

Those things are great for dispensing at parties. That's about it. Get a tank and regulator, you will be much happier in the long run.

EdWort said:

Those things are great for dispensing at parties. That's about it. Get a tank and regulator, you will be much happier in the long run.

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Yes, that's what they are designed for. To move the carbonated beer out of the keg and into a glass. Without the pressure of a co2 tank, the beer would go flat.

Also, it takes MANY of those little chargers to push out one keg! In 24 hours, we downed a keg of blonde ale. It probably took 4-5 of those little co2 chargers to push it out. That's not bad for one party, but for a permanent solution that would be terrible!

+1 on both of Edwort's comments. For me, there is always a fine line between buying everything that I need for a project and slowly accumulating things. I have to be careful not to "incrementalize" to the point of having to re-buy bigger/better stuff. There are always several ways to do anything associated with this hobby. You can almost always "get by" with several options. If you already have your keg/s, you should get a tank and regulator (some people use paintball tanks). If you cruise Craigslist or your local classifieds, you should be able to find something relatively inexpensive.
Also, you'll be able to drink carbed/kegged beer while you scheme up your next acquisition! Luck - Dwain

HIM_Tattoos said:

However it says to not attach it to a keg under pressure

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It says attach to the keg before releasing the pressure from the bottle. If I understand correctly, this is because the plastic lock on the gas disconnect (plastic pin in the female end of the disconnect) cannot take the pressure and will crack if you don't. If the ball lock fitting is inserted into a keg, this junction is open, and you won't have this problem.

It will work. Plan on 2-3 cartridges to dispense each keg. As Ed says, they are mainly good for dispensing at parties. On the other hand, if there's more than one homebrewer at a party, there's probably a CO2 bottle and regulator around.

My cousin used the charger and naturally carbed his beer. Sadly, his beer would go flat before he could finish off the keg, and he went back to bottles. He does have plans to get a tank and regulator at some point in time.

I've been thinking about getting one of those. A friend got one and it's handy for parties, but I could not imagine using it for a kegerator permanently. The cost to get a kegerator going is a bit much, but you really want to do it right the first time.

Also consider whether you will have more than one keg, and whether or not you will have beers at different carb levels. If so, plan on getting a dual set reg to start with. I wish I had.

I picked up one of these little gadgets myself for dispensing at a party. I think it's great for that but I'm hunting around for the full deal for a kegerator. I think you can get the cartridges for like $1-$1.25 so 2-3 per keg is a maybe max $5 a keg. Expensive compared to a big tank but obviously this is a cheap and easy way to get into it.