Beer gas - Co2 tank vs Nitrogen tank

Hi everyone

I recently decided to put a new home brew stout on tap using beergas and I have a question regarding the type of tank I should use. My local brew supply sells both types of tanks and is willing to fill a co2 tank with beergas. What are your thoughts on going this route? My only reasoning is that it would be cheaper because I already have the co2 regulator. The only downfall I see to the idea of using the co2 tank and regulator is that I Won't be able to get up to pressures beyond about 35-40psi as my tap rite regulator isn't pressure tested that high. Do you think I will even need to get my beergas dispensing pressure that high?

My only co2 tank is currently full so either way I need to get a new tank since I want to tap the keg this weekend ...is it really worth it to pay 10 bucks more for the nitro tank plus a whole new nitrogen regulator?

Nitrogen tanks are rated for a much higher pressure than co2 tanks. Beer gas is usually 75% nitrogen and 25% co2. I would not feel comfortable filling a co2 tank with nitrogen as it is not rated for it. None of the shops in my area will do it, and it is for a good reason. I would spend the extra few bucks for the right bottle and regulator.

They make an adapter to use a regular co2 regulator on a female thread tank. I have not used them, but other people have. Some people also suggest against doing so as co2 regulators may not be rated for higher psi ratings that nitrogen tanks may be filled to.

Lastly they may fill your co2 tank with Beer gas, but it will be to a lower psi than you would get in a nitrogen tank. Unlike co2 which is measured by weight, nitrogen is measured by pressure. Lower psi means that you will have less product to dispense with.

scsnick said:

Nitrogen tanks are rated for a much higher pressure than co2 tanks. Nitrogen is usually 75% nitrogen and 25% co2. I would not feel comfortable filling a co2 tank with nitrogen as it is not rated for it. None of the shops in my area will do it, and it is for a good reason. I would spend the extra few bucks for the right bottle and regulator.

They make an adapter to use a regular co2 regulator on a female thread tank. I have not used them, but other people have. Some people also suggest against doing so as co2 regulators may not be rated for higher psi ratings that nitrogen tanks may be filled to.

Lastly they may fill your co2 tank with Beer gas, but it will be to a lower psi than you would get in a nitrogen tank. Unlike co2 which is measured by weight, nitrogen is measured by pressure. Lower psi means that you will have less product to dispense with.

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+1 spend the extra and get the nitrogen tank and regulator.

Wow thanks a lot for the suggestions. I think I will go with your idea and get the nitrogen tank and regulator. Do you have any recommendations on a quality and also reasonably priced regulator? The brew supply shop has an awful mark up so I have to bite the bullet on the tank ($100) but I'd love to save some money on the regulator of possible.

When adding my stout facuct I called around to gas distributers in my area. I was suprised that some would only fill CO2 tanks, and some would only fill nitrogen tanks. So I did some research on the topic and here is what I found:

Tanks:
I looked at the specs for both tanks made by the same supplier "Luxfer". The CO2 tank specs were 1800psi service pressure regardless of capicity. The Nitrogen tank specs were between 2015 and 2216 psi service pressure. This means a CO2 tank filled with CO2 would be filled only slightly less than a nitrogen tank.

Both tanks are rated DOT-3AL. This DOT rating allows for CO2 and Nitrogen to be filled in these cylinders. Here is a link to all of the gasses that can be used: DOT-3AL Gasses

Finally Luxfer states right on the website for thier CO2 tanks: "Luxfer offers a broad range of aluminum cylinders for containment of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and related gas blends."

Regulators:
So after the tank research proved that it was safe and legal to fill a CO2 tank with Beer gas, I decided to research the regulators. The Taprite regulators I have all say do not use with nitrogen, and I couldn't find documentation on the subject, so I called them.
They stated that blended gasses were fine through the CO2 regulator since the pressure of the fill was only 1800 psi.

Both the Nitrogen and CO2 regulators output the same psi (0-60), and while the Nitrogen Regulator has a 3000psi high pressure guage, the CO2 regulators are rated for 3300psig.

Conclusion
I have found that the internet myths that it is illegal to fill CO2 tanks with Beer gas, and that Beer gas is at a much higher pressure than the CO2 tank can handle to be false. It really comes down to what tank your gas supplier will fill, and what your preference is.
For me, the redundancy of using the same tanks and regulators, as well as the cost savings on the tanks made the decision easy. Beer gas in CO2 all the way!

If anyone finds information in this post to be inaccurate, please let me know!

-Space