force carbonating two kegs

This may be a dumb question, but I have confused myself thinking about it. I finally acquired a second Cornelius, so I can have two batches flowing at an upcoming party. I rigged up the gas line with a simple T-splitter, when it occured to me that the beers need to be at exactly the same pressure or they will mix. So I thought the easiest way to do this would be to carbonate them at the same time.

Do I need to double the pressure from the regulator to accomplish this? Or if I just set it to 10 psi or so for a few days like usual, will everything reach the right carbonation? I guess I'm not sure how the regulator works.

No, just set it to your required level. The pressure will be the same to each line. You can also get a manifold for fairly cheap. This will allow you to cut off air to each line and they have check valves so your beer won't mix.

http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16388

CO2 regulators are pressure regulators, not flow regulators; so the setting remains the same. Manifolds with check valves are a real good idea. Mixing your brews a little is annoying, getting brew in your regulator is a PITA!

Thanks. I'm glad to know my logic has not completely abandoned me. I assumed my splitter to be a temporary solution. Since posting this thread I have already managed to get beer in my gas line, but I don't think any got to the regulator. How difficult would it be to hook up two regulators instead of the manifold, in order to control the carbonation?

david_42 said:

CO2 regulators are pressure regulators, not flow regulators; so the setting remains the same. Manifolds with check valves are a real good idea. Mixing your brews a little is annoying, getting brew in your regulator is a PITA!

Click to expand...

Well now you've got me wondering. How would beer cross over from one corny to the other through the gas line? The gas dip tube isn't submerged.

I can see where maybe if you're doing the lap-dance-shake to force carb and the beer ran down into the gas tube...

Is it common for beer to run up the gas line?

If I'm not mistaken, if you have a splitter with ball valves with integral check valves (my setup) you could do this:

1. One keg serving already at serving pressure - shut the ball valve
2. Turn regulator to 30 PSI
3. Open valve leading to keg to be carbed
4. Shake carbing keg for a bit
5. Shut off valve leading to carbing keg
6. Turn regulator down to 0 and back up to serving pressure
7. Bleed off pressure from newly carbed keg
8. Open valves leading to both kegs
9. ???
10. PROFIT

If you have a keg with 30 PSI inside and the regulator is set lower the pressure inside will stay 30 PSI unless you bleed off the pressure. The check valve prevents backflow into the regulator and I would say is an essential piece of equipment. If you have check valves on each line after where the line splits you don't have to worry about mixing keg contents. (If the keg pressure is higher than the regulator setting, the check valve engages and prevents backflow; if the regulator is set higher than the keg's pressure, CO2 will flow into the keg until the pressure equalizes throughout the system.)

If you want to force carb both at the same time, you can do it with this setup as well, just open both ball valves after setting the regulator to 30 PSI. When you're done, shut off both valves and turn the regulator down to 0 and back up to serving pressure, bleed off both kegs, and open the valves.

At least, I think that's right.