Hooking up multiple kegs, 1 CO2 tank

Anyone have a pic of their setup so I can see what this looks like? I just order 4 kegs, I'll be picking up the tank in a week, then I need to figure out the hook ups in about 2 or 3 weeks, when beers will actually be about ready to drink.

this is what I am going with

So all the beer's will be under the same pressure, correct? Would you need seperate tanks to have seperate carbonation pressures?

just more regulators

I am also setting up a keg system and after much thought I went with a dual regulator setup. I figured it would allow the flexibility to fun 2 different carbonation rates, I have a feeling if I didn't I would want it in the future, and I can still add a manifold on either regulator to feed multiple tanks in the future. I will be running two tanks at first directly off the regulators and as I can get additional faucets/tanks I can add a manifold as needed.

ColoradoXJ13 said:

this is what I am going with

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I have the 4 valve version. You only need one regulator and it will deliver constant pressure to all kegs. You have the option of turning off unused heads if you have empty kegs.

If you go with a dual regulator, you'll need two distributors (if you intend on multiple kegs per pressure setting).

I personally use the 4-head version with a single valve regulator. I've yet to find the need for multiple pressure settings, but to each their own. I like a heavy carbonation, so I keep all kegs set at about 15-20 psi.

Here's a pic of a 6-way manifold I made for the_bird. It's dual pressure so he can run differing serving pressures and/or use one tank of beer gas and one tank of CO2. Three ports are interconnected on one end, and 5 ports are interconnected at the other end.



If you only want to run two kegs at the same pressure, the easiest setup is to simply tee the CO2 line with one of these:

A more complicated setup with dual secondary regulators and three pressures available.

I actually carbonate 6 kegs at a time in my chest freezer using one stainless T and two stainless crosses. Just make sure you have a check valve inline to the regulator and they when you fill your kegs, you don't fill over the gas in tube.

OK ok, here's where I"m getting confused. I thought a dual regulator just showed how much pressure was in the keg and how much pressure was in the tank, instead of just in the keg with a single regulator. Am I wrong here?

EDIT: and Cheese, I agree, I don't really see a need for multiple pressures. I guess if I can run multiple kegs off a single regulator then that's what I'll do. Need to have a few bucks left over for a fridge

seefresh said:

OK ok, here's where I"m getting confused. I thought a dual regulator just showed how much pressure was in the keg and how much pressure was in the tank, instead of just in the keg with a single regulator. Am I wrong here?

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A Dual GAUGE regulator shows the pressure in the serving keg and the pressure in the CO2 tank. You just got a little confused on the wording there. The setup you can see in my picture below uses a single primary regulator (directly connected to the tank) which is then fed into three secondary regulators. Each of the secondary regulators is directly connected to its own serving keg. This was slightly more expensive to do than using a gas manifold but I really love being able to adjust the serving pressures separately. I can also force carbonate as I serve other beer which is a big plus.

TheFlyingBeer said:

I can also force carbonate as I serve other beer which is a big plus.

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Ahhhhh, now that makes sense. I can see a very useful reason for it now.

Just bid on this, hopefully I'll get it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230172883634&ssPageName=STRK:MEBI:IT&ih=013

This works for me:

I have 5 taps, 2 on the kegerator and 3 on the bar.


For the kegerator, I use a 3 guage regulator, 1 line runing to the kegerator with a "T" split to the two kegs and the other line running to my beer gun.


For the bar, I hook up my 5 lb Co2 tank with a single guage regulator to the tap manifold below.

1 CO2 bottle with 3 tees for four cornys.Its somewhat of a hose mess but no one sees that.Works great!
Cheers

Well, brewtopia, I'm bidding on a 3guage like you have right now on ebay. HOpefully I'll get it and have a similar setup to yours.

Here's a shot of my carbing setup in the garage. One stainless Tee and two stainless crosses make 6 ball lock gas connections off one 5 lb. CO2 bottle.



It carbs 6 kegs at the same time since I just set it at 12 PSI and forget it. It also comes in handy at brew fests cause I can push 6 kegs of beer with the same setup. Very cheap to make and works well.

Holy crap am I going to have a lot of questions when I get my kegging equipment. I'm confused just reading this thread.

ohiobrewtus said:

Holy crap am I going to have a lot of questions when I get my kegging equipment. I'm confused just reading this thread.

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Kegging is simple: you need kegs, regulated gas, and taps. That's all.

Yuri_Rage said:

Kegging is simple: you need kegs, regulated gas, and taps. That's all.

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Troof! Start off simple, then complicate it at you move forward. There are a lot of variables in kegging, but over all it is a pretty simple concept. And SOOO much easier than bottling.

Brewtopia said:

I have 5 taps, 2 on the kegerator and 3 on the bar.
View attachment 2724
...

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BT. Is that a Maltese Falcon in the background? I NEED that for my Maltese Falcon IPA.

seefresh

I see that the bidding is going up on that dual regualtor. Posting the auction here probably didn't help Try looking at this guys stuff. He's got "Buy it Now" so you don't have to fight for it. They come from the US so shipping might be cheaper too.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZmazz58

I just bought a triple regulator from him for $34.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330167895415&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=014

Good Luck!

you can buy those CO2 Regulator bodys from american science and surplus for like 5$ a piece, then go to northern brewer and purchase the gauages, and home depot for the connecting hardware, it is the cheapest way to go multi gauage regulator,

that ebay link is the cheapest ive seen anyone sell a multigauage regulator EVER lol they normally run in the 100+ range and the guy on ebay is using the american science and surplus bodys

http://www.sciplus.com/category.cfm/subsection/20

im currently making a 4 body manifold regulator.i have under 60$ in it right now, all i have to do is pick up the hardware from Lowes or HD and put it toghter.

I love this forum.

anoldur said:

seefresh

I see that the bidding is going up on that dual regualtor. Posting the auction here probably didn't help Try looking at this guys stuff. He's got "Buy it Now" so you don't have to fight for it. They come from the US so shipping might be cheaper too.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZmazz58

I just bought a triple regulator from him for $34.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330167895415&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=014

Good Luck!

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Lost the bid on the one I wanted. It got over $40, so bought one from the dude you recommended and got it for 34.95! Guaranteed to work!

Here's my latest version of this - I added check valves, so I had to switch to diferent PC fittings.

Lost the bid on the one I wanted. It got over $40, so bought one from the dude you recommended and got it for 34.95! Guaranteed to work!

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Got an email from the seller saying he shipped today (same day shipping, nice!)

Originally posted by BierMuncher
BT. Is that a Maltese Falcon in the background? I NEED that for my Maltese Falcon IPA.

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That IS a Maltese Falcon. Exact replica from the film. SWMBO got it for me for my birthday a few years ago from Golden Age Collectibles here in Seattle. When we were in Denver for NHC, The Maltose Falcons Homebrew Club had Maltese Falcon Tap Handles that were awesome. Now I'd Love to get my hands on some of those.

Ó Flannagáin;386719 said:

Ahhhhh, now that makes sense. I can see a very useful reason for it now.

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Bumping this thread to ask a question here...

Why wouldn't you be able to force carbonate using the gas manifold? Unless I'm just misunderstanding "force" here...

If you wanted to carbonate 2 using a manifold...2 ales, say, could you not have one hooked up to serve at 10-12 PSI while the other was sitting under that same pressure for a week or two to force carbonate?

This only wouldn't work if you wanted to use the high pressure/rolling/shaking method while serving the other beer right? (manifold = 2 or more lines but all under same pressure?)

Thanks!

BMoreBeerish said:

Bumping this thread to ask a question here...

Why wouldn't you be able to force carbonate using the gas manifold? Unless I'm just misunderstanding "force" here...

If you wanted to carbonate 2 using a manifold...2 ales, say, could you not have one hooked up to serve at 10-12 PSI while the other was sitting under that same pressure for a week or two to force carbonate?

This only wouldn't work if you wanted to use the high pressure/rolling/shaking method while serving the other beer right? (manifold = 2 or more lines but all under same pressure?)

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Right - if you're using the set-it-and-forget-it method, you can do multiple kegs with just one pressure. (And your definition of "force" carbing is correct btw, though it often gets misused to mean setting a higher pressure and/or shaking.)

Great, Thank you.

Just got a kegerator, about to get my 2nd corny and will have some beer to put in it before the other is tapped. Seems like a 2-way manifold is the way to go.

http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=51