El Cheapo no space kegging ?

So here's my plan..

I have very little space to store beer, and my wife is starting to think the hundreds of bottles in the house isn't funny.. there's 120 in the dining room and another 5 gallons in the primary.. and as a side note, we only have one fridge.

My plan of action is to put a corny in the fridge with a 20oz paintball canister for CO2, this seems like the smallest way to hide the keg, I may try to use a Kobalt tool CO2 regulator, I'll probably only need a foot of CO2 hose, hang the tank on the side of the corny, and run a picnic tap up to a shelf... do you think this will work ? Will force carbing and dispensing a keg be possible with a 20oz tank ?

My second plan, which may be crazier than my first, is to stash additional corny's under the bed. As beer is ready to keg, i'll just pour it in, add a little co2 to seal things up, then stash them on their side under the bed.. is that a stupid idea ?? It's one of the few temperate places that I can store kegs..
How would that work?? how much CO2 do you think i'd have to put in the tank ? how long could you leave them there ?

Thanks so much for any help !

Couldn't you just get a mini fridge and use it as a kegerator? That has to take up less space than what the 120 bottles are taking up now....

Laying the kegs on their side would leave all the sediment along the side of the keg. Then when you goto dispense it, you'll have to wait for everything to settle out.

+1 for mini fridge. You can find useable ones for 75 on craigslist easy.

SWMBO won't be happy with a keg/co2 tank using up half the freezer. You probably won't be able to put half the shelves in the fridge that way either. You will also be serving some pretty damn cold beer if you keep your fridge on low temps.

Think SWMBO would give up some closet space to put in a kegerator?

I'll snoop around, looking for a spot.. it's pretty unlikely though..

Good point about the sediment on the side of the keg..it should settle out in a week or so though..

Has anyone tried to force carb with a 20oz bottle of CO2 ?

How do you store corny kegs with finished (uncarbed) beer in ? Can you just put some CO2 in and let them sit, force carbing when you're ready to use or should you put priming sugar in and let it happen naturally ?

joeybeer said:

Has anyone tried to force carb with a 20oz bottle of CO2 ?

How do you store corny kegs with finished (uncarbed) beer in ? Can you just put some CO2 in and let them sit, force carbing when you're ready to use or should you put priming sugar in and let it happen naturally ?

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It's possible, and VERY expensive.

Either will work great.

A 20oz tank would last just over 1 keg dispensing. I've heard that you use approx 1lb of co2 per corney keg. Thats a lot of trips and $ for refills.

mosquitocontrol said:

A 20oz tank would last just over 1 keg dispensing. I've heard that you use approx 1lb of co2 per corney keg. Thats a lot of trips and $ for refills.

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I think it's more like .75lb/5gal keg with force carbing. Your point about the 20oz tank is dead on though.

Most people use those after they have carbed with a bigger tank just for dispensing. Usually because they are not at home.

If the beer isn't cold, then getting the CO2 into solution is harder to do--requires more PSI. There are charts around that tell you the temperature and PSI to get to various carbonation levels.

If it were me, I'd try to "warm" carb it with priming sugar rather than CO2 canister, and save the CO2 canister for dispensing...

Edit: here you go: http://www.makebeerathome.info/online-beer-calculator/force-carbonation. According to this, nearly 30 psi at 70*F to get an average 2.5 carbonation level.

Only thing I have an issue with is storing the kegs on their side....I can tell you that, if not carbonated, (i.e., if you just give a shot of 30 PSI CO2 to seal), they'll leak. I know, cuz I recently hit some kegs with 30 PSI then left them for a few weeks. One keg started leaking a bit just as I carried it upstairs to my fridge, (from the sloshing). So I wouldn't risk it.

As for more PSI at warmer temps, yes, Munsoned is right -- but it doesn't matter. You need more PSI at warmer temps, but you are still carbonating to the same 2.5 volumes of CO2, (or whatever), which means you use the same amount of CO2 to carb, regardless of temperature.

also, if you lose your seal at a poppet, a big mess if the keg is on its side.

shortyjacobs said:

Only thing I have an issue with is storing the kegs on their side....I can tell you that, if not carbonated, (i.e., if you just give a shot of 30 PSI CO2 to seal), they'll leak. I know, cuz I recently hit some kegs with 30 PSI then left them for a few weeks. One keg started leaking a bit just as I carried it upstairs to my fridge, (from the sloshing). So I wouldn't risk it.

As for more PSI at warmer temps, yes, Munsoned is right -- but it doesn't matter. You need more PSI at warmer temps, but you are still carbonating to the same 2.5 volumes of CO2, (or whatever), which means you use the same amount of CO2 to carb, regardless of temperature.

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Sorry, should have been more clear. Yes, the total amount of CO2 going into solution shouldn't change, but, getting any sort of accuracy at higher temperatures is going to be more challenging than if the beer was chilled. Easier to "dial it in" when at 37* than at 73*. Rather than waste CO2 getting that figured out, I'd just prime it with sugar (which can be "dialed in easier") and just use the CO2 to dispense the beer... That's just me though--whatever floats your boat!