Need some keg rotation advice

Problem: kegerator fits only 2 kegs. I have 8 kegs. Whenever a beer runs out, that means I put in another keg. Then i wait, and I wait for it to be carbed. By the time that happens, keg 2 is nearly dead. this means I can only really have 1 rocking keg at a time.

Does anyone have any magic here? Maybe given my constraints, i should be more aggresively carbing instead of waiting 1-2weeks for it to carb at serving pressure? I use about 10psi at 37degrees.

Another option is to prime all my kegs. Does anyone do this?

Yep, im priming mine because its faster and less work,

another thing you can do is pull your gas line off the serving keg and dump 30-40 psi into the new keg to and shake it around do this a few times over a few days and let them sit then they will be partially carbd , when you rotate them in so less lag time between kegs... or you over carb doing this - so bleed excess and serve they even out in about 24 hours.

my kegorator only holds 2 kegs - 1 for serving one for clearing , when one goes dry the cleared beer rotates in and a new primed keg rotates in to clear.

i have done it both ways , just make sure the priming sugar is all ate up or the beer will be somewhat sweet... eww

I've primed in the keg when my kegerator was full.. worked perfectly. Also, I don't carbonate at serving pressure.

What I do is shut off the manifold to all my carbonated beer and just shoot 30psi into the new keg for a day. Then I put it to serving pressure. That usually cuts alot of time off the carbonation, most are good to go in about 3 days.

In your case, natural carbing sounds like a good idea. Your only alternative is...
1: Faster force carbing
2: get a Keezer that will hold more kegs.

Arkador said:

2: get a Keezer that will hold more kegs.

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Best....idea........evar...

Hit all kegs not on tap with 30 to 40 psi. Do it one or two more times. Do you have tape or something to mark what is in the kegs? You could make little checks on them so you know how many times its been done. It is a bit of a PITA, but if you just do it once or twice a week it's no biggie, and greatly reduces carbing time.

hammacks said:

Hit all kegs not on tap with 30 to 40 psi. Do it one or two more times. Do you have tape or something to mark what is in the kegs? You could make little checks on them so you know how many times its been done. It is a bit of a PITA, but if you just do it once or twice a week it's no biggie, and greatly reduces carbing time.

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Thanks great idea! I already mark them with tape so this is brilliant.

Thanks for all the ideas guys. The best one is just to buy a bigger freezer! but I have to organize the hell out of my messy garage first.

I barely have any square footage, so if i look at the freezer space as a % of my mortage, I think the size chest freezer I want would cost me about $800/yr haha. Probably still worth it times ten.

Just get a second regulator and tank and keep the waiting kegs under pressure in the garage or something. That's what I do. When a keg kicks, there's one carbed and ready. It may need a few hours to chill if it's been held at room temp, but it'll be carbed.

StunnedMonkey said:

Just get a second regulator and tank and keep the waiting kegs under pressure in the garage or something. That's what I do. When a keg kicks, there's one carbed and ready. It may need a few hours to chill if it's been held at room temp, but it'll be carbed.

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Also a good idea except my mind exploded when I heard that the CO2 bottle is $86. Wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't bought 8 kegs, a propane burner, an immersion chiller, a grain mill, and a new drill in the last 2 weeks...

Do you keep it at a higher PSI ala the carbing charts?

The other nice thing about having that 2nd tank is that it's ready to go if the other one knocks out. My classy regulator doesn't have the gauge that would remind you that the tank is about to blow.

Picobrew said:

Also a good idea except my mind exploded when I heard that the CO2 bottle is $86. Wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't bought 8 kegs, a propane burner, an immersion chiller, a grain mill, and a new drill in the last 2 weeks...

Do you keep it at a higher PSI ala the carbing charts?

The other nice thing about having that 2nd tank is that it's ready to go if the other one knocks out. My classy regulator doesn't have the gauge that would remind you that the tank is about to blow.

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Yeah, the initial outlay stings a bit. But the other nice use for the 2nd reg and tank is keg maintenance. I use that one for cycling cleaner and sanitizer through my kegs so as not to waste the CO2 in the keezer. And since I do all the maintenance and initial carbing with the 2nd tank, the one in the keezer (which is harder to get to) doesn't need changing very often.

I do adjust the PSI for the warmer temps, but in the winter months the garage is practically keezer-temp anyway.

Maybe you could find a cheap paintball tank? (Then you would need an adapter, $15)

I really need to get a second regulator. I have a 20oz tank that I never use because my regulator is with my 4# in the kegerator. It would be great to have something real portable for whatever.

hammacks said:

Maybe you could find a cheap paintball tank? (Then you would need an adapter, $15)

I really need to get a second regulator. I have a 20oz tank that I never use because my regulator is with my 4# in the kegerator. It would be great to have something real portable for whatever.

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a 20oz paintball tank with an on/off valve would not need an adapter, as there is no pinvalve on it. You can find them with that valve installed for about $5 more.

a 20oz tank will empty out 4x as fast, and cost 80% of what a 5lb costs to fill....

At a sporting goods store it would cost that much?

it is $7 to fill my 20Oz, and $10 to fill my 5lb
My 20oz tank with On/off valve was $30 at the paintball field ($25 with a pin valve)

Im running a paintball tank setup , my 20oz tanks cost 3$ to fill at the pball place.
there is no gas supply shops in town here , so every few months i travel out and get my 20lb tank filled, then i have a paintball tank fill station , just flip the tank upside down and fill my own pball tanks for the kegorator and for playing paintball.

works well , if your into playing paintball and drinking homebrew... "2 birds one stone".
cheap too . cost between 17-22$ or so to fill the 20 lb talk... at the welding shop's around here.

filling them myself the 20oz tanks cost around 1$ to fill

I leave my kegs alone after priming for a month. Never a problem with the carb level and they're ready when I tap them. The real trick is getting far enough ahead (I'm not, but I'm getting there!) to be able to leave the keg alone for 3 weeks or so. Keep an eye on CL and when you can pick up a CO2 cyl. for cheap, you'll have other options. Luck - Dwain