Kegging without CO2

Hi all, I'm new to homebrewing, and had a thought. Would it be possible to brew, ferment, prime and then put in a commercial keg to carbonate withOUT using a CO2 tank? I realise that once you tapped it it wouldn't stay pressurised. But my main "goal" here would be to do this when several friends are coming over. Is there some flaw I'm missing here?

You want to use a commercial keg? Are you planning on using a keg tap with a hand pump to serve it?

I suppose it is theoretically possible, but cleaning and filling a commercial keg would be difficult. Especially without CO2 to move liquids in and out of the keg.

It's pretty common to do this with a corny keg. Just mix in your sugar, seal the keg, put in a warmish place, and wait a few weeks.

b-boy said:

It's pretty common to do this with a corny keg. Just mix in your sugar, seal the keg, put in a warmish place, and wait a few weeks.

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Yes, but you still need a co2 source to push the beer out!

They have those "co2 chargers" like little guns to push the beer out to dispense it, but you need some sort of source of co2 to do it.

Yes, how are you going to push the beer out of the keg?

b-boy said:

You want to use a commercial keg? Are you planning on using a keg tap with a hand pump to serve it?

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Yes. I'm in college. Think college frat party style.

I've seen more and more people getting the small co2 tanks that are used for paintball. Prolly enough in there to get through a keg party

ace4994 said:

Yes. I'm in college. Think college frat party style.

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Any beer that doesn't get consumed within a few hours of tapping the keg will quickly become oxidized and nasty. If it were me, I'd look into a paintball tank and regulator set up, or one of the portable chargers that uses the little 16g CO2 cartridges.

rdann87 said:

I've seen more and more people getting the small co2 tanks that are used for paintball. <snip>

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A lot of those cartridges contain lubricants for the air guns. Make sure you get a type that doesn't.

Do they actually have lubricants inside of them? I thought that normally the user just put a drop of oil on the tip of the cartridge to lubricate the seal, and that the actual co2 was dry, without any additives.

ace4994 said:

Yes. I'm in college. Think college frat party style.

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For the cost of your pump style tap you could probably get a used tank on Craigs List.

biohaz7331 said:

Do they actually have lubricants inside of them? I thought that normally the user just put a drop of oil on the tip of the cartridge to lubricate the seal, and that the actual co2 was dry, without any additives.

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The brand I use for my air guns contains lubricants. I also put oil on the tip of the cartridge. I figure more lube is better than less.

Some cartridges contain lubricant, some don't. You just need to be aware of that when you choose your co2 for a particular application.

Get a ball lock cornie keg, swap the dip tubes on the posts, fill and prime, let it naturally carbonate, hook up a picnic tap, hang upside down, pop on a gas disconnect that is either open or has a length of open hose on it extending up above the keg, serve and consume within a few hours. Quick and dirty gravity feed keg beer. If you want to get fancy get or make a small spunding valve setup for the gas/air line.