10# tank question

[munro]

I've seen different numbers but I saw on a website that a ten pound tank should do 31-44 corny kegs. How does that number work? Does carbonating and dispensing count as one keg or two? If you do a 5-10 second purge on a corny when kegging does that take a lot? I've purged, carbonated and dispensed about 7- 8 kegs. I'm usin my set up to serve from 3 different kegs at a wedding. All of them have been purged and are already carbonated. Just need serving pressure. Should I get a refill to be safe or should I be ok?

 

[steveoc]

I don't know and it is tough to know exactly how much you have used and how much you have left. One could weigh an empty cylinder then weigh what you have. Last time I filled a 5 pound cylinder, they charged me for 3.5 pounds of CO2. Since I live in the boonies, I keep a spare CO2 tank.

 

[mikescooling]

I'm using about a 1/2lb per corny keg, so a 20lb tank will do 40, 5gallon kegs, and that is carbing them up and pushing the beer. I do big purges and wast some gas that way.

 

[JuanMoore]

The general rule of thumb is that one pound of CO2 will both carb and serve between one and two 5 gal kegs of beer. Where in that range you fall depends on serving temp, carb levels, how much you use to purge or do transfers, etc. From what I've read on this site, most people tend to be closer to the two kegs per pound side of things. That means you should be able to carb and serve 10-20 kegs with your 10# tank.

Since carbing uses quite a bit more gas than dispensing, even if your usage is on the high side, you should have enough left to serve another three kegs.

 

[munro]

Thanks guys