serving commercial and homebrew from the same co2 tank

[staggerleon]

I have been having a problem with balancing my co2 pressure between my commercial keg (goose island 312) and homebrew keg (pumpkin oktoberfest) when I set the pressure at 12 psi for the 312 the homebrew comes out foamy and when I turn it down to 7psi the 312 tastes kinda flat. I am using a "y" splitter off the regulator and 2 shut offs. any ideas?

 

[pdbreen]

Get a second regulator. You can either get another off the tank that lets you run two lines at any pressure or one that goes downstream of the first that will allow a lower downstream pressure. If you've got room for two tanks, it will come in handy down the road anyway.

 

[staggerleon]

thanx for the tip, I was hoping to save some $ but Ill end up needing the extra regulator anyways.

 

[DragonTail]

Welcome
You could also try changing the length of your lines.
If I understand correctly, set the pressure for your home brew & lengthen the commercial line,. I can't give you a length, but the longer line will have more restriction and reduce you foam problem. At least this is how I understand, I haven't built my kegerator yet, so no experience on the matter.
Also you could use a second regulator instead of the "y".

 

[pdbreen]

You could also try changing the length of your lines.
If I understand correctly, set the pressure for your home brew & lengthen the commercial line,. I can't give you a length, but the longer line will have more restriction and reduce you foam problem.

I was thinking of alternate solutions while drifting to sleep last night and this same idea popped into mind. A possible remaining problem is that leaving the commercial keg at the higher pressure will ultimately result in higher dissolved Co2 which may or may not be an issue.

 

[DragonTail]

I was thinking of alternate solutions while drifting to sleep last night and this same idea popped into mind. A possible remaining problem is that leaving the commercial keg at the higher pressure will ultimately result in higher dissolved Co2 which may or may not be an issue.

It will cause the commercial keg to "over-carbonate". If you are planning on keeping the keg for any real length of time, go the dual regulator route, or disconnect the gas when finished for the day/night.

 

[staggerleon]

I had not thought of longer lines, I will try that first since beer line is cheap
I will probably get the second regulator anyways but this could be a quick fix for the time being, thanx for the great idea, I'll post and let you know how it works.


keg.. pumpkin oktoberfest
secondary.. over hopped california pale ale
bottles.. russian roulette imperial stout
bottles.. barley wine

 

[staggerleon]

The longer lines did the trick, homebrew coming out nice and smooth, the commercial beer is a little over carbed but that is ok it's a wheat beer thanx for the help.