1st time kegging..how much CO2 does it take?

[DizzyPants]

Ok, I was an idiot and bottled my brew while I drank mass produced from my kegeraton. Then I put 2 and 2 together. I bought a corny and lines.

I understand I am not just pushing beer through the keg in to the lines but putting CO2 in the brew. I am down from about 900 psi to about a little over five hundred psi on my reg.

I have a 5 pound CO2 tank.

Should I have any worries? The beer is turning out great though.

~Diz

 

[kornkob]

Don't sweat that. You'll find that the high pressure gauge will drop like that initially and then will hover there for a long time. It's not a very good indicator of your usage.

 

[SporkD2]

also if you put it in your fridge the pressure will show a lot lower.

 

[HempelNet]

I have also noticed that when mine gets around 350 / 400 PSI mark it is close to being empty. It seems to drop fast at first hoover around 700 / 800 for some time then drop to 350 /400 before running out. I need a better gauge..

 

[kornkob]

I don't think there is anything 'better' if what you want is a gauge that will tell you how much gas you have. That high pressure side gauge is about as good as it gets.

 

[shortyjacobs]

The only gauge that works well is a scale. Those high pressure gauges are crap, and ENTIRELY useless. 95% of the CO2 in your bottle is liquid, and boils on demand as you pull gas off. The pressure in the tank is the exact same from when you start pulling CO2 until JUST before you run out. The only way to tell how much CO2 is in there is with a scale.

That said, I just cashed my first 5 lb CO2 bottle today. 5 lb of CO2 lasted for around 8 kegs of force carbonation and serving.

 

[kornkob]

+1 on scale as only good way to measure it.

 

[Saccharomyces]

I'm able to force carbonate and push a keg with under 1# of CO2. That includes extra gas for purging and recharging kegs after dropping pressure to use the bottle filler. 6-8 kegs carbed and served on a 5# fill is about right.

 

[DizzyPants]

Thanks guys, I was also worried I might have a leak or something too...

~Diz