About to order my Keezer parts, couple quick final selection questions

[Nitrousbird]

Almost ready to place my order. Building a 6 tap Keezer, all stainless steel parts. Perlick 525SS taps.

2 taps will be for wine Kegs off an argon setup. Others 4 will be for beer or champagne.

Questions:

- For my 4 "beer" taps, should I spend the few extra bucks on the Perlick 575SS Creamer taps? I'll be making beer eventually but will start with some commercial craft beers. I'm a big IPA fan and will probably have a couple different IPA's on tap. Will do a light beer (probably a Great Lakes Burning River) and not sure for my 4th tap yet. Is the creamer a "must have" or more of a gimmick?

- How many secondary CO2 regulators should I have? With a single regulator you can't exactly for carb one keg while having others at a different pressure. That said, having 4 secondary regulators is EXPENSIVE. This project is already $1400 without adding in additional secondary regulators. I'm already budget busting and don't want to worsen my situation. In a real-world, 4-5 keg situation, how many different pressures would one normally run?

- CO2 tank size. I'm pretty much between 5 and 15lb tanks. The 15lb tank is barely more expensive than a 10. 20 is a lot more expensive and 5lb is a lot cheaper. How long does a 5lb last?

- What is your ideal hose length for beer line? 5' coiled for beer line? 10'? Just need to know how long for each so I can order enough line the first time.

I'm just looking to do this right the first time. That means using good components and not needing to do upgrades later.

 

[zachattack]

I'll comment on a few things:

1) I don't have any experience with the creamers. Some people have had problems with them dripping or leaking, most people haven't. I've had no desire to use a "creamer" feature on any beers that I've served. But a lot of people like them.

2) If you use the "set and forget" method for carbonation, serving pressure = carbonation pressure. So if you don't mind all your beers at the same carb level, you don't need them. A compromise is a dual body primary regulator that has two different pressure outputs. The secondary regs are nice to have though...

3) Get the biggest tank you can fit into your plans. Refills will be cheaper per pound of CO2, and obviously you won't get it filled as often.

4) For normal carb levels you want 10-12 feet of standard 3/16" ID vinyl tubing. For higher carb levels or barrier tubing, you need more.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I have three of the 575's (creamers.) Honestly, the creamer function doesn't hardly ever get used. Mine don't have any dripping / leaking problems. But the price difference between the two is pretty marginal, so why the hell not.