Beer gas in CO2 cylinder?

[SoriM]

Hello, I found this forum thread looking up information about CO2 tanks. I'm working for a little new brewery.

I can't find proper CO2 tanks in my area, I'm looking for bigger than 2kg capacity. The only easy to buy tanks I find are from an aquarium store. They claim they have clients that bought them for beer serving as well. But my brewmaster says that if the tank is not specifically made for draft beer it might not be good. I mean, I could empty the tank and refill it with beverage CO2 instead of the CO2 for fish and plants. But my workmate insists that the tank's material itself might affect the beer taste and quality.

What are you guys proposing? Should I avoid using draft beer equipment with aquarium CO2 tanks?

Thanks!

 

[odie]

the regulators are all the same. The tanks are all the same.

The different regulator couplers and different tank valves exist so that you don't accidentally mix stuff up.

You can swap valves and couplers to do whatever you like. But you better remember what is what.

 

[day_trippr]

Greetings, @SoriM, and welcome to the forums at Homebrew Talk

In the USA, CO2 cylinders are governed by regulations that specify standards and performance regardless of eventual specific application. I could pick up a CO2 cylinder with a current safety certification and use it for a green house, aquarium, or beer production application with the same expectation of safety. Further with few exceptions "CO2 is CO2" here if filled by a commercial operation.

I don't know if any of that is similar in Romania...

Cheers!

 

[SoriM]

Thank you for the answers!

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm working for a little new brewery.

Depending on the volume of CO2 you'll need for daily operations, you may want to check with a commercial "bottled" gas or "welding gas" supplier.
CO2 tanks come in various sizes, from 5 kg to 50 kg to 500 kg, and up.

To provide some reference, at the moment I can get 20 lb of CO2 (~10 kg) for around $25. I have to bring my own (empty) tank, and either get it filled, or what's today more common here, swapped for a full one on their lot.

 

[tracer bullet]

@SoriM - another thought is that if CO2 is hard to find or expensive, you can think about how to reduce using it. For example if you purge kegs with it, you could consider instead using the off-gassing from fermentation to do that job. Or for carbonating the beer (pressurizing it) you could consider fermentation tanks that are rated for pressure so that the beer carbonates itself.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

If there's not enough information to muddy the waters, lemme add my $0.02.

I've heard about beer gas coming in CO2 cylinders, but never actually seen it.

They are different in their use and in their verbiage. Normally, you would distinguish like this:

Beer gas:

• Steel bottles
• Comes in sizes measured in cu. ft.
• Has female gauge threads

CO2:

• Aluminum (sometimes steel) bottles
• Comes in sizes measured in lbs.
• Has male gauge threads

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/beer-gas-co2-tank-vs-nitrogen-tank.325273/#post-4050365

 

[DuncB]

I am looking to add 70/30 beer gas and a stout tap to my kegerator (which already uses CO2).

I expected to buy a nitrogen regulator for use with a beer gas cylinder, but apparently the local beer gas distributor uses CO2 cylinders for beer gas. So I'd need to use another CO2 regulator

This seems unusual to me , so I thought I'd ask if other HBT users had seen this.

Anybody?

I have my beer gas in a CO2 cylinder because friendly filler of CO2 cylinders also has Nitrogen as well.

Not something that would normally be done, CO2 cylinder is not as strong as the dedicated Nitrogen or beer gas cylinders. Can't be filled to as high a pressure so less content, you can use a CO2 regulator on the cylinder to dispense. My access to these as a refill has now ended so I've changed to a micro nitro system from nitrobrew as it was only a little more expensive than buying a beer gas cylinder regulator and refills.