co2 question

[Iceman6409]

Ok I am about to receive my first 2 1/2 gallon corny keg. My question is this. I have someone willing to sell me a somewhat full 20lb co2 tank for like $50. Very cool deal indeed. But. Would that tank be too big in general? Here is why I ask. #1 it is my first time kegging. My "intent" is to learn how to do it right. I also live alone and don't drink THAT much beer nor will I have a parade of friends coming around helping me. I do have a few friends that come over each Sunday and 1 o2 two of them will have an occasional beer with me. I would also like it to be portable as maybe once in awhile I will take it to a friends house. Now for storage right now I do have a chest freezer with a temperature controller already on it that I will use to start with. Once I get the process down then I will probably start to piece together a mini fridge kegerator. One step at a time.

So there lays my question. Yes I know the 20lb tank will fit in the freezer but the freezer is downstairs in my cellar. Yes I know that a 20lb tank will basically last forever so to speak. But what if I want to bring the keg upstairs for my friends when they do come over. Or what if I want to take the keg to another friends house. Do I have other options at that point? My first thought is to maybe keep the 20lber in the freezer for just me and then if I take the keg somewhere else maybe I could use a paintball co2 cartridge. How does that sound to you guys. Would that be feasible?

Also I am on the lookout for a regulator. I have another person that can get a very slightly used one for $40 but he will not be back in the U.S. until sometime in March. Can you point me towards a middle of the road one or even a decent used one. I see some on Amazon for about $40-$50 so if I can I would like to keep it in that range. I can get one from my LHBS but they want about $80. If any of you happen to have one to sell I would at least listen.

Anyways thanks to all in advance for any help.

 

[snevey]

Well, I also received a partially full 20lb CO2 tank for my homebrew. I just plan on lugging my full 5 gallon cornie and my 20 lb CO2 tank with me to the parties I make beer for. If you do get a small, paintball style CO2 tank, I would try to get a new, never filled one. From what I understand sometimes they add some lubricant to the CO2 for the paintball gun. Not 100% sure on that though. Then take the never filled paintball tank to get it filled. Or look for a cheap 2.5 lb Co2 tank for your travels.

Now, with the CO2 regulator, this is where I didn't go cheap. I got a triple gauge regulator, with two "outputs" so I can either do 2 cornies, or use one output for CO2 purging of the empty kegs, fermenters, bottles, etc, OR what I currently do. I have one "output" of the regulator set at like 30 PSI with a hose and ball lock connector attached to it for force carbing and the other "output" is set at 7 psi for serving. Really, if you ever want to serve more than one corny, I would not go cheap on the regulator. You can always buy a manifold later, but they can get salty...

I hope I was of ANY assistance to you...

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

I would get the 20lb since the charge to fill a 20 vs 10 can be almost the same. As for taking the keg upstairs to serve a few you can do that without having to buy anything extra depending on how much your going to serve. I take my kegs to parties often and just bump the psi up about 5 psi when I pull it from the fridge. That can push about a dozen or so pours. Or you can go with a paintball tank or just a cheap CO2 Keg Charger which you can pick up for $15-20 and push the entire keg.


And 2nd the above for not going cheap on the regulator. I bought two cheap ones when I first started and both died. My nice expensive dual setup has never failed me so far.