Co2 Regulator Questions (Manifold, etc)

[sleepy_brewer]

I have 2 kegs at the moment. I am getting ready to ditch bottling for the most part (except bottling a few beers to keep for later from each batch).

I was set on going with a dual body regulator so that I could carb and serv at the same time, but then I saw a thread today that made me think I could just do a single body/dual guage Co2 regulator and do a 3 way or 4 way manifold, carb a keg, and once it is carbed, knock it to serving pressure and if I needed to carb another beer I could turn off that switch on the manifold....but how long could the already carb'd beer stay off C02 without compromising?

If I plan on doing a keezer, what would you guys suggest? I'm not really worried about the funds (within reason) because I would rather do it correct the first time. Of course I could always do a dual body reg and a manifold later to have more options.

I really only see me having 2-3 beers max in my keezer....I think.

I appreciate any suggestions and info.

Edit: Also, I have 2 CO2 tanks....one is 5 and I think the other is a 10. Also, I will never be brewing anything darker than an Amber or brown ale. No porters or stouts.

 

[doug293cz]

I went with a dual body regulator and a three way manifold to handle up to four kegs at once.

If your kegs don't leak, you can disconnect the gas from them for as long as you want, and they won't lose carbonation (assuming they are fully carbonated to start with.) Carbonation and internal pressure will drop if you serve from the keg without having gas connected.

Brew on

 

[gnef]

If you balance your lines properly for the volumes of co2 you want in solution, your carbing pressure should be the same as your serving pressure, which means you would not need to disconnect a keg while carbing another.

Now, if you wanted different volumes of co2 in two different kegs, you would need the dual body regulator.

I personally like simplicity, and found that I don't notice a significant difference in flavor with different carb levels. I had multiple secondary regulators, but now I just use one with a manifold (this gives me two pressures, high for soda, and low for beer/mead/cider).

 

[sleepy_brewer]

Thanks guys. I have some thinking to do!

 

[DurtyChemist]

I have a single line from my tank to my manifold. The fridge is set to 40F and I carbonate at 12-15psi. It seems to cover a large majority of the styles. If I want more carbonation I will turn the manifold off to one keg, carbonate the other keg where I want it and let it go until it's where I want. I haven't tried this long term meaning I haven't carved one to 3+ volumes then turned down to serving pressure and determined if the CO2 comes out of solution over time.