Do I have enough co2 to dispense a keg for a party today?

[iamninjabob]

I have still not quite figured out how to read the "remaining co2" part of the co2 regulator I purchased. I've got a full Keg already carbonated I need to dispense for a party today. Can anyone take a look and let me know if I need to make a co2 run?

New item by Chris Edwards

New item by Chris Edwards

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Getting close to the "Red Zone" means you need to be thinking of getting a fill. If you're going to be serving up lots of kegged beer you should get it filled but it appears you have enough to dispense a keg. Of course, this depends on your CO2 tank size.

In the future you could get one of those hand pumps if you think you're going to serve the whole keg.

 

[AlexKay]

You're running on fumes. A full or partially-full tank of CO2 will have a pressure of ~800 psi (depending on temperature) and a mixture of liquid and gas. As you let gas out, the liquid converts to gas and the pressure stays the same. (If you were to add gas, it would convert to liquid and pressure would stay the same ... equilibrium is cool.) Only when you run out of liquid does the pressure start to drop.

A 5-lb. CO2 tank has a volume a bit under a gallon, so if you have a 5-gallon keg and you're dispensing at 25 psi (~10 psig), you need to have ~150 psi (~135 psig) in your tank. Worst-case scenario, you should still be fine for today.

 

[Broken Crow]

For safety purposes, I always consider "Red Is Dead". The pressure drop at the end of a tank happens very very fast. I hope you can make it through your party, but in future it'd really be worthwhile to have an extra tank on hand. It really does pay for itself in peace of mind when your main tank runs out just before the CO2 supplier closes for the weekend. (Which is what taught me this valuable lesson. )

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I need to dispense for a party today.

How did the party go, or better yet how did serving your beer go?

 

[jerrylotto]

Pressure is not nearly as reliable like indicator of CO2 remaining as weight. Your tank probably has a tare weight stamped on it which is the empty weight without the regulator. Or you can weigh a new tank and assume it is 5 or 20 lb heavier than empty (depending on the tank size). You were probably fine for the party but that tank is nearly empty.

 

[beren]

Yeah look for the weight stamp, TW is the weight of the tank and valve, no regulator. You can weigh it and any poundage above that is co2.
Maybe keep an eye on craigslist/etc for a second tank you can. I've ended up with a few and am trying to sell the extra but I'm too far sadly, and they are full.
You could even keep a tally of how many kegs you have dispensed but that doesn't work so well if you use the tank for purging and other things.
https://www.kegoutlet.com/how-many-kegs-of-draft-beer-can-a-co2-tank-dispense.html

 

[AlexKay]

For emergency and travel use I have something like this (not this one specifically, so not a recommendation), plus a box of cartridges.

 

[beren]

Yeah that works as well but by the time you get a box of co2 for it, you're at the price of a used 5lb tank.

 

[Jonakr]

For emergency and travel use I have something like this (not this one specifically, so not a recommendation), plus a box of cartridges.

I've done the same for travel, but it would work at home in a pinch as well.

 

[Bobby_M]

You can only rely on the tank weight over the TW stamp. That's the only way to know

 

[mac_1103]

Yeah that works as well but by the time you get a box of co2 for it, you're at the price of a used 5lb tank.

Yes, they're really expensive, but the point is to avoid lugging a 5 lb tank around when you just want to serve a keg at a remote location.

I get 10-packs of 16 g cartridges for $17. I've seen used 5 lb tanks that cheap on Craigslist exactly once, and they needed to be recertified.

 

[beren]

Most liquor stores and Airgas around here exchange without caring about certification. Also it was a little bit more but I got a 2.5 pound tank for travel, or you can get a soda stream tank for emergencies which are pretty popular. Some people fill them with dry ice and others buy a hose to refill

 

[mac_1103]

Yep, sodastream cylinder with adapter and miniregulator is also a good travel option.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

If you have a keg of carbonated beer you know you're going to dispense in a day or two one of these hand pumps work great. It's using air to dispense rather than CO2 but it doesn't need to be filled.

I also use mine on a keg of sanitizer to pump through beer hoses and my plate chiller.

 

[DavidWood2115]

My brother had a CO2 leak one time when I was visiting; zero PSI in the keg and the tank. We managed to serve several pitchers using a CO2 tire inflator, a ball-point pen (for a MacGyver'ed adapter), and a piece of tubing with a ball-lock gas connector. Worked great. Haven't done the math to figure out how many pints you can push out with 16g but it was enough for three of us to drink too much beer.

 

[beren]

Absolute worst case, use the tubing on the drawl side like a straw and crack and the pressure release valve open

 

[passedpawn]

I have still not quite figured out how to read the "remaining co2" part of the co2 regulator I purchased. I've got a full Keg already carbonated I need to dispense for a party today. Can anyone take a look and let me know if I need to make a co2 run?

New item by Chris Edwards

New item by Chris Edwards

Those meters really only have two states: yes, and empty lol.

Weight is the only way to know content. The empty weight (no regulator, etc, just the bottle) is stamped as the tare weight (TW) somewhere on the bottle. So, weigh it, subtract the tare weight, and you'll know how much mass is left (lbs).

It takes about 1lb of CO2 to push beer out of a sanke (15g) keg of beer. Extrapolate from there for your keg size.