Force carbing with 20 oz. tank.

roosbrews · Oct 20, 2013

ive been home brewing for 2 years now and i am finally taking the leap into kegging, ive already purchased my kegs and all the components required to do the job. however, when i purchased the kit i didnt realize that the regulator was going to be operable ONLY with a 20 oz c02 tank. now that im stuck with this regulator and i just so happen to have a few 20 oz. tanks laying around, im wondering if its possible to force carb/dispense 2-5 gal. corny's? if so, do i need to do anything differently with this set up than i would with a bigger tank as far as psi during carbing and dispensing? :mug:

eltorrente · Oct 20, 2013

Wow - that's tiny. I use a 50lb tank to carb, and a 5lb to dispense. My 50lb is good for maybe 6-10 batches (?). Honestly I don't know, because I get it filled when it feels like it's getting light, and I don't want to run out.

I use a lot of CO2 because I not only force charge, but I also bottle quite a bit of beer with a counter-pressure filler, and purge every bottle I fill into, plus I always seem to be purging kegs for transfers and dry hopping and such - so I use quite a bit of CO2.

I would imagine a single 20oz might work on one keg, but really I'd get a big one if I were you.

Komocabo · Oct 20, 2013

I use a 20# tank and run 2 kegs at a time (ball locks) and haven't had to switch for about 15 batches? I've force carbed a few, but it is best to set it 12# and leave it for as long as you can. Should be good be day 5. Best of luck. 50# would be awesome

JuanMoore · Oct 20, 2013

General rule of thumb is that one pound of CO2 will carb and serve 5-10 gal of beer, depending on temp, carb level, how much you use to purge, etc. Most people find that they're closer to 10 gal/lb. You will be able to carb and serve at least one corny keg, and likely two+ with a 20oz tank before you need to refill it.

mikescooling · Oct 21, 2013

The guys above have covered it more or less. One thing to add is the dip tube in a paintball tank is not the same as normal co2 tanks, it's made to shoot paint balls. If we turned our tanks on their sides, all sorts of stuff would be breaking.
At some point your going to need a bigger tank. I have three 20's and two 5's. I use it for lots of stuff and waist a lot. But I always have some around. The sun will not set on my house without a full tank stashed some were, no one knows about.

Komocabo · Oct 21, 2013

I read 20#, not 20 oz...whoops. Yeah, you will need a bigger tank

Chupidacabra · Oct 21, 2013

20oz is doable for one keg. I refil in between and have a few 20oz from past hobbies.

roosbrews · Oct 21, 2013

Just found a used 5 lb. Setup with regulator and all on craigslist, ended up spending more money all together than I would have liked, but it'll be nice to have the 20 oz setup in case I wanna take the kegs somewhere. Thanks for the tips guys! Cheers!