Kegs and co2

[Brewski82]

Since this is my first post, I'll introduce myself. I'm 24, danish and been brewing a few extract kits. Glad to have finally found a good forum after been googling around for a bit.

Anywho, got a question, kinda stupid, but better safe than sorry

I'm thinking about buying a couple of kegs and maybe co2. My question is, do I need co2 other than to carbonate the keg, as in is it needed to force the beer out of the keg? If not I'm tempted to just prime them, and save the money for now.

 

[Flyin' Lion]

You don't have to use Co2 to dispense from a keg, if you go the more traditional route you can dispense from a beer engine.

This thread is a good start and loaded with information on beer engines:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10529&highlight=engine

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

 

[abracadabra]

The beer engine is cool but unless you're using it at a party it's seems to me the beer would go flat fairly quickly unless you continued to add CO2. Which kinda defeats the purpose. I'd think unless CO2 is just outrageously expensive in your country you'd be better off dispensing with CO2 unless you are going to drink it all in one setting. Plus with co2 you can hook up to multiple tanks and use it to rack without exposing your beer to O2.

 

[Ol' Grog]

You can prime a keg too. Just think of a keg as one big ass bottle. There has been some talk on here about cutting back on the priming sugar. Most cases, it's 5 ounces per 5 gallon batch for bottling. Some say to cut back an ounce or two when going to prime in the keg because there is less head space in the keg as opposed to all the head space in two cases of brew. I disagree because the only difference it would make would be pressure and a keg can hold pressure a lot better than a capped bottle. But beware, you will have sediment at the bottom of the keg when you tap it. Probably around a full glass or so. Must agree with the other member, this is the reason why we go kegging and unless CO2 is terribly expensive or hard to come by, use the system.

 

[abracadabra]

Anywho, got a question, kinda stupid, but better safe than sorry

.

The only stupid question is one that goes unasked. Most of us are here to learn or help others or both. If you get a jerk just ignore them.

 

[Orfy]

Is there a difference between a jerk and an EAC.

If you prime the keg then you can just use minimal CO2 to help serve.
You can getaway with a smaller CO2 set up or the cartridge type set up.
I used paint ball bottles without a regulator for a while.

 

[Brewski82]

Thanks for the replies guys, think I will go for a full co2 setup, would have ended up with that eventually anyways. I am looking for a shop that can ship internationally as the co2 setup is kinda expensive here, recommendations appreciated Talked to a guy on ebay, he could send me the keg but not the co2 bottle for some reason. Didn't think it would be a problem as long as it is empty, anyone know if there are regulations on this?

 

[david_42]

I suspect the problem with shipping is simply companies do not want to worry about whether or not a CO2 tank is full, so they ban all of them. It may also be a matter of testing standards. You should call around to local welding shops, as the bottles are the same. If you wait until you have the regulator, you can take that along.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Thanks for the replies guys, think I will go for a full co2 setup, would have ended up with that eventually anyways. I am looking for a shop that can ship internationally as the co2 setup is kinda expensive here, recommendations appreciated Talked to a guy on ebay, he could send me the keg but not the co2 bottle for some reason. Didn't think it would be a problem as long as it is empty, anyone know if there are regulations on this?

We (americans) can't even ship brand new gas bottles through the mail or overseas. It's a safety thing.