Manifold vs. Secondary Reg

[PenPen]

Does carbing beer at different pressure matter? I mean I know it does, but I see a ton of people using a primary regulator and just a manifold to split off to kegs. I used to be a bartender and we did the same thing at the place I worked at. Is there some trick to using those things or can you just get by carbing all your beers the same? I'd like to use a pri and sec regulator system, but, I don't know. What's been your experience?

 

[DG Paul]

Yes, you can get by by carbing all of your beers the same. It is easier and cheaper to go that route. I went the dual regulator route since I got a great deal on one. I think it gives me some more options, is nice to have, but just having draft beer at home is great. To take advantage of it you need to invest (IMO) in a dual faucet or there is no point in keeping your kegs at different pressures.

Good luck. I have just started kegging and have high hopes.

 

[PenPen]

Dual faucet? What's that? Did you mean dual reg or something else?

 

[DG Paul]

I meant if you are going to spend the money for a dual regulator which allows you to have beers at two different pressures I would suggest getting a dual tap tower or two faucets to dispense the beer.

 

[Bobby_M]

Well, technically you can dispense as many kegs as you want through a single faucet but then you'd have to be willing to move the connector between them all everytime you change your beer type. I was thinking of building a beer selector manifold using some surplus solenoid valves but I just don't have time to do it.

On the gas side, you really just have to decide how exacting you want your carb levels for your beers. It also depends on how many varying styles you plan to have on hand. If you compare ales to hefes, that's like a 10+psi difference if you go by the book. I found a 3-reg secondary bank on Ebay really cheap so that made the decision easy. You might want to get a dual primary and then you can split the outputs to have at least two different pressures.