Question about CO2 bottles

[jimmarshall]

I was looking at CO2 bottles online yesterday, and the catalog for the 5 lb cylinder says 5-7 kegs. I assume this means it has the volume to flow 5-7 kegs before it runs out.... My question is are they meaning 1/2 barrel commercial kegs, or soda kegs?

 

[TheBiGZ]

Soda kegs. You should be able to carbonate and serve 5-7 kegs from one 5lb cylinder.

I suppose if you were only serving commercial kegs (since they're already carb'd), you could probably serve 5-7 1/2 barrel kegs also.

 

[jimmarshall]

I hadn't considered the additional CO2 required to carb the soda kegs.....

Looking into a system that has the ability to hook up and run 4-6 kegs at a time, with the ability to switch between soda keg couplers and a Sankey for commercial kegs as well, debating between a 2 5 lb cylinders, or a 10 with a 5 as a backup.

 

[JuanMoore]

General rule of thumb is that one pound of CO2 will carbonate and serve between 5 and 10 gal of beer. Where in that range it actually ends up will depend on carb levels and how much you use to purge the kegs. For dispensing beer only, not carbonating, one pound of CO2 will push ~30 gal of beer.

The cost to refill a 10# tank is only a couple dollars more than a 5# tank. Similarly, a 20# tank is only a couple bucks more than a 10#. Most of the cost is in the labor, and the labor is about the same regardless of the tank size. For this reason I suggest getting the largest tanks that you have room for.

 

[thadius856]

I find that between force carbing, clearing headspace, pushing fluids around, etc... my rate is closer to 3-4 kegs per 5#. I admit that I do use more CO2 than most because I like to store my empty kegs clean and sanitized at 10 psi.