Serving seltzer and beer with one regulator?

[NickThoR]

My homebrewing buddy and I are hosting an Oktoberfest party in a few weeks. We are gonna have hombrewed festbier, hefeweizen, Edworts apfelwein, and possibly a shwarzbeer all on tap (I'm stoked).

I have an empty keg I wanted to make seltzer water in for all the non-beer White Claw drinkers at the party. From reading around google and this forum, it seems it needs to be carbed and served around 4vol/30 psi vs the beers which will be 2.5ish vol/10-12 psi.

I have one regulator with a 5 keg manifold. Is there a way to serve the seltzer water also? Would I get back flow issues if I carbed the water to 4ish volumes, then at the party connected it and pushed it out at only 10-12?

Or should I just carb it the same as the beers and live with not as seltzer-y seltzer water?

 

[IslandLizard]

You've already answered your own question.

To dispense at 2 different pressures, you need 2 regulators, either 2 primary ones or one primary (carrying the higher pressure) plus a secondary behind it for the lower pressure.

We had a flavored seltzer at an event last week. It was probably the first keg to kick. Better than drinking plain water in many ways.
Can you borrow a second tank and regulator? Or a double body one?

I swear by having a double body (primary) regulator, for more than just that reason.

When connecting the higher pre-carbed seltzer keg to the lower pressure it should not create liquid backflow unless the keg is too full. But the head pressure will become the same over the whole system.

Just thought of something...
If you have a 3rd (empty) keg you can pressurize it to say 40-60psi and use that keg as a tank to push out the seltzer. You will need to "recharge" it each time when it drops down to 30 psi. But that only takes a few minutes. You can dispense at least 1-3 gallons that way at that higher pressure.

 

[NickThoR]

About how long will it take for the system head pressure to come to the same? Could I disconnect my beers, force carb the seltzer to 30 psi, then disconnect until the party; then at the party release head pressure from the seltzer, hook it up at 12 psi, and it not go flat or over pressurize the beers? probably about 10 hrs overall.

 

[IslandLizard]

The larger the headspace becomes as you dispense at the lower pressure, the more CO2 from the seltzer will come out of solution. I've had kegs go pretty much flat in a couple hours when the gas poppet had a small leak.

Keeping the seltzer very cold will help keeping it carbonated longer, but without the proper high head pressure it's a losing battle.
I would consider using a spare keg as a "tank." Either to dispense your seltzer or your beer.*

* If you use a spare keg as "tank" to dispense beer you need to "100% liquid pre-purge" it first, or the air (oxygen) it contains will kill your beer slowly but surely.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

About how long will it take for the system head pressure to come to the same? Could I disconnect my beers, force carb the seltzer to 30 psi, then disconnect until the party; then at the party release head pressure from the seltzer, hook it up at 12 psi, and it not go flat or over pressurize the beers? probably about 10 hrs overall.

Yes this will work, I've done it before when I was trying to run beer with my second regulator (I have seltzer on all the time) it works fine but I usually just unhook the gas from the seltzer entirely and then just hit it with a burst of CO2 every few days when needed. If you have it hooked up for the party I doubt you'll see much issue with your beers getting overcarbed in this short time.

 

[NickThoR]

Ok cool. Ill see if i can wrangle another keg for a tank but it is likely a no.

Ill try the method i described otherwise. Honestly im ok if the seltzer goes a little flat, it still wont go below 12 psi.

Any suggestions on line length? im hoping to pull it off with just a 5ft 3/16th id hose... is this wishful thinking? ive seen suggestions in the 30ft range

 

[Hayden123982]

For seltzer water I have on tap at home I have actually had CO2 ran out and I probably ran a gallon off the keg over 4-5 days before it lost the pressure.

So with that being said. Yes, you could totally push it with the same force you are pushing your beer. Or even burst it to 30 psi, let it run with no CO2 then reburst as needed

And I dont have issues w/ ~6-8 ft of hose, 3/16th

 

[lump42]

I just purchased one of the white plastic in-line secondary regulators to run soda water from one of my keezer taps. I haven't installed it yet, but the plan was to run the primary at 30 psi install a tee on leg going to the soda water the other through the secondary to the beer. Cheap solution for under $15

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

Ok cool. Ill see if i can wrangle another keg for a tank but it is likely a no.

Ill try the method i described otherwise. Honestly im ok if the seltzer goes a little flat, it still wont go below 12 psi.

Any suggestions on line length? im hoping to pull it off with just a 5ft 3/16th id hose... is this wishful thinking? ive seen suggestions in the 30ft range

my standard lines are ~15' of 3/16 tubing, this pours seltzer OK, but if it's getting pushed with 30PSI i lose alot of gas from the water when pouring.

 

[NickThoR]

Awesome, thanks for all the info! ill try to remember to post how it all works out!
Ill probably burst co2 to it as needed day of and keep the pressure low to avoid alot of co2 loss with my 5' line.

 

[jwa120]

I just purchased one of the white plastic in-line secondary regulators to run soda water from one of my keezer taps. I haven't installed it yet, but the plan was to run the primary at 30 psi install a tee on leg going to the soda water the other through the secondary to the beer. Cheap solution for under $15

I use a few of these in-line regulators and they work pretty well. The one issue I had is that the barbs that come with them are small, 3/16" and will not fit a 5/16"ID gas line.

 

[IslandLizard]

I use a few of these in-line regulators and they work pretty well. The one issue I had is that the barbs that come with them are small, 3/16" and will not fit a 5/16"ID gas line.

You can use regular thick walled 3/16" or 1/4" beer line (BevLex 200) for gas. The upside is they are clear, so you can see if there's any backup.

 

[jwa120]

You can use regular thick walled 3/16" or 1/4" beer line (BevLex 200) for gas. The upside is they are clear, so you can see if there's any backup.

I had clear 5/16 tubing prior to getting these. I used some MFL fitting and added some 3/16 beer line to mine to make it work.

I have mine set up like lump42 is planning. Since these do not have a have a gauge you can add one on, but it adds bulk. I made a spunding valve that has a gague and keg post on it, so I attach that to gas line so I can see what the pressure is.

The OP could use one of these with a tee between his regulator and manifold.