where to buy my co2

[fanotunes]

where should i be going to refill my co2 cylinder? what type of source? fire extinguisher service companies can refill a co2 cylinder. welding gas suppliers can probably refill co2 cylinders...are there different grades of co2? who should i be looking to buy my co2 from? concerned i'm not getting what i should as my kegs sometimes take on a metallic taste i attribute, right or wrong i'm not sure, to the gas.

suggestions please!

[psychodad]

Mine are fillled at a welding gas supplier. Never had a problem.

[KillianBoy]

fanotunes,
Been getting my CO2 from a fire extinguisher shop past 2 times, no problems, first refill was from an AirGas specialty shop. The AirGas store I went to had 2 types, regular and "food grade", I guess the latter was filtered and took longer to fill, the good part was they hydro-tested and cleaned tank, but bad part was it was expensive and had a 5 day wait ($25), fire extinguisher shop charges under $18 and done while I wait. Metallic taste may come from over-carbonation (mentioned by Scott in forum), so it is from the gas but not what you think.
KB

[cubby_swans]

You can get 'food grade' co2, but it's not required, or remotely necessary. Even local bars/restaurants around here do not purchase 'food grade' co2. I buy my co2 from a paintball store. The co2 you get from a welding/gas supply store is probably 99.998% pure. The local fire houses that can fill co2 or a paintball shop gets their co2 from the welding/gas supply place, likely. It's all the same stuff.

Whatever metallic taste you are experiencing is not due to the co2. (or at least not the grade). What type of beer are you serving? What temperature is your beer? What pressure setting is your regulator set to? What elevation are you at?

[fanotunes]

thank you for the replies!

i have a small beverage air with a two tap tower and a simple gas manifold that breaks my single gas line into two lines... i've currently got a pony of foothills hoppyum ipa and a pony of dogfish palo santo. my temp is about 38 degrees and my psi is about 8. i'm pretty close to sea level as am right on the coast.

i've been going to local fire extinguisher company. they keep the cylinder over night, refridgerate it and then fill it.

your suggestions welcome! please!

[KillianBoy]

fanotunes,
Don't know the v/v of either one of those beers but seems a bit low PSI, if you go through 1 keg in 7-10 days then fine. Metallic taste can come from overcarbonated beer and also from reaction to different metals. How and what do you use to clean your beer equipment?
KB

[fanotunes]

i use a half scoop of the powder cleaning product along with a cleaning kit both of which were purchased here. would hope there'd be no problem in that respect. though, i do mix the warm water and cleaning product in a metal cooking pot as that gives me a place to throw the taps and like as i disassemble all for cleaning... you mentioned 'reaction to different metals'. so, i thought i'd throw that bit in there...

[KillianBoy]

fanotunes,
Yeah, I found the thing about metal on another site, I usually clean in plastic bucket, soak all parts, brush thoroughly (with both nylon and wire brush) and equal time and brushed with nylon brush with clean water and dried. Maybe switching to plastic bucket might alleviate metallic taste, resources on site has also said that beer that's colder then 36 degrees can cause off taste, you should double check your beer temp with calibrated thermometer just to be sure.
KB

[Roman2468]

Here in PA I just get my CO2 at thse beer distributer when I get my keg. Only $2 with any keg purchase. Otherwise $5. The is for 5lbs.

[psychodad]

Are you getting five pounds of co2 for $5 or a five pound bottle with enough gas to push a keg? Because that sounds very cheap.

[cubby_swans]

I wonder if they are doing an actual liquid fill.

How many kegs do you run with your 5# tank? A fully filled 5# tank should push eight 1/2 barrels.

[Beef Supreme]

Here in VA, I get mine filled at arcet. A 20lb fill costs me $17.