Leave CO2 on between beers?

[astroman71]

Hi,

I recently bought a used kegerator and threw in a keg of my favorite local brew; and I've got a couple questions I was hoping someone might help me with.

Is there any reason to leave the CO2 on between pours? Will the beer go flat if I shut it off?

How long should a 5 pound CO2 tank last? I just hooked a newly filled tank up about 10 beers ago and its suddenly down to half capacity according to the regulator. I suspect a leak.

At what point to I pull the little pressure release ring on the coupler?

Any insights are appreciated. Thanks.

[BartenderPlease]

Ummm, I'm kind of new with these kegerators, but I'm pretty sure as long as you have your keg tapped, you want your CO2 on putting pressure on your keg, I didn't think you were to turn it off ever, unless you were switching out kegs or taking out a keg.

If you have a leak it could be if you don't have washers in the right place? I think you can tell by applying soaping water near the seals and seeing if it bubbles.

Thats about all I can help with, others will come along and correct me and give you some advice on the other issues as well.

[cubby_swans]

Hi,

I recently bought a used kegerator and threw in a keg of my favorite local brew; and I've got a couple questions I was hoping someone might help me with.

Is there any reason to leave the CO2 on between pours? Will the beer go flat if I shut it off?

How long should a 5 pound CO2 tank last? I just hooked a newly filled tank up about 10 beers ago and its suddenly down to half capacity according to the regulator. I suspect a leak.

At what point to I pull the little pressure release ring on the coupler?

Any insights are appreciated. Thanks.

Leave the co2 on as long as your beer is tapped.

Did you put the co2 tank in the fridge? A 5lb co2 tank should last about 9 or 10 kegs. The guage will read full until the tank is nearly empty. It doesn't gradually empty, it empties rapidly when you are near the end of the tank. The cooler the environment, the lower the gas guage will read. So if you bought a full tank, at room temp it might have said 900 or 1000, but if you put it in the fridge, it will read 500 or even less. That doesn't mean you have less co2, it's simply how the laws of physics apply to a gas. Warmer temperature makes the gas expand, causing a higher pressure. If you took that tank out of the fridge and left it for a bit, you'd see the level go back up.

You never pull the pressure ring on the coupler unless you screwed up . The goal is to set the pressure correctly at the beginning of the keg, then leave everything alone.

To determine the correct pressure, fill us in on the following

1) what type of beer?
2) what's the temp of the BEER. Get a cheap digital food thermometer from grocery store/target/wally world. Pour a beer, chug it, pour a second beer, and take the temp of that.
3) what elevation are you at.

Given these three pieces of information, we'll be able to set you up pretty quickly.

[Kpt42]

You never pull the pressure ring on the coupler unless you screwed up .

I always pull it before tapping a keg. Purges any air that may be in the gas hose if the CO2 was turned off.

[BartenderPlease]

I always pull it before tapping a keg. Purges any air that may be in the gas hose if the CO2 was turned off.

Thats a good point there.

[cubby_swans]

I always pull it before tapping a keg. Purges any air that may be in the gas hose if the CO2 was turned off.

Yes, I was referring to once you have the keg tapped.

[astroman71]

Yes, I do have the CO2 tank in the fridge, which explains the pressure drop.

As far as the info needed for determining the correct pressure:

1. The beer is Sweetwater 420.
2. All I found were meat thermometers at Target (would that work?) - so I bought an regular fridge thermometer - it reads about 42 degrees after about a half hour in there. Should I expect the beer to be colder than the air? I'll look for a liquid thermometer tomorrow at the grocery store.
3. I'm at about 1050 ft above sea level.

Thanks for the info so far.

[Joe Bagadonuts]

2. All I found were meat thermometers at Target (would that work?) - so I bought an regular fridge thermometer - it reads about 42 degrees after about a half hour in there. Should I expect the beer to be colder than the air? I'll look for a liquid thermometer tomorrow at the grocery store.
Thanks for the info so far.

My experience is that the beer ends up pouring warmer than the air temp in the unit. My freezer-conversion kegerator generally shows air temps of 32-33 deg but the beer pours at 37 deg.

I use a cheap digital instant read thermometer from target to measure beer temp, I think it cost about $7. Just calibrate it in a glass of ice water - should read about 32 deg - to see if there is any offset in it, and should work fine.

[cubby_swans]

Yes, I do have the CO2 tank in the fridge, which explains the pressure drop.

As far as the info needed for determining the correct pressure:

1. The beer is Sweetwater 420.
2. All I found were meat thermometers at Target (would that work?) - so I bought an regular fridge thermometer - it reads about 42 degrees after about a half hour in there. Should I expect the beer to be colder than the air? I'll look for a liquid thermometer tomorrow at the grocery store.
3. I'm at about 1050 ft above sea level.

Thanks for the info so far.

the meat thermometer should work find as long as it's temp range is low enough to read in the 30s.

No knowledge of Sweetwater, for something like that, I'd call or e-mail the actual brewery, explain to them that you have a keg of it in your home kegerator, and that you'd like to know the volumes of co2 in the beer so that you can determine the proper pressure to apply at your serving temperature. I've only had one brewery so far deny me that information, and I suspect I was talking to someone who thought I was trying to ascertain the secrets of their beer or something like that.

you don't start adjusting psi for altitude until you hit 2000ft above sea level, so you're fine there.