CO2 Vol ?

[StroudCreek]

I have on tap a Hefeweizan, Double IPA, Raspberry Wheat & Irish Whiskey Cask Chocolate Milk Extra Stout. I only use one regulator which runs to a manifold that feeds 5 kegs. My keezer is set to around 35 or 36 degrees. Being that I only use one reg at this time, where should I set the PSI for good all around CO2 Vol for different styles of beer.

 

[day_trippr]

The Heffenweizen is the outlier, the rest could be happy around 2.5-2.6 volumes, which at 36°F would need around 11-12 psi (referencing our favorite carbonation table. That's a bit on the effervescent side for Stouts by a couple of points - the range is roughly 1.6 to 2.3 volumes (though that covers four distinctly different Stout sub-types). You could set your pressure to 9 psi and serve everything at 2.4 volumes.

That would be quite low for classicly dispensing Hefe's, which are up in the 3.6 to 4.4 range. But serving that highly carbed beer can be hugely problematic for most dispensing systems - including mine - so the better part of valor would be carbing/serving at the same pressure as the others.

Cheers!

 

[zachattack]

Since a stout is also best a little warmer I'd go for 2.5 volumes on everything, but just let the stout warm up/degas for a couple minutes before you start drinking.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, if you really wanted to serve the hefe to style, while keeping the other three in the 2.5 volume range, using a single pressure regulator, you'd need a manifold/distributor block with separate shutoffs for each output, around 22 feet of 3/16" barrier lined beer tubing on the hefe tap...and the kind of diligence that might require a spreadsheet to manage

So you'd carb up all four kegs to 11psi @36°F, shut off the gas feeds to the three non-hefe kegs, up the pressure to 22 psi, and continue carbing the hefe. If you wanted to dispense from one of the three kegs, you'd shut off the gas to the hefe, turn down the regulator to 11 psi, turn on the gas to the serving keg, pour a pint or many, turn off the gas to the serving keg, up the pressure to 22 psi, and open the gas to the hefe keg.

And so forth.

It can be done, I've done as much myself, but clearly it ain't optimal. If Hefes or similarly boisterous brews will frequently appear in your future, an add-on primary regulator would be a good thing to think about.

The beer line length thing, however, is intractable. You will need much more length to serve up in the mid-3s than at mid-2s...

Cheers!

 

[jeremy0209]

this is the exact reason I still bottle some beers....hefe's, saisons, etc.