I was very conservative on my first kegging venture, but instantly “got it.” This may be because I had beginner’s luck and everything has gone very smoothly, but I am feeling very post-bottle these days.
Because I was conservative, I bought one (3-gallon) keg, a 5-lb CO2 canister, and a Taprite single-body regulator (plus pre-assembled gas and beer lines). I brew small batches so the keg size is perrrrrfect. Sold on kegging, I have already bought another 3-gallon keg from AIH during their Presidents’ Day sale and am contemplating taking advantage of the Williams keg sale this weekend on kegs to get one more.
So about regulators. My expectation for the next year or so is I’ll have up to two 3-gallon kegs on CO2 at any one time, though with the fridge I have for my kegs (a hand-me-down from my landlord), I could fit three or possibly more. I expect to get busy next weekend and every weekend through the remainder of 2016 with my grad studies, so I am assuming I will brew more than 2015 (three batches) but less than 2014 (not sure, 6-10?). Life could change that, but it’s a plan for now, anyway.
I brew different styles; right now I have an oatmeal stout on tap as my first kegged beer, and today brewed a rye IPA (waves at Denny), plus have a Belgian tripel in bottles. Should I try using a splitter? Get a dual-body regulator? Get another regulator and canister? What do people do?
A splitter, or tee, in the line is the cheap and easy way to go. If you see yourself wanting different carbonation levels between your kegs then a secondary regulator will be needed.
FWIW I have two kegerators, each with a tank and 3 way manifold. Just one regulator per kegerator so I can’t carb beers differently, but overall it fits my needs nicely.
Haha ja all my kegged beer pour the same volumes co2. If I want significantly higher then it’s bottled unless I want to start switching out line lengths. Which I usually don’t… 8)
I have dual regulators, and a manfold off one of the regulators. Been that way for 5 years… and I keep adding onto the manifold. (the other regulator has been adjusted so that all lines are the same pressure)
The big thing is that, if you have different pressures, you will need different hose lengths to get a good pour.
In the end, I just have not seen the value of having two regulators on the same CO2 tank.
I thought I would value the ability to tweak individual kegs to different pressurs… but that has just not been something I have seen value in.
The manifold… however, as I said, I have expanded in my fridge. I recommend having individual shutoffs for each line. It makes isolating gas leaks much easier, and you can isolate your lines if you need to do line maintenance.