CO2 Issues

Last night, after being in school all day, I wanted a beer. I broke out the appropriate glass, went into the garage, positioned the glass under the tap at the perfect 45 degree angle, pulled the handle, and.... nothing.

What a drag.

I switched my brain from acquire/consume beer mode to troubleshoot keg system mode, and opened the door to the keg fridge. Spinning the open/close handle on the CO2 cylinder confirmed my suspicion. The sound of gas running through the system and pressurizing the keg was absent. I was out of CO2.

This was unexpected. I had filled the cylinder two batches ago. This cylinder has lasted through four half-barrels of yellow corporate beer in the past. For it to be dead after less than ten gallons of homebrew meant that something had gone awry.

And so, I disconnected all the lines, and reminded myself to take the cylinder with me the next day so I could refill it.



Kegging homebrew is the way to go, I believe. Here's my list of the P's and C's on the subject:

Good:
No bottling (which is kind of fun, but way too labor intensive). No bottle conditioning (which deducts approximately one month from a batch's time to completion). Better control of carbonation. Awesome-ness factor of having beer that you made yourself on tap in your home.

Bad:
More difficult to share outside of home. No designing cool labels for your beer bottles (which is stupid anyway). And, situations like the one described above.



Most five gallon kegs used for homebrewing, like the ones in my keg fridge, have an interesting back story. These kegs have a new lease on life- previously, they were used in restaurants to dispense soda. The soda fountain business gradually moved from these kegs, which were high-maintenance and space-consuming, to disposable plastic bags housed in cardboard boxes. The old kegs were refurbished, and made readily available to homebrewers through just about every distributor in the game.

But you know how it goes when it comes to things that are "refurbished". Certain flaws are part of the deal.

Tonight, I will hook the freshly filled cylinder back up. Once the system is pressurized, I will spray soapy water on the parts that I suspect are leaking, and if bubbles appear, then those seals and gaskets will need to be worked on.


It's not the most fun aspect of the homebrewing process, but it's necessary. For me it is, anyway. The P's definitely outweigh the C's.