So I have a 2.5 pound co2 tank. Is that enough to carbonate and serves 5 gallons of beer? I worry I’ll need to fill again to finish serving it all.
You’ll have plenty, barring any leaks… A 5-er lasted me quite a long time… I never counted how many kegs, but I would guess at least 15… Sneezles61
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My standard advice is to get a second tank. There will come a time that you will need it. CO2 dealers will “rent” you one for a deposit that is the same or less than the price of owning one You can usually just swap it for another full one without waiting. It won’t be bright and shiny like your new one but work the same. They also need to be tested every five years (unless there is a star stamped on it I think, then it’s 10) and if you own it, it’s your problem.
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Plus one on the spare tank… leaks are often times not obvious, and it’s good to have a backup. Also, you can have one tank on your kegerator, and use the second one to purge oxygen from kegs you’re putting in the backlog, etc.
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Last year I got a 20 pounder. Its great, but, kinda like Uber sez, having an extra for the brewing activities its self would help the day go smoother, purging, transferring… Sneezles61
It doesn’t matter how big your tank is. Tanks have a telepathic insight into your schedule, and kick off at the most inconvenient time possible.
+1 to an extra tank.
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So you are saying it doesnt matter how big it is…its how you use it?
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No, That’s just something said to console people with small, er, CO2 tanks.
Heck, better to have a smaller tank that can go into a smaller kegerator than a big one that will never get in there.
Ha…those people crack me up.
Got my self 2 co2 tanks. One spare. One empty. Exchange it for a new one. Yes hydrotest every 5 years. The star means it did make the hydro but this will be the last hydro test. Its like a scuba tank testing
I have two, a 5 and a 10. Like @jmck said, the tanks seem to know when it’s most inconvenient to kick. I don’t know about anyone else but since I started brewing i’m not a huge fan of over the counter beer. There’s not many things more annoying than having home brew you can’t get to. Get another tank, it’s worth it.
Ironic timing.
Last Sunday I was grilling for my mom and mom-in-law. The grill’s propane AND the kegerator’s CO2 both kicked.
Luckily, I had that spare CO2.
So, what about the propane? Go back our animalistic ways of may centuries ago? Raw?
Sneezles61
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The chicken was just about right. A couple on the bigger pieces were underdone, but I made extra, so the underdone pieces were saved to be nuked as leftovers which cooked them better. Maybe not the best example of food safety. No one got sick 
So funny add-on story. I did have a second, also empty, propane tank, an ancient pre-POL valve tank, that I could never figure out how to get rid of legally. A tank that I was too cheap to pay to upgrade. So I mentioned to my son that I needed to refill my 2 tanks, I meant the CO2 and the good propane tank. But he took the 2 propane tanks to the tank exchange at the local grocery store and they blindly accepted both. Here’s the kicker, that ancient tank didn’t want to come off its ancient grill, so I just cut the line and gave the grill to the garbage men. So that ancient tank my son exchanged had an equally ancient regulator and about 6 inches of dry-rotted hose attached.
So now I have a full spare propane tank, but I can’t help wondering what the people at the propane company are going to be thinking…
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WTF… 2017 and peeps have what? My thing then, cooked some chicken boobs and fillet mingon… I used my thermapen to cook to the appropriate temp… Absolutely divine!! Never by time ever again… Sneezles61
PS, let me tie this into brewing… never by a time schedule will I think fermenting is done… the hydrometer will tell you!! Slam!!! Sneezles61
They don’t care they make money selling gas. The only time I do the exchange is when my tanks expire. I trade them for another one that’s not expired the just have them refilled
