Hello , Looking for a bit of advice on setting up a new direct draw keg fridge at our restaurant. I switched out the tower to a four tap tower as the original tower only had two taps. The new keg tower has nukatap faucets . The beer line is Evabarrier ( 4mm ID × 8mm OD ). With duotight push fittings to join the beer lines to the tap shanks . Our last keg fridge setup ( which came with the restaurant we bought) had the C02 tank outside of the fridge with the primary regulator attached and then a secondary regulator inside the fridge. So what I really want to know is do I actually need that secondary regulator in the fridge? We do not use any nitrogen beers. We generally have on tap, IPA, Pale Ale , lager and maybe a sour . I previously always just kept both regulators at 12 PSI so now I’m thinking that secondary regulator may not be necessary? Is there a benefit to the secondary regulator that I’m maybe not aware of other than being able to supply different pressures to different kegs ? I currently have a couple of gas splitters so all four kegs are getting gas. I’m also now keeping the gas tank in the fridge. I also see some people online recommending a different regulator for each keg , seems a bit intense for our set up , but I would love to get our draft beer tasting top notch so any thoughts or suggestions on anything would be very much appreciated. Cheers.
You are mostly correct in that a secondary regulator isn't necessary if you're happy with all the beers being carb'ed the same. If you wanted to have say a stout at 9psi or a hefe at 15psi then Mr. Secondary comes into play. Any combination of splitters/manifold will suffice to supply equal pressure to all the kegs. To supply top notch beer will require a little trial and error on carb level. Ideally you want your IPA to have the mouthfeel of a commercial IPA, like a Lagunitas . . . the pale should reflect a Sierra Nevada pale ale. Download a carbonation chart to show you the starting point for temp/press settings, then compare your beer to known commercial brews. It will probably require some adjustments. I don't drink a lot of sours but suspect that may be a beer that's best served at a different carb level (sour drinkers jump in here). Those who say you need a different reg for each keg don't know what they are talking about.
Gas in the fridge. Gas outside the fridge. Truthfully the CO2 is not really picky about such things. If you keep it inside the gas will be colder than if it's outside. Oh, when outside you have space for things like little onions, olives and the crapola your bartender likes to hide in any cold space. Separate regs are kinda nice but no, not needed for a direct draw like this. We rarely spec that set up for a kegerator; it's another level of headache for most people. If you like to mess around and feel the need to learn how to properly maintain a keg, yes, individual regulators are useful. Otherwise get cold beer with a nice foam collar and send it. Keep it cold. Real cold. 38F is sort of an industry standard, but 37 or 36 does a lot for a kegerator. 35, 34... that will typically cause little gas to go out of solution (no foam) and go into your gut (bloating). Really, check liquid temps and dial it in tight. Cheers
