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Old 07-05-2015, 08:45   #16
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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Originally Posted by fstbttms View Post
Are you amused by that? That's nice. Because I never said it. Maybe you should learn to accurately quote somebody before opening your trap.

Regarding compressed air- there are two issues (neither of which are likely to come into play in homebrewing, of course), 1.- the compressor itself must provide clean breathing air and 2.- the hose through which that air is delivered must be of a type that will not offgas dangerous toxins. THAT is what I said.

Regarding CO2 for homebrewing- inferring that Joe Average is going to harm himself by using industrial CO2 (typically the only CO2 available to him) is ridiculous. Virtually every one of the many thousands of homebrewers in this country who uses bottled CO2 in his brewery gets it from an industrial source, or his local homebrew supply store, who also get it from an industrial source. As far as the homebrewer is concerned, CO2 is CO2 and it does not matter what the source or grade is. The risk of using it (if indeed, there actually is any) is so minimal as to be negligable.

From the article "CO2 Myths and Rumors" by Matt Coffman:

I am here to tell you that CO2 - unless mixed with another gas such as nitrogen - is CO2. Most of the time, industrial-grade CO2 comes from the same production plant as food or beverage-grade CO2.
The slight difference between industrial-grade CO2 and food-grade CO2 is the type of tests that are done to qualify CO2 as beverage or beer gas-grade compared to industrial-grade.

Cannot speak for CO2 specifically but I researched O2 and He and verified from numerous sources that all the above is exactly correct. Sources were not my neighbors cousin or something I read on the internet but

- directly from the local gas supplier who has one tank for filling all "grades" of O2 and He
- from a colleague that was the west coast manager for one of the international gas producers
- from the company I worked for that purchased about 500 tons of various gases every year for the production of ultra high purity (as in ppb level impurity levels) lab solvents.
- from a non profit underwater research group that is on the cutting edge of diving, highest safety standards of anyone in the industry to the point of OCD who used nothing but welding grade gases for diving.

If all the above is the case with other gases I would accept fastbottoms assertion it is also the case with CO2.
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Old 07-05-2015, 09:10   #17
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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CO2 is CO2, regardless of where it comes from. There is no such thing as "food grade" CO2.
Yep, and the supplier fills them all from the same storage tank.
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Old 07-05-2015, 09:32   #18
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

When you are in the Bahamas drink KALIK, the regular is 5% and gold is 7%, did you say 2.5 gal? that would only last a weekend when my friends dinghy over to "visit"...........
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Old 07-05-2015, 09:36   #19
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

Low grade CO2? That explains why I get headaches form drought beer................ poor quality..................er, huh.......maybe too much quantity!
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Old 07-05-2015, 09:45   #20
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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CO2 is CO2, regardless of where it comes from. There is no such thing as "food grade" CO2.
Has anyone told Airgas?

https://www.airgas.com/product/Gases...al/p/CD%20FG50
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Old 07-05-2015, 10:03   #21
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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Probably just a different tank color maybe valve configuration and I bet the price.
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Old 07-05-2015, 10:10   #22
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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Again my research and experience is based on O2 and He for diving. Yes you can buy food and medical grade gases but except in very, very special grades (like UHP grades IE 5-6 nines or better for lab work) all the gases come from the same tank.

Some just have additional certifications on the paperwork but it isn't different gas or specially refined gas or different in any way from the stuff in the welding tank. Only the paperwork is different.
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Old 07-05-2015, 10:13   #23
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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Probably just a different tank color maybe valve configuration and I bet the price.
You're right about that. In fact the local gas supplier I used to deal with told me straight up not to waste my money buying medical grade O2 for diving. Said the welding grade was exactly the same. They just had to provide additional paperwork for the medical grades to comply with FDA regs.
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Old 07-05-2015, 10:14   #24
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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I will stand corrected on the terminology but the difference between "food grade" and anything else in this case is largely a matter of testing for regulatory purposes, more than any actual difference in the products.
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Old 07-05-2015, 11:22   #25
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

The thread must be about hot CO2, because it appears to be full of that
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Old 07-05-2015, 11:29   #26
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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The thread must be about hot CO2, because it appears to be full of that
I think you are referring to your methane.
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Old 07-05-2015, 16:32   #27
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

Here's my experience with CO2. The largest single user of CO2 in the US is the oil patch. They inject 65,000,000 tons of the stuff into the ground every year (with expectations that number will grow to 20 billion tons within a decade). There are hundreds (if not thousands) of miles of major pipeline devoted to moving that CO2 around. And most of those pipelines are old oil pipelines put into new service.

The oil industry only cares about one contaminant in their CO2 - oxygen. They're injecting fully oxidized carbon into the ground in order to extract non-oxidized hydrocarbons. The last thing they want is to inject high pressure oxygen as part of the process, it ruins their product. Any other contaminant (benzene, sulfur, acetaldehyde) they could not care less, it makes no difference to them. The industrial CO2 you can get in the oil patch you do not want to drink. If they don't care about the contaminants that could kill you do you think their suppliers do?

As with any product (including compressed air) you get it from a reputable supplier and you're fine. But everyone here is recommending that you go down to the corner and get it from Joe, who gets it from who knows where. I know that in the patch it frequently ends up in tanks on the back of welding rigs because it's free. And welders only really have one concern about contaminants too - oxygen, because they are using it for inerting.

You say no one has ever gotten sick from brewing with industrial CO2. Well, benzene is a chronic exposure carcinogen. Are you saying you know someone (actually a large sample size of someones) that has been exposed chronically in this manner for 30 or 40 years? Get back to me when you do. When I was a kid I used to mix raw asbestos fibers into epoxy as a thickener (and a damn good one). Everyone said it was wonderful stuff.

I said it the first time around, I can and do use industrial CO2 and don't have any problem with that. What I have a problem with is sweeping the risks under the rug and pretending they're not there. Have an honest discussion acknowledge that they're one-in-a-million, maybe less, maybe more, and then let people decide for themselves.
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Old 07-05-2015, 22:34   #28
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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When you are in the Bahamas drink KALIK, the regular is 5% and gold is 7%, did you say 2.5 gal? that would only last a weekend when my friends dinghy over to "visit"...........

2.5 gallons is just the container size that is manageable on the size boat we have. We have 6 2.5 galling kegs available at any given time

Usually a batch of beer is 5 gallons at a time.

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Old 08-05-2015, 03:37   #29
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

Here's an interesting blog of a couple that installed a beer tap on a Tartan 37 and how they manage the brewing process. They are currently in the South Pacific after spending the winter months in Hawaii.............seems like they are living the life

Brewing |
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Old 08-05-2015, 06:15   #30
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Re: Co2 - is it "easy" to find?

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Here's an interesting blog of a couple that installed a beer tap on a Tartan 37 and how they manage the brewing process. They are currently in the South Pacific after spending the winter months in Hawaii.............seems like they are living the life



Brewing |

Thanks for the link! And yeah - they are doing it right -!


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