Since Hambleton Bard's equipment broke to refill the CO2 canisters a few years back, there has only been one company refilling them and supplying them to the trade. So if you are wondering why it is becoming more and more difficult to find refills then read on and you'll find out why.
Unfortunately, we have found the quality of the CO2 gas not to be pure CO2. As it is not pure CO2, we can not guarantee that it is food safe CO2.
This isn't so noticeable when using with traditional real ales, but it could introduce an infection or the oxygen could change the flavour. If you are using it with craft beers, it will cause them to turn brown due to oxygen being present in the gas.
Added to this, the seals on the gas canisters seem to be failing, meaning the gas leaks from the canister and so you eventually loose all the 240g of CO2. Very frustrating.
As we are mail order only, you would need to send your empty cartridge back to us, and we would then send you a full one. The costs of returning empty cylinders was growing as Royal Mail would not take empty cylinders so it had to be with a courier. This meant that the price for the gas was becoming uneconomical compared to other options.
We have taken the decision to not offer refills of the S30 (now called L30) co2 cylinders and have decided to only stock the 8g, 12g and 16g cartridges.
You will need to change the valve on your keg to one that has a piercing pin in the centre. You will then be able to use the 8g cartridges.
The cartridges that we source are guaranteed food grade pure CO2, so you can be assured your beer will be perfect on each pour and not affected by oxygen.
If you have the old S30 valve, then you can simply swap it for a new pin valve and these are available on our website - https://www.brewbitz.com/products/pin-valve-to-fit-barrel-cap-8g-co2-cartridge-holder-no-gas
They are easy to fit, just unscrew the nut on the inside of the cap and pull it out. Put the valve with the piercing pin in and tighten the nut inside the lid. It's as easy as that.
At the moment all the co2 in the 8g cartridges is injected in one go, so you might find some escapes through the pressure relief valve, but we are looking at alternatives so you can add only the amount you need to and make the cartridges last longer.
