Force carb frustration

Tunabeast · Mar 1, 2019

Having made the move across to kegging fairly recently am still trying to master the art of carbonation. I've read many threads on this forum and others on techniques but still feel a bit perplexed by the whole thing.

Most recently I've been using a burst carbonation calculator which can be downloaded from here https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/92av5c/no_purge_burst_carbonation_calculator/
Not sure how accurate it is but seems reasonable enough. Next time I'm going to try the set it and forget it method.

Latest batch I kegged and carbed using the above and I am now confused as to what length tubing I should be using to serve. Is it just a case of adjusting the length of hose to achieve the level of head desired?

If for example I use 3m of 3/16 beer line I pour what looks to be a completely flat beer - still tastes like it has some fizz but not a lot. Whereas if that is reduced to 0.5m I end up pouring a very foamy beer. I guess serving pressure plays a factor in this as well.

Maybe need to benchmark against some beers out of cans/bottles and do some comparisons?

I enjoy the homebrewing process and all the fine tuning that goes with it, but am really not enjoying the carbonation aspect! Rant over.

Keruso · Mar 1, 2019

I'm not kegging yet, I'm on the verge. In trying to learn a bit more I came across this:-
http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/02/14/how-to-keg-homebrew-beer/
and this about line balancing which is on your topic:-
http://beersmith.com/blog/2011/07/14/keg-line-length-balancing-the-science-of-draft-beer/

There is a keg carb calculator on brewers friend
https://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/

Be good to see what advice and replies you get.

HarryFlatters · Mar 1, 2019

I've been experimenting with different sized lines using JG reducers and party taps. At the moment, I'm finding that my cider pours well with about 6' of line with the pressure set to about 15psi. Haven't tried with beer yet as none of it is quite ready.

I bought 12 metres of line very cheaply from ebay, so if I effed it up it didn't cost a fortune to mend.

Good luck with it :)

Tunabeast · Mar 1, 2019

Keruso said:
I'm not kegging yet, I'm on the verge. In trying to learn a bit more I came across this:-
http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/02/14/how-to-keg-homebrew-beer/
and this about line balancing which is on your topic:-
http://beersmith.com/blog/2011/07/14/keg-line-length-balancing-the-science-of-draft-beer/

There is a keg carb calculator on brewers friend
https://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/

Be good to see what advice and replies you get.

Finally some science! That line balancing article was exactly what I needed - cheers.

phildo79 · Mar 1, 2019

But some taps that have flow control. I have one directly hooked up to the keg, serve all my beer at 10 psi, twiddle with the flow control lever accordingly and have had zero problems so far.

The flow control taps can be a bit pricey but I found the ones for sale from Darkfarm.com (@Gareth Davies) to be the best priced and of very high quality. I was initially worried about how much foam would be produced due to the fact there was no beer line. But in all honesty, I haven't had a single problem. Might be worth looking into.

uDicko · Mar 1, 2019

phildo79 said:
But some taps that have flow control. I have one directly hooked up to the keg, serve all my beer at 10 psi, twiddle with the flow control lever accordingly and have had zero problems so far.

The flow control taps can be a bit pricey but I found the ones for sale from Darkfarm.com (@Gareth Davies) to be the best priced and of very high quality. I was initially worried about how much foam would be produced due to the fact there was no beer line. But in all honesty, I haven't had a single problem. Might be worth looking into.

I too have flow control tap straight onto keg and can't praise it enough. Highly recommended, can always use it on your kegerator later with the piping