Kegerator Line Length/Serving Pressure

[Ghillie]

Hi gents,

I have a two tap kegerator where each tap has 3-4m of 1/4" ID tubing. This works well, serving at 10-15PSI and carbing at around 17PSI. So carbing and serving pressures are close. I was told this is how your kegerator should be setup.

I recently got myself an intertap to use with a new bottle filler I purchased a while back. Anything at 10PSI and above with the intertap results in half a glass of foam... I would say proper serving pressure for a good pint is closer to 5PSI.

So what's the right thing to do in this circumstance - increase line length? Accept that I will have to drop the serving pressure? Decrease the kegerator temperature?

The line length calculators I've used suggest a stupidly long length of beer line in order to match carbing and serving pressures. 30ft+ of line per keg just isn't an option! Is it right that carbing and serving pressures should be the same, or is that a load of *****?

What's everyone else's serving pressure and carbing pressure at? Also, how long are your beer lines and what diameter? 3-4m of 3/8" OD (1/4" ID) tubing with my old taps worked perfectly. The new intertap is a bit of an issue, probably because flow is improved?

Cheers!

 

[LeeH]

Not enough time to fully answer but carb and serve at the SAME pressure. You say 10-15...that’s a big swing. Choose temp you want your beer at and select the correct pressure. Leave to condition with the gas on for a week.

Use 4mm line and trim down until you get steady pour.

If you have forced carbonated at 17 but you need 10 for the temp you have chosen you will get a glass of foam.

It’s simple, just set and forget and fine tune your beer line.

Force carbonating at a higher pressure is just luck, guess work and mainly pointless.

 

[Ghillie]

Yeah a force carb at 17PSI will get me 2.8vols which is what I drink most of my beers at.

I could pour pints anywhere between 10-15PSI without problem. Anything lower than 10PSI it was a bit slow and higher than 15PSI there is too much foam.

The intertap however now needs to be dropped right down to 5PSI. So I need longer lines/smaller ID lines.

The closest I can find to 4mm would be 4.8mm which is 3/16" or something?

 

[BeerCat]

Do you have the adjustable flow or the standard intertap? I am not really convinced the adjustable is better as it seems to be a bit all over the place with foam and does not always turn off. I carb my beers to 20 psi and serve with 3m of 3/16th's and my fridge is set to 1c. It pours slowly but its very handy for filling bottles without a filler.

 

[Ghillie]

Do you have the adjustable flow or the standard intertap? I am not really convinced the adjustable is better as it seems to be a bit all over the place with foam and does not always turn off. I carb my beers to 20 psi and serve with 3m of 3/16th's and my fridge is set to 1c. It pours slowly but its very handy for filling bottles without a filler.

Just a standard Intertap @BeerCat, the very one like in the link below:

https://www.home-brew-online.com/equipment-c40/intertap-chrome-plated-draught-tap-p3335

According to the force carbing chart, 20PSI at 1C is nearly 3.6vols!? Or am I missing something?

If you're getting a sound pour with 3m of 3/16" beer line at 20PSI then I definitely need to go down that route!

 

[BeerCat]

Just a standard Intertap @BeerCat, the very one like in the link below:

https://www.home-brew-online.com/equipment-c40/intertap-chrome-plated-draught-tap-p3335

According to the force carbing chart, 20PSI at 1C is nearly 3.6vols!? Or am I missing something?

If you're getting a sound pour with 3m of 3/16" beer line at 20PSI then I definitely need to go down that route!

I think your right about it being high. I have never checked a chart to be honest. Perhaps its because i am using thinner tubing that i need a higher psi. Its possible my kegs are slightly warmer as well, my probe is in a beer bottle of water in the middle of them.
I have a NEIPA on tap with about a metre of 3/16th and that comes out very frothy but for this style its helpful as it takes away some of the bubbles and softens the mouthfeel (i only have 1 regulator). I generally drink lager and found 20psi to be about right for my setup.
I have 3 of those taps and an adjustable, very happy with them and they look great

 

[Ghillie]

Thanks @BeerCat,

If my bottle filler was compatible with my old taps, then I'd stick with them as they seemed to work perfectly pouring beer between 2-3vols at about 15PSI. Sadly it's not, so I'm going to have to find a workaround to make the intertaps play nicely with my kegerator.

So I guess I've got two possibilities:

1) Double the length of my beer line. One calc said I'd need 5.85m of 3/8" to pour properly at 15PSI. The calculators don't factor in taps as a variable which is frustrating because they're all different to some degree. Might as well try it and see, beer line isn't wildly expensive.

2) Cut my existing 3/8" beer line and fit a metre or two of 3/16" line with some of those handy JG 3/8" to 3/16" PF connectors.

It's a tight fit in my kegerator, so I'm leaning towards option 2. Almost 12m of 3/8" vinyl tubing would be a push...

 

[pottsworth]

I had 1.5m of 3/8 at ~12 psi which was coming out very foamy. Cutting 1m out of the middle and swapping in 1m of 3/16 connected with JG fittings seems to have helped a lot, and didn’t require changing of pipe routing or lots of coiled beer line.

 

[xozzx]

I changed all my 3/8 to 3/16. I have about 5cm 3/8 each end (on the keg out and tap in) then adapters to 3/16, purely because I couldnt find FFL to 3/16. I never measured the length but recon about 2m of 3/16 and I have 15psi keg pressure, I started with a bit longer and cut it back until it was right. I now get the perfect pour on all my taps, I dont see any point to changing 1m to 3/16, just adapt the length until it is right.

 

[Ghillie]

I changed all my 3/8 to 3/16. I have about 5cm 3/8 each end (on the keg out and tap in) then adapters to 3/16, purely because I couldnt find FFL to 3/16. I never measured the length but recon about 2m of 3/16 and I have 15psi keg pressure, I started with a bit longer and cut it back until it was right. I now get the perfect pour on all my taps, I dont see any point to changing 1m to 3/16, just adapt the length until it is right.

Superb, this is the answer I was looking for!

So just to confirm, that's 3/16" OD - like this stuff for example:

https://www.home-brew-online.com/equipment-c40/john-guest-3-16-tubing-1m-p3269

 

[xozzx]

So just to confirm, that's 3/16" OD - like this stuff for example:

Yup, thats the stuff. It comes as continuous length if more than one ordered so you can order enough for all taps (+extra) then cut to size. I would recommend starting with too much then reduce the length on one tap until you have a good pour without too much foam then reduce other taps to a similar length. The 3/16 does decrease the speed alot so you want to get a good balance between pour speed and foam. At 40p/m you can easily play about with it.

 

[Ghillie]

Perfect!

Will try 2m initially and work my way back, see where we end up!