Move to kegging advice

[jayk34]

Hi JKay, i started with the kit you have and a full size co2 tank in April and the gas is still going, i use two party taps with no problems, i have the soda stream adapter which i intend to use on holiday to serve a carbonated 19ltr corny so if you have a caravan or holiday home Bobs your uncle, by the way the 2 kegs i got are now 4 but you won't regret it

I'm hoping to go at the end of this week) start of next week to get full sized co2 tank. Might think about smaller mobile kegs and soda stream adapters later in the year.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Looks the part. I don't have a spare fridge at the minute. Trying to do a bit of research and persuade my wife to allow it into the house with the line, "I promise it will look really good"

I’ve seen a couple of posts previously where people have their fridge in the garage and run a beer line through the wall into the house with a tap fitted indoors. Another idea maybe if your wife is unhappy about the kegerator taking up space.

 

[jayk34]

I’ve seen a couple of posts previously where people have their fridge in the garage and run a beer line through the wall into the house with a tap fitted indoors. Another idea maybe if your wife is unhappy about the kegerator taking up space.

I'm trying to do a bit of research at the minute with the temperature ranges that fridges can operate at but most of them are in the 3-5°C range. My wife is looking more freezer space and I thought that if I got a tall combined fridge freezer that she could use the freezer space and I could use the fridge for kegs if it set the in built fridge thermometer to the warmest setting. I'm guessing there is no such thing as it would defeat the purpose of having a fridge ?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I'm trying to do a bit of research at the minute with the temperature ranges that fridges can operate at but most of them are in the 3-5°C range. My wife is looking more freezer space and I thought that if I got a tall combined fridge freezer that she could use the freezer space and I could use the fridge for kegs if it set the in built fridge thermometer to the warmest setting. I'm guessing there is no such thing as it would defeat the purpose of having a fridge ?

I think our fridge can be set at quite a warm temp of around 10-12C. If you had a separate fridge you could be more sure though because you can use an Inkbird and choose whatever temperature you like.

 

[jayk34]

Here you go a bit untidy at the moment, but it will give you the idea View attachment 59447

@Rodcx500z did you reduce the length of the supplied 3/16" beer line in your kit ?

Mine is 3.5m long and think that is why I was getting a really slow flow when cleaning and sanitising the keg prior to filling ? I had set it to 2psi and was only getting a trickle coming out of the tap from the keg. I increased it to 10psi with no real visible change. From calculations it appears that I would need approx 33psi for that beer line length ?

I did have a search on the forums and goggled and it appears that the line either needs to be shorter for that pressure of 10psi to get a good flow or that the beer line needs to be reduced to just under 1m for that pressure. First time kegging, so more than likely have missed something or I am overcomplicating this.

I was using the beer line equation

Length of beer line in feet= ( regulator pressure - (tap height x 0.5) - 1)/2.7

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Jayk, yes i did but i can't remember how much, i think the short 3/8th piece at the tap end helps thats how mine came from bkt, sorry i can't be more helpful

 

[jayk34]

Hi Jayk, yes i did but i can't remember how much, i think the short 3/8th piece at the tap end helps thats how mine came from bkt, sorry i can't be more helpful

No worries. Do you mind me asking what serving pressure your are working with ?

I have mine carbonating at 14.4psi for the week and then intend to reduce it to 10/11psi for serving

 

[Rodcx500z]

No worries. Do you mind me asking what serving pressure your are working with ?

I have mine carbonating at 14.4psi for the week and then intend to reduce it to 10/11psi for serving

For bitter i carb at 10psi for 2 weeks pale ales 20psi serving at 10 to 12 psi

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

You should start with the carbonation rather than line lengths and then adjust the line bore/length to get the right flow.

Carbonation with depend on the style and your taste. I use 5psi for bitters, milds, stouts. I use 12 psi for pales ales and 18 psi for more highly carbonated beers like lagers and most Belgian beers.

For the 5psi beers I use 3/8 beer lines and I use 3/16 for the higher pressures - longer lengths for higher pressure. I have flow-control taps which also give me a little flexibility.

 

[jayk34]

So for 10-12psi carbonation for the American pale I get

10psi line length = 0.84 metres
11psi line length = 0.96 metres
12psi line length = 1.08 metres

I would include a bit extra so it can be modified shorter if not correct but even at that it seems a bit on the short side ?

 

[AnimatedGIF]

@jayk34 - not to confuse things, rather to help you make an informed choice for what will work for you(and forgive me if you already know this):
You don't have to serve at a different pressure to that which you use to carb your beer. For example, I set my line length based on the pressure used for carbonation (as has already been mentioned above) and I don't touch my regulator until the keg is empty (in fact, I don't even fiddle with it until the next keg goes on come to think of it).
If you serve at a lower pressure, your beer will become less carbonated as time goes on. You could bring the pressure back up between sessions, but that seems a lot of effort, in my opinion.

 

[jayk34]

@jayk34 - not to confuse things, rather to help you make an informed choice for what will work for you(and forgive me if you already know this):
You don't have to serve at a different pressure to that which you use to carb your beer. For example, I set my line length based on the pressure used for carbonation (as has already been mentioned above) and I don't touch my regulator until the keg is empty (in fact, I don't even fiddle with it until the next keg goes on come to think of it).
If you serve at a lower pressure, your beer will become less carbonated as time goes on. You could bring the pressure back up between sessions, but that seems a lot of effort, in my opinion.

It's obviously me not understanding what I need to do. I have been following the carbonation calc on brewfather. It says to set the pressure to 14.4psi at 8°C for 1 week to get 2.4vols if CO2 for this style. I thought that I then had to reduce this to 10-12 psi for serving and was working it out using the beer line calculator from brewers friend based on 10-12psi.

So do I just leave it at 14.4psi and only adjust based on temperature fluctuations as my keg is currently in garage with no temperature control as I don't have a spare fridge setup yet ?

 

[Rodcx500z]

It's obviously me not understanding what I need to do. I have been following the carbonation calc on brewfather. It says to set the pressure to 14.4psi at 8°C for 1 week to get 2.4vols if CO2 for this style. I thought that I then had to reduce this to 10-12 psi for serving and was working it out using the beer line calculator from brewers friend based on 10-12psi.

So do I just leave it at 14.4psi and only adjust based on temperature fluctuations as my keg is currently in garage with no temperature control as I don't have a spare fridge setup yet ?

Hi Jkay, i am on the same lines as you so sorry if i gave you misleading info, looks like i will need to look at my setup and make some changes

 

[jayk34]

Hi Jkay, i am on the same lines as you so sorry if i gave you misleading info, looks like i will need to look at my setup and make some changes

No apologies needed. If your setup works then you shouldn't need to tinker ?

Mine on the other hand took a very, very long time to run cleaning and santising fluid through the lines.

 

[Rodcx500z]

No apologies needed. If your setup works then you shouldn't need to tinker ?

Mine on the other hand took a very, very long time to run cleaning and santising fluid through the lines.

Mine is changing soon i am about to fix some taps in the fridge door

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

So for 10-12psi carbonation for the American pale I get

10psi line length = 0.84 metres
11psi line length = 0.96 metres
12psi line length = 1.08 metres

I would include a bit extra so it can be modified shorter if not correct but even at that it seems a bit on the short side ?

Yes, go longer and if the flow is low cut a short length off. Repeat until you’re happy but do make sure the beer is carbonated before you start cutting your beer line.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

It's obviously me not understanding what I need to do. I have been following the carbonation calc on brewfather. It says to set the pressure to 14.4psi at 8°C for 1 week to get 2.4vols if CO2 for this style. I thought that I then had to reduce this to 10-12 psi for serving and was working it out using the beer line calculator from brewers friend based on 10-12psi.

So do I just leave it at 14.4psi and only adjust based on temperature fluctuations as my keg is currently in garage with no temperature control as I don't have a spare fridge setup yet ?

Yes, set the pressure to the psi needed for the vols you want and just leave it.

The act of starting with higher pressure is a cheat - just to carbonate more quickly.

 

[jayk34]

Thanks everyone. Will make a few modifications at the weekend.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

It's obviously me not understanding what I need to do. I have been following the carbonation calc on brewfather. It says to set the pressure to 14.4psi at 8°C for 1 week to get 2.4vols if CO2 for this style. I thought that I then had to reduce this to 10-12 psi for serving and was working it out using the beer line calculator from brewers friend based on 10-12psi.

So do I just leave it at 14.4psi and only adjust based on temperature fluctuations as my keg is currently in garage with no temperature control as I don't have a spare fridge setup yet ?

You can do what you suggested, certainly, but I wanted to share what I and others do in case it helped.
For me, carbonation and serving pressure are one and the same and my lines cut to suit. The reason I do it this way is I don't want to mess around with setting pressure more than once per keg. I certainly can't be bothered changing peessure every time I want a beer/session.
The great thing is, you can try different ways at little expense (the expense being perhaps a couple of meters of 3/16 line).
It's certainly worth asking all the questions you are, and you'll soon settle on a way that you prefer.

 

[jayk34]

You can do what you suggested, certainly, but I wanted to share what I and others do in case it helped.
For me, carbonation and serving pressure are one and the same and my lines cut to suit. The reason I do it this way is I don't want to mess around with setting pressure more than once per keg. I certainly can't be bothered changing peessure every time I want a beer/session.
The great thing is, you can try different ways at little expense (the expense being perhaps a couple of meters of 3/16 line).
It's certainly worth asking all the questions you are, and you'll soon settle on a way that you prefer.

Definitely sounds simpler to me. With being the first time kegging, I was kind of winging it and not really understanding it. Will be better the next time also might not make as much mess whilst trying to clean kegs