New to Corni Kegs

[Richard Brown]

I have a fermentation chamber (under counter fridge) that I am about to double up as a kegerator.

Because of space and time restrictions I cannot have both. I don't even have the space to put a tower tap on the top, or a tap through the door of the fridge (young children in the house with access to the fridge)

My plan is to buy 1 corni keg and a small CO2 canister and pour the beer using a sparkler tap directly connected to the keg. My question is for pouring the beer directly from the sparkler tap, what pressure does the beer need to be at?

I know I can force carb at higher PSI and then adjust to serving pressure, I just don't know what a good serving pressure for the above set-up would be. Any help greatly received.

 

[Dads_Ale]

I use these on kegs that aren't connected to my main taps

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Corneliu...057.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xparty+tap.TRS0

As long as you open the tap fully when pouring they work up to quite high carb levels. My kegs are often sitting at 20psi. The 3/16 line can be shortened if you are using lower pressures.

 

[stz]

First decide if you intend to leave the gas on or if you will turn it off between service.
If you intend to leave it on then you need to figure out your mix and max storage temperature and then set a pressure which which will find equilibrium at the desired carbonation level. Then you must lose that pressure by using length and diameter of beer line to give a pour which is acceptable. Too fast and it will fob, too slow and it is annoying. You want the beer to break out in the glass at normal atmospheric pressure, not shoot out under excessive pressure. 10 seconds per pint is industry standard. I usually accept 10-15 seconds to give me some wiggle room which changing carbonation levels for different styles. For example..

My storage temperature is usually 7C. 13-14psi will give 2.3-2.4 volumes of co2 so my dispense pressure is set to this for a nice average. If I attempt to pour off a short line and a party tap I will get fob due to an fast and excitable pour. I need to lose 13-14psi of pressure. Gravity takes care of about 2.5 on my system, assume 1.5 for the keg and 0.5 per foot of vertical rise. 3/8th pipe is pretty bad, approx 0.026 psi/ft. 3/16th is much better, standard stuff, 0.71 psi/ft.

So I have a corny, a post, some 3/8th to a john guest stop tap (for shutting off the beer when not in use) a 3/8" - 3/16" stem reducer. I'm losing approx 2.526 with 10.474 to go. This is 14.75ft of 3/16th line so I start off with that and remove 4" or so at a time until an acceptable pour is reached with my compensator tap fully open. Then I have that wiggle room should I encounter an over carbonated keg.

Sometimes I keep beer at 4C, sometimes at 14C, each time you need to adjust the dispense pressure to match the desired carbonation level. At higher pressures the compensator tap cannot cope and at lower levels it won't push through the lines so you balance the system to accommodate a specific range. I can go colder, but not too cold for higher carb beer otherwise the lines would need to be shorter and can't really go lower carb without going a little warmer for the same reasons.

Of course if you turn the gas off between service then everything is all up in the air. You might as well just chuck 5m of 3/16" on it and dispense at 22psi and deal with the beer getting a bit fizzy over time and being knackered if you forget and leave it on.

At first I thought I was going to be a winner with just a bit of 3/8" and a party tap, upgrading to a compensator tap, but nooo.. there is more to it, but be reassured it does actually work out if you work it out.

Specific to your circumstances, I'd get the beer as cold as possible and dispense at as low a pressure as possible because a pour straight off a tap is likely to be awful. As said above a coil (cable ties) of 3/16" spliced in cut to length taking into consideration temperate and pressure will get it perfect.