help with dispensing line length

Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:32 pm

I just kegged a robust porter which is the recipe from BCS. Potentially my best beer yet. Tasted real good without carbonation. I would really like to not screw up the carbonation on this one because I think it is going to be a great beer. My 1st attempt at kegging did not go so well. Things were fine early on, but it was all foam by the end. People felt that I did not have enough beer line, even though I was at 11 feet serving at 42F at 25PSI. The porter is currently carbing at 42F set on 10PSI. Most of the calculators I found online recommend 5 to 6 feet, but I am thinking that is just not even given what I have read on here and my last experience. Anyone have any recommendations for what line length I should be using for this beer?

Thanks,
Kevin
izumidai
 
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Re: help with dispensing line length

Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:54 am

izumidai wrote: People felt that I did not have enough beer line, even though I was at 11 feet serving at 42F at 25PSI.

Thanks,
Kevin

woah , easy there sea biscuit. 25 lbs, are you pushing it up from your basement, you should only need 10-12 lbs or so. your beer was probably absorbing more and more CO2 as the keg empties.
Tube it down, use a line length somewhere around 5-7' and you should be good.
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Re: help with dispensing line length

Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:05 am

10lbs at 42 degrees will give you near 2.2 volumes of CO2, so that looks right for a robust porter.

If you're using 3/16 id tubing (which you probably are) you should expect a 1.8psi/ft drop. You'll get a .4psi drop for every foot the beer has to climb (if your taps are higher than your kegs. But, let's assume for the purposes of this demonstration that your taps are at the same level as your keg.)

10psi/1.8psi/ft = 5.5 feet. Your 6ft line should be fine.
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Re: help with dispensing line length

Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:26 am

Sorry, the 25psi was for a belgian golden strong. I did not realize that I left that part out.
izumidai
 
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Re: help with dispensing line length

Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:04 pm

izumidai wrote:Sorry, the 25psi was for a belgian golden strong. I did not realize that I left that part out.


By the formulas, you need a couple extra feet (13' total) of 3/16" tubing to drop 25 psi assuming a 2 foot rise in height from the keg to tap.
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