Beer Forum

Yet another beer line question, sorry.

So I have a Belgian under 20 lbs of pressure based on the target co2 volume and temp. My 5 feet of 3/16th hose was foaming like nuts of course, so according to much stated 2.2-3 lbs of resistance for 3/16th line I went ahead and put on 10 feet of line.

I am still foaming like nuts. How would I know if my line is too long, resulting in co2 being prematurely released? (Insert length and premature jokes here).

10 feet should be more than enough length at 20 psi. Is there a visual difference in foaming problems between a line that is too short versus a line that is too long?

Thanks!

Can you see where the bubbles are forming? If they are forming in the line as the beer moves along, then your line is too warm or not restrictive enough, or perhaps dirty.

If there are no bubbles until the glass, then check for a warm faucet, partially opened faucet (open that sucker all the way to minimize foam, counterintuitive I know), or crud in the nozzle or glass.

FWIW I had 10-12' on line with 20psi at 40F on all my high carbonation styles and still found it foamed a bit too much. I knocked the pressure back to 18 and have been much happier with the pour.

It defies all logic (at least as much logic as I can muster), but I have found that I get the best results from 15-20 feet of 3/16 line at about 42 degrees. I know that this is alot longer than many guidelines suggest. I use a chest freezer with the taps mounted on top, so the vertical rise from the surface of the beer is about about 2 feet when the keg is halfway full. Shorter lengths have never worked well for me, and I don't think that I overcarbonate. Maybe I keep my lines too clean (doubt it) or maybe my taps suck, but anything less gets me foam. Simplest solution - start with 15 or 20 feet of line and cut back a foot at a time until you are happy with the pour.

10 ft is pushing it for 20 psi if you are worried about foam. Line length has little to do with CO2 coming out of solution in the lines. It sounds to me like your lines are too warm for the beer at that pressure, which would be pretty warm at 20 psi AFAIAC. Either that or your beer is really highly carbed, like +25 psi.

Also, the resistance for lines varies GREATLY between manufactures. Not all 3/16th lines will give the same, or even similar resistance. The default values you might pull of a chart on the web will get you closeish, but it's best to get the manufactures spec's for resistance if you want to get really close the first time. Even then, leave it a little longer and cut back a bit at a time until the perfect pour.

+1 on issues arising with pour technique/line cleanliness/warm lines etc. etc. etc.

Good luck!!

I tried to get a Hefeweizen at 28 psi to serve correctly. None of the formulas worked for me. I think they just fall apart when working with higher pressures. If I were going to try and balance at this psi with tube length alone I would start with double whatever is suggested and work down from there as needed.

Here's the solution that I came up with...
http://morebeer.com/view_product/16270/ ... _Hand-Held

Works great. It took me about 30 seconds to adjust it so that I could serve at 28 psi.