Kegging Belgian Tripels

[Roadie]

I'm way overdue to brew a Belgian but have questions as I keg all my brews. I have a secondary regulator which it appears I'll need to keep at about 25 psi in a 38 degree keezer with a line length of around 21'. Does this sound right? When dispensing beers that are 3-4 volumes do you get massive head as if pouring from a bottle?

 

[jmcquesten]

Ran it through mikesoltys.com calculator, and it looks like that will get you about 3.46 volumes, which seems right and does give you 21 ft of line.

 

[Roadie]

I've never dispensed at anywhere close to that pressure/volume. Do you get a glass full of foam?

 

[Newsman]

Couldn't you put in some of those plastic epoxy stirrers to keep your line length down?

 

[Roadie]

Couldn't you put in some of those plastic epoxy stirrers to keep your line length down?

I don't care about line length so much as what is going to come out of the faucet. I have an 8 tap keezer and have 10' lines on each of the taps now. I roll the line up and drop it between the kegs or along the ends.

 

[m00ps]

you can also turn the serving pressure down when pouring and then turn it back up overnight so the carb level stays up. This is how I bottle stuff from my keg using a beer gun. I can get it with like 3% foam. Its able to fill the bottle further up than a bottle wand

 

[jmcquesten]

I've never dispensed at anywhere close to that pressure/volume. Do you get a glass full of foam?

You could get a glass of foam if the line isn't long enough. If you want 3.5 volumes and your temperature is 38°F, then you need 22 psi to serve and a 19.02 ft line length (3/16 beer line). If you tried serving at that pressure with just 10 ft lines, you would have a glass full of foam. If you liked the beer a little warmer, (Belgians are good a little warmer) at 45°F, you'd need almost 27 psi for 3.5 volumes and 23.47 ft of beer line.

Again, turning pressure down to serve is not the proper fix for balancing your system, it's a work around.