New kegger line length ratio question?

[Pelican521]

Hi all, I'm in the middle of trying out my new kegging system an had a question. For the keg system I bought I requested 7' of line as I heard of foaming issues people have with a shorter line length relating to pressure/etc (I figured start with more).

Right now I just have a picnic tap and was wondering what psi to set for an ipa for say 2.2 vol with the 7' line I have?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hammy71]

IMHO you probably should have went even longer. 10' seems to be the sweet spot for most of us. The quest is to have a serving pressure that will maintain carbonation in the keg and allow you to make a nice pour (without it being all foam). I have my regulators set around 12 psi. This works for me because it's also the pressure I use to carb my kegs. So, your going to have to use 12 psi @ around 40 degrees to keep the beer carbed. If the beer comes out to fast for you at the taps....you need longer 3/16" lines. If it comes out to slow at that pressure, then you can shorten the lines.

 

[chickypad]

Here is the chart you use to figure the psi you need for a given carb level and temp. It's up to you but 2.2 is going to seem undercarbed for an IPA IMO.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Right now I just have a picnic tap and was wondering what psi to set for an ipa for say 2.2 vol with the 7' line I have?

You don't set your gas pressure by virtue of line length.
You set your line length by virtue of your gas pressure.
And you set your gas pressure by virtue of your desired carbonation level at the dispensing temperature.

Earlier replies are spot-on, you're likely going to be a bit under-carbed for an IPA at 2.2 volumes (I'd shoot for a solid 2.5), and your tubing is probably going to be too short for the pressure needed to maintain that carbonation level.

The link to the carb table is a good one, and once you use it to find the proper pressure for the temperature of your beer, a good rule of thumb is 1 foot of 3/16" ID beer line per psi. Hence, if you dispense at 40°F and desire 2.5 volumes of CO2, you'll want to set your gas pressure to 12psi, and run 12' lengths of beer line to whatever faucet type you end up using...

Cheers!

 

[Pelican521]

Ok thanks guys, I'll dig a little deeper in the chart to figure things out, right now I'm a bit bummed because my cobra tap that came with the kit leaks like crazy and I have to disconnect every time I want to pour a beer. That's even when I set it to 10-12 psi and release the pressure... Kind of defeats the purpose


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew