Beer Line Length for Keezer Build

[RGillette10]

I've been reading a lot about balancing systems on the forums and other sites. As I plan out my keezer, I'm still getting a feel for how all the kegging equipment will work, and what I actually want.

I've got a 7 CU FT GE freezer that I snagged on craigslist for $110. I've already altered the internal thermostat and I've got it running in the low 40s. Still tweeking temp a little, but I'm really happy because I know it will be warm enough.

I'm going to have 4 taps: 2 standard, 1 nitro, and 1 standard for soda or beer. Let's leave the nitro out of the discussion for right now. I will be brewing mostly stouts/other ales/and hefes. I intent to serve the hefes at higher PSI. 14-16 and the ales at 10-12.

I'm under the impression that I need different beer line lengths for different styles, if I'm going to serve them at different pressures. Is that correct?

Right now, I'm planning on buying a lot of beer line (6 ft per line), and just shortening if the flow is way too slow.

 

[JuanMoore]

I've been reading a lot about balancing systems on the forums and other sites. As I plan out my keezer, I'm still getting a feel for how all the kegging equipment will work, and what I actually want.

I've got a 7 CU FT GE freezer that I snagged on craigslist for $110. I've already altered the internal thermostat and I've got it running in the low 40s. Still tweeking temp a little, but I'm really happy because I know it will be warm enough.

I'm going to have 4 taps: 2 standard, 1 nitro, and 1 standard for soda or beer. Let's leave the nitro out of the discussion for right now. I will be brewing mostly stouts/other ales/and hefes. I intent to serve the hefes at higher PSI. 14-16 and the ales at 10-12.

I'm under the impression that I need different beer line lengths for different styles, if I'm going to serve them at different pressures. Is that correct?

Right now, I'm planning on buying a lot of beer line (6 ft per line), and just shortening if the flow is way too slow.

You don't need different lengths, you just need them all to be long enough to serve your beer with the highest carb level. The beers with lower carb levels will pour slightly slower, but you'll be able to put any beer on any of your lines this way. Since line resistance decreases as flow rate decreases, there won't be a huge difference in pour speeds.

6' for each line is actually very short, not long. Virtually all of the line balancing calculators and equations you'll find were designed for commercial systems, and all they will do is calculate the line length that will result in a flow rate of 1 gal/min for any given pressure. This works well enough for most commercial systems since they're kept very cold (<38°) and the carb levels are usually under 2.8 vol. The warmer the beer is, or the more highly carbed, the slower the pour needs to be to keep the CO2 from breaking out of solution. And just a few degrees makes a huge difference. Since line resistance is dependant on flow rate (contrary to what most of the line balancing info implies), to slow the flow down even just a little requires increasing the line length substantially.

A very popular serving temperature range around here seems to be 40-42°, and most brewers find that they require close to 10' of 3/16" ID line to prevent excessive foaming with moderate carb levels at these temperatures. This is about double the length you'd need if you were serving at 36°. If you're going to try serving moderately carbed beers warmer than that, or highly carbed beers, you're going to need much longer lines.

The only calculator I'm aware of that takes differing flow rates into account is this one-
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApGb-vIKLq7FdGtzN3BrY2xZSldORzQ2bHVVX0hzaEE#gid=0

It allows you to choose your flow rate in terms of the time it takes to fill a pint. At 40-42° and moderate carb levels, I'd go no faster than a 10 second pint fill. For warmer temps or higher carb levels I'd go slower.

You hit one idea spot on though, which is that it's much cheaper and easier to go extra long and trim if needed than it is to find out that your lines are too short and need to be replaced.

 

[beaksnbeer]

At least 10ft per with higher pressures. Soda line will need to be twice as long unless you plan on using it to put out fires. Soda is usually 30psi which on a 6ft line will blow it right out of the glass. You will also need 3 regulators to run the separate pressures (14-16) (10-12) (25-35)

 

[RGillette10]

Thanks Juan and Beaks! Very helpful. Not sure why I thought 6 ft would be on the long side. I'm going to snag the Taprite triple secondary regulator.

Still need to decide on Sanke sixers or ball locks. Used one ball locks are getting hard to find. The new ones are $130 pre-shipping. I can get a brand new Sanke sixer on amazon for $95 shipped and the coupler for $25. I think I'm going to go Sanke if I don't have any space issues.