Brand spanking new to kegging

[Bugeater]

1) what causes the beer to be sucked up the gas line? if i have CO2 tank pressurizing the keg at all times can this happen?

This commonly happens in two different situations. First is when you hook up a fully carbonated keg that is already at higher pressure than your setting on your regulator. For this reason you should always release pressure off the keg just before hooking the gas up.

The other situation can arise when folks don't understand how to balance a keg system. These are the folks that keep the pressure high to keep carbonation where it should be and then lower the pressure for dispensing. This creates the same effect as I mentioned above.

In any case, you should always have a check valve in line somewhere to keep the beer from reaching the regulator.

Should i be disconnecting from the out port on the keg when not in use? if i do leave it on all the time with beer in the line, will the beer in the line be ok

You don't need to disconnect the line when not in use unless something in the tap line leaks. In that case you need to deal with that situation asap rather than just disconnecting it. The beer in the line will be just fine assuming it is inside the kegerator. Once you have your taps installed, you will always have beer in those lines too.

Wayne

[bufordsbest]

thanks for the replies bug.

my only concern for disconnecting the picnic tap was the horror stories i read of peoples taps leaking overnight and dumping a keg on the carpet. i guess if i take care of the taps (or replace often) i shouldn't have need for worry.

[bufordsbest]

ok, another noobie question.

i have 2 kegs in my kegerator at 42F, i put them in on Friday and set the regulator to 12psi in order to obtain around 2.3-2.4 volumes. i did not do any shaking or forced carbing.

i poured off a sample of each tonight just to see where they're at and they were just huge cups of foam with only a small amount of beer in the bottom. i was under the assumption that this is what it will be like until the CO2 fully disolves into the beer but it got me to thinking, is the pressure i set to carbonate the beer the same as the serving pressure or do i lower it when ready to serve?

if so, what's a standard serving temp?

Thanks,

tg

[TimmyR]

ok, another noobie question.

i have 2 kegs in my kegerator at 42F, i put them in on Friday and set the regulator to 12psi in order to obtain around 2.3-2.4 volumes. i did not do any shaking or forced carbing.

i poured off a sample of each tonight just to see where they're at and they were just huge cups of foam with only a small amount of beer in the bottom. i was under the assumption that this is what it will be like until the CO2 fully disolves into the beer but it got me to thinking, is the pressure i set to carbonate the beer the same as the serving pressure or do i lower it when ready to serve?

if so, what's a standard serving temp?

Thanks,

tg

How long are your beer lines anbd what size are they? Mine are all 3/16" ID and 5-6 feet long. I serve and carbonate at 10-14 PSI depending on how much beer is in keg and if the keg is low in my fridge or on the compressor shelf in the back.

[bufordsbest]

ok, another noobie question.

i have 2 kegs in my kegerator at 42F, i put them in on Friday and set the regulator to 12psi in order to obtain around 2.3-2.4 volumes. i did not do any shaking or forced carbing.

i poured off a sample of each tonight just to see where they're at and they were just huge cups of foam with only a small amount of beer in the bottom. i was under the assumption that this is what it will be like until the CO2 fully disolves into the beer but it got me to thinking, is the pressure i set to carbonate the beer the same as the serving pressure or do i lower it when ready to serve?

if so, what's a standard serving temp?

Thanks,

tg

How long are your beer lines anbd what size are they? Mine are all 3/16" ID and 5-6 feet long. I serve and carbonate at 10-14 PSI depending on how much beer is in keg and if the keg is low in my fridge or on the compressor shelf in the back.

ok so i took a look, i have 3/16" id lines but there are only about 45" long (3.75' roughly) i checked my CO2 gauge and it must have got jostled or something when i put it in the fridge because it was set to 18psi.

i used the calculator here: http://www.iancrockett.com/brewing/info ... ce.shtml#4

i put in 10psi, 3.75' length of tube, 2lb/ft resistance and 5' above the centre of the tank and it should work out.

i bled off both kegs and will check again tomorrow.

tks,

tg

[Mylo]

ok so i took a look, i have 3/16" id lines but there are only about 45" long (3.75' roughly) i checked my CO2 gauge and it must have got jostled or something when i put it in the fridge because it was set to 18psi.

i used the calculator here: http://www.iancrockett.com/brewing/info ... ce.shtml#4

i put in 10psi, 3.75' length of tube, 2lb/ft resistance and 5' above the centre of the tank and it should work out.

i bled off both kegs and will check again tomorrow.

tks,

tg

BTW, those calculators never worked for me. Maybe the numbers they have for resistance/foot is off. I've always used 3/16" beer line, at 40 degrees, with the tap about 18" up from the center of my kegs and found I need at least 7' of tubing to get a 2oz/sec pour rate. YMMV.


Mylo

[Bugeater]

The reasons for the calculators being off is that they use what the author of the calculator figured was an average resistance rate for tubing used. In reality the same size diameter tubing from different manufacturers and different materials will vary widely in the internal resistance. Thus what may take 4' of one tubing may take 7' for another. I always start with a foot or two longer that the maximum amount I think I will need and trim pieces off as needed once I check the flow.

Wayne

[baltobrewer]

The reasons for the calculators being off is that they use what the author of the calculator figured was an average resistance rate for tubing used. In reality the same size diameter tubing from different manufacturers and different materials will vary widely in the internal resistance. Thus what may take 4' of one tubing may take 7' for another. I always start with a foot or two longer that the maximum amount I think I will need and trim pieces off as needed once I check the flow.

Wayne

+1. What you want is smooth, laminar flow. Too much pressure (i.e. too little line or too large a line width) and you'll get a glass of foam. Too little and you'll gurgle out of the tap and get foam that way. I have two constants in my system: the temp of the fridge and the pressure on the reg. I start long (~ 7 feet of 3/16" line) and adjust beer line length down until I like how it pours. Then I never touch it again.