Root Beer

Todd · 06-19-2007, 01:42 PM

Hey guys, I tried my first batch of root beer this past week. The flavor is great but I'm having some issues with carbonation. I kegged it at 30psi and when I pour the glass it fizzes like crazy but after a few seconds it appears mostly flat. Is this normal for Root Beer?

**david_42** · 06-19-2007, 02:43 PM

At 30 psi you'll need 15 feet of 3/16th line to avoid losing all of the fizz. I run my soda water at #25 and have a 12' line.

Todd · 06-19-2007, 03:01 PM

Oh, well if I only have a 5 foot line what should I do?

jammer · 06-19-2007, 03:55 PM

get more tubing.........

or you could decrease your serving pressure, roughly 13 -15 psi or so off the top of my head. but then you would have less carbonation.

Todd · 06-19-2007, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammer

get more tubing.........

or you could decrease your serving pressure, roughly 13 -15 psi or so off the top of my head. but then you would have less carbonation.

Problem is my hbs only sells it in 5 foot sections. I guess I'll have to order some. I get a lot of foaming with my beer as well, would more length be the answer there as well?

Beer is at 10psi.

**johnsma22** · 06-19-2007, 04:28 PM

I serve my root beer at 40˚F and 25 psi through 35' of 3/16" ID beverage tubing to get a perfect pour and perfect level of carbonation. I know that 35' seems like a lot, but after much experimentation and glasses of foam this is what I have found to work the best. The 35' of tubing is neatly coiled up and zip tied in the back of my keg fridge.

The rule of thumb is 2 psi pressure drop per foot of 3/16" ID beverage tubing, but as the volume of CO2 is increased the effective pressure drop will be less than 2 psi/ft. At 3.5-4.0 volumes of CO2, the effective pressure drop per foot of 3/16" ID line is less than 1 psi/ft. Before I learned this fact I had 20' of tubing, but could not serve anything but foam at my desired level of carbonation. I did not want to compromise my desired carbonation level so I started with 40' but the pour was too slow. The carbonation was fine, there was no foaming but the pour was just too slow. I cut off 5' and found the sweet spot.

You can serve carbonated water at the same temperature/pressure with a much shorter length of tubing, but the sugar in the root beer will cause the CO2 to be knocked out of solution if you don't use a line length that is long enough.

Todd · 06-19-2007, 04:37 PM

Guys thanks a ton. Do you know a good source for a large volume of line?

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnsma22

I serve my root beer at 40˚F and 25 psi through 35' of 3/16" ID beverage tubing to get a perfect pour and perfect level of carbonation. I know that 35' seems like a lot, but after much experimentation and glasses of foam this is what I have found to work the best. The 35' of tubing is neatly coiled up and zip tied in the back of my keg fridge.

The rule of thumb is 2 psi pressure drop per foot of 3/16" ID beverage tubing, but as the volume of CO2 is increased the effective pressure drop will be less than 2 psi/ft. At 3.5-4.0 volumes of CO2, the effective pressure drop per foot of 3/16" ID line is less than 1 psi/ft. Before I learned this fact I had 20' of tubing, but could not serve anything but foam at my desired level of carbonation. I did not want to compromise my desired carbonation level so I started with 40' but the pour was too slow. The carbonation was fine, there was no foaming but the pour was just too slow. I cut off 5' and found the sweet spot.

You can serve carbonated water at the same temperature/pressure with a much shorter length of tubing, but the sugar in the root beer will cause the CO2 to be knocked out of solution if you don't use a line length that is long enough.

Cheesefood · 06-19-2007, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd

Guys thanks a ton. Do you know a good source for a large volume of line?

Any hardware store.

Todd · 06-19-2007, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheesefood

Any hardware store.

Ok, I was assuming I needed something special. Just get regular pcv line?

**johnsma22** · 06-19-2007, 05:00 PM

You do need something special. You can't get 3/16" ID thick walled, smooth bore, foam free beverage tubing at any hardware store that I have ever seen. You can get it at a per/ft price at any of the online homebrew supply stores, like MoreBeer, Northern Brewer, Williams, Austin HomeBrew or Micromatic, etc.

That is the stuff you need. Anything else and you will have nothing but problems.