Bar Setup & Long Draw

Hello all -

I've just begun the joys of home brewing (one batch kegged, another in the fermenter). I have a keezer setup in my basement, but i am planning on putting 3 taps in my dining room (directly above the keezer).

I have approx 8-10 feet i need to run lines. Planning to go through the lid of the freezer and up through the floor, into my bartop/side table. looking for advice and tips from anyone who may have done something similar.

i plan to run the 3 lines together (taped or ziptied every few feet, in a bundle) and run up through polyethylene pipe insulation. i have read about the glycol cooling method, but i dont think i want to get into that. i can run the pipe insulation the entire way to within approx 1 foot of the taps.

i'd greatly appreciate any insight and answers to the following questions:

1. am i going to have way overcarbed beer in order to have enough pressure to push the beer 8-10ft vertically?

2. would it be better to have the insulation snug around the 3 beverage lines, or better to have some additional airspace for cold air to circulate.

3. what else am i missing/not considering that could become an issue.

thanks so much for any help!!

mark

My setup is somewhat similar and I eventually had to buy a glycol chiller. Once the lines get warm (and they will even with the best insulation), you will pour foam until the beer cools the lines back down again. Before you worry about distance, figure out a system for cooling the lines. I know some were able to get by recirculating cold water from the keezer along the beer lines. I tried that method and just couldn't get anything that worked to a reasonable degree. You can also look at air cooling with a system of ducts, but do the math and see how much additional volume the keezer now needs to cool. Also consider that the air will not circulate as well around any bends in the line.

I'm not saying it can be done, but really spend some time planning beforehand. I thought I had it but it just didn't work out for me. I know others have succeeded in setups similar to where I failed though.

On to the simpler answers, will you have overcarbonated beer, not necessarily. I suggest doing a little more research on balancing beer lines, but to get you started....

In this example, assume you want your beer at 12PSI. If the height the beer travels is 10ft, that provides a resistance of 4.5PSI. That means the beer lines must account for 7.5PSI. Most use 3/16" ID lines which have a resistance of 2.7PSI/ft but I might recommend 1/4" which has about .7PSI/ft. That would require 11ft of beer lines. That's just an example though. Read up a little and it will make more sense.

Does that help at all? I don't mean to be too discouraging, but I was where you are and underestimated the plan.

thanks so much! i've been trying to read up as much as possible as its all new to me. was having trouble finding any threads that relate. maybe i'm just not searching the correct terms?

i have a friend that had a similar setup at his previous house, and talked to him about it. he claimed to not have had any issues, though he was dispensing commercial kegs (not sure if that matters vs homebrewed - but i suspect it may)

i will do some more research and hopefully i can find a good resolution.

thanks again.

I wouldn't think dispensing commercial kegs would help. I initially was dispensing Yuengling when I had my problems. I'd recommend looking for "beer line chiller". One thread I read initially was https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-beer-line-chiller-build-162665/.

If you have a have a friend who did it and it works, he's a better man than I, so do exactly what he did. I'd be curious to hear some specifics. Check what the temperature is in his fridge too. You might also see if you can try your friend's setup personally. It might be a case of "yeah it works without any issue......except that I have to dump the first pint"

I am familiar with his setup- converted fridge with the lines running up through the freezer, out the top and through the floor. i dont believe the lines were even insulated honestly. i've talked through the setup with him, and he is even helping me with mine.

in reality though - the setup was a college party house. So the beer was cheap, flowing often, and likely wasn't an issue if it wasn't cold.

I'll look into the thread you suggested. thanks again. I'll update with whatever I go forward with, and hopefully it will do the trick.

College party house...that explains it. If you're pouring for a party, yeah, no problem. If you have a pint or two a day, that's completely different. If you just intend yours for parties, that'll be fine. If not, put some careful consideration into it.

Yeah, perhaps thats where the idea is faulty. I'm looking for a pint-a-day setup. I'll continue the hunt.

Yep. That's the catch.

Cooling is the only part in this that really needs to be figured out, so you might try setting that up before installing any beer lines.