The cure for your short hose troubles

Racked to a keg for the first time ever this weekend and added 1/4 od poly tubing into the dib tube running almost the entire length of the tube (note, my dip tube is straight--don't think it was cut--and sits just off the bottom of the keg). When I ran starsan through the lines at ~10-12 psi it came out of the tap pretty fast. Not sure if the poly tubing adds much resistance, but I guess I'll know more when I pull my first pint.

Using 5' of 3/16" beer line that came stock with my off-the-rack kegerator.

Have I read all the posts... N, however I did read many and I am still confused, which mixer piece is best that won't break down or harm.

Toy4Rick

I'm using the epoxy mixers in the dip tube and can say that it works very well. Those little suckers are brittle so handle with care. My foaming issue disappeared entirely with two and works well with just one.

Hi all - New to this site and new to kegging. My lovely wife purchased a keg kit for me for Christmas. I just brewed a batch of hefeweisen beer and I'm going to keg it today. From what I've read, the hefs like to be highly carbonated. I'm going to shoot for carbonation level of around 3.4 volumes of CO2, with a temp of 40 F, and the regulator set to about 23 psi.

My beer line is 3/16 diameter and is 6' long.

I'm plan on going the" set it and forget it route' for carbonation as I'm in no rush. I can wait the 2-3 weeks.

For you guys familiar with the expoxy mixers, how many would you recommend I use in the dip tube for the above set-up.

If my above approach needs to be tweaked, by all mean feel free to chime in - I'm eager to learn, and even more eager to have good beer coming out of my tap!!!!

Thanks,
Greg

Before I lengthened my lines (from 5' to 10") I used two sticks for most brews, three for the boisterous ones (like Heffies). So I reckon each stick is equivalent to 2 to 3 feet of 3/16" ID beer line...

Cheers!

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Didn't work for me... I went to 10' lines and problem solved.

Has anyone ever tried using extra long stainless chopped twisted bar spoons?
I am not exactly sure what model will work, but its worth a shot...

Example:
http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/magnuson-industries/4004/p383817.aspx

Interesting idea. They're cheap too. Somebody try it and report back!

Where does everyone buy their tubing online?

Is there a specification for the width of the spoon stem? I think it would have to fit as perfectly as the plastic mixers do in order to force the beer through the mixer

I have no idea. Another option I was thinking about was using threaded rod with extremely large threads. Unfortunately I live in canada and its a ***** to order these things to try.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/threaded-rods/bolts/fasteners/ecatalog/N-8k5Z1z0o18e

For the spoons, even if they were too big, you could file them down to fit. When I get some more time Ill try some out.

ODI3 said:

For the spoons, even if they were too big, you could file them down to fit. When I get some more time Ill try some out.

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Looking forward to hearing how this works! I've been using the mixers listed in the OP with great success in my root beer, but stainless would be a nice option if these things end up fitting in the tube OK.

I didnt end up trying the spoons but found that SS screws work well for me. I made a post about it here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-inexpensive-ss-flow-restrictor-solve-foam-problems-431087/

These seem to be the right size. Can anyone tell if they would work?

http://amzn.com/B00E4X60NK

I can't guarantee it, but they look identical to the 3M mixer sticks I used to use before I switched to 12' lines...

Cheers!

Do you need more than one of these in the dip tube? I tried one and didn't see any difference in the pour, it was still too foamy, the beer itself is not over carbed but I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure this out, I tried longer lines, I tried shorter lines, less pressure, more pressure, could it be the poppet valve? Right now I have about 4 feet of 3/16 ID line at about 10 psi, beer about 40°, it's a ball lock keg

O

Arty76 said:

Do you need more than one of these in the dip tube? I tried one and didn't see any difference in the pour, it was still too foamy, the beer itself is not over carbed but I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure this out, I tried longer lines, I tried shorter lines, less pressure, more pressure, could it be the poppet valve? Right now I have about 4 feet of 3/16 ID line at about 10 psi, beer about 40°, it's a ball lock keg

Click to expand...

fwiw, before I switched to 12' lines I typically had to put two sticks down the dip tubes on most brews.

There is a tiny o-ring under the Out dip tube flange that if compromised (or undersized) can allow CO2 under pressure in the head space to be injected into the beer stream at the Out post. The symptom can be as extreme as spitting foam with virtually no liquid beer coming out of the faucet, but one can imagine a tiny leak could be enough to mess up the beer without it being so overt.

Other potential root causes:

- temperature differential between the bottom of the keg and any external point along the way to your glass

- Out post poppet that barely opens

- Liquid disconnect plunger that barely opens

- Out dip tube slammed against the keg bottom and occluding the tube

- Partially (well, mostly) plugged Out dip tube

- pinhole leak in the Out dip tube. Once it's above the beer line the symptoms will be similar to the Out dip tube flange o-ring failure

- And, finally, the most popular of all: over carbonated beer...

Cheers!

Do you need more than one of these in the dip tube? I tried one and didn't see any difference in the pour, it was still too foamy, the beer itself is not over carbed but I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure this out, I tried longer lines, I tried shorter lines, less pressure, more pressure, could it be the poppet valve? Right now I have about 4 feet of 3/16 ID line at about 10 psi, beer about 40°, it's a ball lock keg

Oops again, sorry for the repeat

Arty76 said:

Do you need more than one of these in the dip tube? I tried one and didn't see any difference in the pour, it was still too foamy, the beer itself is not over carbed but I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure this out, I tried longer lines, I tried shorter lines, less pressure, more pressure, could it be the poppet valve? Right now I have about 4 feet of 3/16 ID line at about 10 psi, beer about 40°, it's a ball lock keg

Click to expand...

When I first started using then I did 2 sticks but have since started using 1. It gives me a perfect pour with my setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

When I first started using then I did 2 sticks but have since started using 1. It gives me a perfect pour with my setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

If I have 6 foot lines of 1/4 inch inner diameter would it be better to use 2 or 3 of these sticks? I have tried one stick and I still get foam so I usually carb the beer at 15 psi for 3 weeks at cold temps prior to serving but this last time I just had way too much foam. Would using 3 sticks be bad instead of just using 2 sticks?

What is the temperature of the beer that you're carbing at 15 psi?
Did you use a carbonation table/calculator such as our favorite chart here?

I used to use the mixer sticks, typically two of them.
Then I switched to 12' 3/16" ID beer lines and never looked back...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

What is the temperature of the beer that you're carbing at 15 psi?
Did you use a carbonation table/calculator such as our favorite chart here?

I used to use the mixer sticks, typically two of them.
Then I switched to 12' 3/16" ID beer lines and never looked back...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the chart. I have the keezer set at 42 F so my 15 psi would be OK for wheat beers but too high for some of my ales.

msa8967 said:

Thanks for the chart. I have the keezer set at 42 F so my 15 psi would be OK for wheat beers but too high for some of my ales.

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That's what I was suspecting.

Meanwhile...you mentioned you're using 1/4" ID beer line. Are you sure about that?

If that's true you have a major handicap using a mere 6' of it - I suspect you'd need numerous sticks crammed down the keg dip tube to make that work - and then you have a beer conduit filled with lots of nucleation sites. Not sure there's a win there.

fwiw, if you follow the guidance provided on this web site you'll enjoy a balanced system for the modest cost of some beer tubing...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

That's what I was suspecting.

Meanwhile...you mentioned you're using 1/4" ID beer line. Are you sure about that?

If that's true you have a major handicap using a mere 6' of it - I suspect you'd need numerous sticks crammed down the keg dip tube to make that work - and then you have a beer conduit filled with lots of nucleation sites. Not sure there's a win there.

fwiw, if you follow the guidance provided on this web site you'll enjoy a balanced system for the modest cost of some beer tubing...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

I have 3/16 inch inner diameter line that I could use but even with heating the line in hot water and using needle nose pliers I cannot get it on the nipples of the quick disconnect.

msa8967 said:

I have 3/16 inch inner diameter line that I could use but even with heating the line in hot water and using needle nose pliers I cannot get it on the nipples of the quick disconnect.

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If you can't do it with boiling water to soften the tubing, I don't know what else I could personally recommend. The last time I had to replace tubing we just had one of those water coolers at work that dispensed near boiling water. Put some in a coffee mug, microwaved it for a minute, and set the end of the tubing in the glass for a few minutes. Worked fine, just had a rag to shield the heat as I worked the tubing down the barbs.

tehnick said:

If you can't do it with boiling water to soften the tubing, I don't know what else I could personally recommend. The last time I had to replace tubing we just had one of those water coolers at work that dispensed near boiling water. Put some in a coffee mug, microwaved it for a minute, and set the end of the tubing in the glass for a few minutes. Worked fine, just had a rag to shield the heat as I worked the tubing down the barbs.

Click to expand...

I always use a lighter to heat up the end of the tubing and work it on to the fitting, works great.

sierrabrewer said:

Insta Balance

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=376_17_16&products_id=859

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Has anyone tried this? Any luck, scale for which resistance works best?

If you use a MFL disconnect then you can boil the barb as you heat the tubing and it should work better. Of course you have to connect the barb to the disconnect (or something) to keep the barb from just going into the nut. I've only done this once, but it worked better than just heating the end of the hose.

agenthucky said:

Has anyone tried this? Any luck, scale for which resistance works best?

Click to expand...

I've found very little information about those, but here's someone that tried one and noticed no difference at all:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=218155

Would this work on root beer. I'm having a heck of a time dispensing at the pressure I have been told to 25psi
I've tried more tubing on out side. 35' of 3/16 but still nothing but foam. If I vent the keg down to 15 psi I can get a decent pour but I can't leave it there, lose carbonation.

If 35 feet of 3/16" doesn't calm that root beer down I doubt mixer sticks are going to help.

When you do a pour is there foam in the line, and if so does it start right at the keg?
If so there may be a different reason for the foam than the line length...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

When you do a pour is there foam in the line, and if so does it start right at the keg?
If so there may be a different reason for the foam than the line length...

Click to expand...

i didn't read any posts just wanted to say i know this one! dip tube o-ring! lol ???

lol! Poacher!
But, yes, depending on the answer above, that would be my go-to first thing to check.
If the keg is pumping foam into the line that's all that's gonna show up in the glass...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

lol! Poacher!
But, yes, depending on the answer above, that would be my go-to first thing to check.
If the keg is pumping foam into the line that's all that's gonna show up in the glass...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

you're a good teacher!

25 psi is wayyyy too high IMHO if your root beer is carbed properly I've always just served mine at beer serving pressure 10-12psi

fwiw, commercial examples are carbonated to 3.5-4 volumes. It is a particularly highly carbonated beverage after all.
Held at, say 40°F, that would require 24-29 psi. Anything lower would slowly "de-carbonate" the remaining root beer..

Same as folks that have to drop their "serving pressure" (lord that makes my teeth hurt ) to below that which would maintain the desired carbonation level to provide a half-way respectable pour...

Cheers!