strange LBHS picnic lines.. any clue what pressure to use?

bought a picninc tap for one of my kegs expecting a 5 foot piece of 1/4 line but instead i recieved a 9 foot, 3/16 dia line. dont really know much about what diameters/lengths require what serving pressure. could anyone help??

It's going to depend on temp. Is your regulator adjustable? I usually start low and keep adding pressure till the pour is flowing well, but little foam. Takes less than two beers to get it right.

BrewinBigD said:

bought a picninc tap for one of my kegs expecting a 5 foot piece of 1/4 line but instead i recieved a 9 foot, 3/16 dia line. dont really know much about what diameters/lengths require what serving pressure. could anyone help??

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If you'd gotten what you were expecting, you would have had a mess of foam on your hands. The 1/4" ID line is usually only used for very long runs, since it has less than 1/3 of the resistance of 3/16" ID line.

And your thinking is a bit backwards, it's the serving pressure that requires a specific size and length of beer line, not the other way around. You can use a chart like this one, and find the serving pressure you need for your carb level and temperature. Once you know your serving pressure, you can then figure out the size and minimum length of line required to provide the proper resistance. The only effect of a line that's too long is a slightly slower pour, so if I were you I'd just stick with the 9' line and not worry about figuring out the minimum line length.

JuanMoore said:

And your thinking is a bit backwards, it's the serving pressure that requires a specific size and length of beer line, not the other way around.

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Yes yes yes, a million times this. I've mentioned this in other threads and some people give me a hard time. Don't let your beer suffer because your lines aren't long enough! It bothers me to see people doing it backwards.

thanks for the info. ive recieved a bunch of different advice, some of wich maes no sense.
so serving pressure has to be the same as carb pressure correct? otherwise the gas will no remain dissolved in the solution and youll have a lower carb level. makes sense. someone told me once your carbonation pressure should be higher than your serving pressure, but i ried it and ended up with flat beer. i keep my kegs at 39-40F all the time and mostly brew american ales so according tothe chart il usually in the 8-10 PSI range. im definately gonna print this chart out and keep it in my binder!!

It makes life allot easier to set the carb and serving pressure the same. If you lower it for serving when you are done you need to raise it back up to keep it carbed how you like. As with everything in life too many people make something easy too damn hard.