How to route beer line in a keezer so they are going "up"?

Based on all the great keezer build threads here I did one, and I'm having trouble with one thing: how to route the beer lines so that they are always going "up."

I read that this is very important... but the keezer is gettign really cramped, and I tried taping the beer lines in lengthwise switchbacks up the side of the freezer, but 1) I'm going to run out of space when I tape up my 2nd through 4th keg; and, 2) I'm afraid the beer lines will freeze if they're right on the side of the freezer.

Is it really important to always be going "up"? I'm still trying to balance my system so I'm pouring 80% foam at the moment. I think it's because the keg is overcarbed, because I'm using the exact amount of beer line I should be, according to all the measurements put into Bearcat Brewmeister's excellent excel file: Bearcat's thread.

Any thoughts?

Never heard of this "up" issue before, I doubt it has anything to do with the balance of your system. I built my keezer after research here and the beer lines just kind of go where they want to, no issues.

It's generally not a great idea to run the lines such that the beer travels up and then down multiple times, but I've never heard that the lines always need to travel up. Where did you read this? Just coil the lines horizontally on top of the kegs.

As far as the line length calculators, they're really just a rough guide. I've found that every beer line and set-up has slightly different resistance, and most have less resistance than the calculators figure. My original set-up required just about double the length that bearcats calculator figures. IMO it's best to buy longer lines than you need and then cut them down if it pours too slow.

In general I prefer overlength lines, since if I have time to drink a beer, I also have an extra few seconds to wait for it to be poured. It's different if you're running a bar where speed matters and you're pouring hundreds of beers in a night.

JuanMoore said:

It's generally not a great idea to run the lines such that the beer travels up and then down multiple times

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Why not? My lines in my last kegerator ran up and down and I never had a single kegging related issue.

I now have them coiled up & zip-tied on top of their keg in my keezer as said before. It just looks better.

Yeah I guess I don't understand the problem introduced by having ups & downs. I am forcing liquid through those lines with CO2 so it's not like there is a potential for lost siphon.

hwcopela said:

Why not? My lines in my last kegerator ran up and down and I never had a single kegging related issue.

I now have them coiled up & zip-tied on top of their keg in my keezer as said before. It just looks better.

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It usually doesn't cause any issues, especially if it's not the section just before the faucet, but in certain cases the ups and downs can cause slight changes in speed, which can knock some of the CO2 out of solution and add to foaming issues. It's more likely to be an issue in longer runs where the line diameter is much larger than the 3/16" most of us use. My main point was that the lines don't need to go "up" the entire run. I've run beer with the lines coiled vertically forcing the beer to go up and down without any issues.

JuanMoore said:

Just coil the lines horizontally on top of the kegs.

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This. Pretty simple. Use some tape or a zip-tie to keep it in a neat coil if you want.