kegged....man, I got some questions...

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I would venture to guess that with any short line, whether it's cobra or regular tap, you're going to run into problems.

I have a cobra tap setup and have played around with it enough to know the system. I have 6 feet of liquid tubing and have had perfect pours pint after pint. No excessive foaming and beautiful carbonation and head. If my tubing were any shorter, that might be a different story.
 
I'm willing to bet a paycheck that Ol' Grog does not have cobra taps balanced to his keg system operating at whatever carbonation pressure he might be using or he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Yes, they could be balanced to a system just as a regular tap could if you do the calculations, but again, I'm willing to bet that ain't the case here. In the interest of keeping things "simple" I'll stick with my advice of turning down the pressure to serve from the cobra taps until (or unless) the system is balanced.

bikebryan, still not answering the question?
 
Keep your paycheck ol' buddy, you are correct. I haven't even tapped it yet, planning to when I get back from the OU/Texas Tech game Saturday night. Interesting read on line balances on the cobra taps. After reviewing the calculations on the balancing formula, to maintain 12 psi, at 0 height, I would need somewhere in the neighborhood of ten feet of 3/16 hose. I only got a like a 4 footer that came with the kit preassembled with ear clamps. Will have to play with it when I do start but I will be turning the keg pressure itself down to about 1 or 2 just to see where the happy medium is.
 
Actually, 4' is not that bad of a length and you may not have to turn down much if at all...you'll have to play with it and see. One trick is to hold the nozzle up around eye level or so if your kegs are at ground level. You'll work it out once you get it carbonated, trust me.
 
That was my game plan....hold the tap up at reduced pressure and then "feel" my way down. Another question, once I'm done drinking, and remember, no kegerator yet, what do I do with the cobra tap and line? Can't leave it out? Can I just put the whole thing in a zip lock bag and throw it in the refrigerator? Or take the plunge and clean it every time....boy....that would be a PITA, but I'll do what I got to do.
 
Ol' Grog said:
Can I just put the whole thing in a zip lock bag and throw it in the refrigerator? Or take the plunge and clean it every time....boy....that would be a PITA, but I'll do what I got to do.
Click to expand...

I'm going to be in the same place with a chest freezer soon. I wonder if I can just drop the cobras in a small bucket/bowl of sanitizer in the fridge?
 
dantodd said:
I'm going to be in the same place with a chest freezer soon. I wonder if I can just drop the cobras in a small bucket/bowl of sanitizer in the fridge?
Click to expand...

You should'nt have to. There is nothing inherently more sanitary with a-non cobra tap as opposed to one mounted on the door.

Just keep 'em relatively clean and give them a breakdown cleaning every so often.

Any problems will not get into the corny unless you negatively pressure your keg.
 
olllllo said:
Any problems will not get into the corny unless you negatively pressure your keg.
Click to expand...

I wasn't too worried about infecting the keg, I just thought it would be the least work for keeping the taps non-sticky.
 
I find the best thing for the taps is to make sure there is beer constantly flowing through them! A rolling stone gathers no moss and all that jazz! It's also a brilliant excuse to enjoy the fruits of your labor more often!:mug:
 
no kegerator yet. I know, I'm charting unknown territory, but that's the way it is. I'll get one in a week or so, but now, nothing with 15 gallons of brew to be ready in the next couple of weeks.
 
Baron von BeeGee said:
I'm willing to bet a paycheck that Ol' Grog does not have cobra taps balanced to his keg system operating at whatever carbonation pressure he might be using or he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Yes, they could be balanced to a system just as a regular tap could if you do the calculations, but again, I'm willing to bet that ain't the case here. In the interest of keeping things "simple" I'll stick with my advice of turning down the pressure to serve from the cobra taps until (or unless) the system is balanced.

bikebryan, still not answering the question?
Click to expand...

OK, I'll agree with you conclusion that Ol' Grog hasn't balanced his system. That's obvious just from his description of his problem.

As for answering "the question" I can't just sit back and let incorrect information (clearly wrong, by the way) be dispensed as though it is FACT. I have dealt with too many people for too long that do just that to let is slip by. I've seen somebody DIE because they took somebody's false information, stated as fact, to heart and lost their life because of it.

Spreading truly wrong informaton perpetuates the lie, can perpetuate idiocy, and is just the wrong thing to do. It needs to be corrected.

Of course, if I'm wrong I'll admit I'm wrong. Once facts show me that way, I'll be the first to throw the egg in my face.

Good enough answer?
 
My fellow brew brethrens......everybody have a brew and relax. I am going to present the facts as they occured this evening.
I tapped the keg, it was around 18 psi at first. This is in the garage, ambient temperature around 65. I left the keg outside for about 4 hours, high for today as recorded by News Channel 9, 58F. At first pour, nothing but foam. This is off the cobra tap, held up to eye level, around 5.5 feet.
Second, after pressure inside the keg was reduced to a slow dribble, I cranked up the regulator to 10 psi, less foam, but still more than I like, same conditions.
Third, I physically dropped the pressure to 5 psi. Perfect. Slight foaming, but within standard beer drinking requirements.
In conclusion, for my situation and this is ambient temperature, no kegerator....which now will be the focus of my attention next week, 5 psi is ideal for the cobra tap.
Again, this is my situation. I realize that with the benefit of a kegerator, pressures will be different.
 
That's good news as this was starting to look like the, "talk the passenger into landing the single engine 747" thread.

I think there was even a duel.

No offense Grog, but it was a wild ride.
 
I didn't intend for it to be this way...but I am greatful. You guys, by far, are the best. Feel like I'm getting to know you all. I think I'm good to go now.
 
I think you still don't quite get it.:D

You should not be connecting/disconnecting the gas from your keg, nor should you be going through wild variations in serving vs. storage pressures.

18 PSI is way too high, your beer is now over carbonated. Serving it at 50 whatever degrees will just give you glass after glass of wasted foam each time you stop and start the pour.

If your cobra tap was only at 5.5 feet above the ground and the keg is almost three feet, you've only got 2 and a bit feet of restrictor line? This is working against you.

- overcarbonated
- warm keg
- serving line too short

You can cure all three with a little bit of work. Ice is cheap. :mug:
 
OK, a lot of thoughts about what to do are in this thread.

I too am using the ambient temperature cooling method in the garage. I'm probably going to be in the 40-50 range.

So originally I had it set at 20lbs, but then I read this and saw that that was too high, so I turned it down to about 8lbs. I'm keeping the CO2 tank on - right or wrong? Just let it sit for a few days at 8 lbs should do fine for a hefe, right?
 
Ol' Grog said:
My fellow brew brethrens......everybody have a brew and relax. I am going to present the facts as they occured this evening.
I tapped the keg, it was around 18 psi at first. This is in the garage, ambient temperature around 65. I left the keg outside for about 4 hours, high for today as recorded by News Channel 9, 58F. At first pour, nothing but foam. This is off the cobra tap, held up to eye level, around 5.5 feet.
Second, after pressure inside the keg was reduced to a slow dribble, I cranked up the regulator to 10 psi, less foam, but still more than I like, same conditions.
Third, I physically dropped the pressure to 5 psi. Perfect. Slight foaming, but within standard beer drinking requirements.
In conclusion, for my situation and this is ambient temperature, no kegerator....which now will be the focus of my attention next week, 5 psi is ideal for the cobra tap.
Again, this is my situation. I realize that with the benefit of a kegerator, pressures will be different.
Click to expand...
Look around here. There are tons of threads that will tell you how to easily carbonate your kegs. The bottome line, though:

1. There are many sources, via google, that will give you the amount of CO2, in 'volumes,' for the style of beer in question. Remember that number.

2. Now find the carbonation table. Use that chart to match the Volumes of CO2 at the temperature your beer is at. Follow the chart and it will tell you what pressure to set your regulator. Set it, hook it up and then ignore it for about a week.

3. Now you need to balance the serving line with the keg pressure. The most common line provides about 1.5 to 2 feet of resistance per linear foot, so if you keg is at 12 pounds of pressure, you need about 5.5 to 6 feet of tubing. Set that up.

That's it. Isn't it simple? Why complicate it? Set it and forget it!
 
Cheesefood said:
OK, a lot of thoughts about what to do are in this thread.

I too am using the ambient temperature cooling method in the garage. I'm probably going to be in the 40-50 range.

So originally I had it set at 20lbs, but then I read this and saw that that was too high, so I turned it down to about 8lbs. I'm keeping the CO2 tank on - right or wrong? Just let it sit for a few days at 8 lbs should do fine for a hefe, right?
Click to expand...

Basic physics at work that not even the might of the Al Gore internet can override. :ban:

There's no reason to ever disconnect the CO2 from a keg- other than when it's out of service or open.

If your beer sat at 20 psi and became truly saturated with CO2, it will take quite a while for that excess gas to come back out of solution with the keg at 8 psi.

Having said that 8 psi for a hefeweizen sounds too low. I keep mine at 15, but at 40*F on a balanced system.
YMMV. :mug:
 
Went ahead and got a 4912 this weekend. The garage kept keg idea just doesn't work. Too many varibles. Now if I can just get the 2 kegs and a CO2 tank in it, I'll be set.
 

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