Longer beer lines or am I doing something wrong?

I know this is a hot topic here, but I've searched and searched and haven't found a solution that works.

I've had a kegerator for about 6 months. For the first few months we tried to balance the lines but were unable to (they were short and thick.). So, on the advice of HBTers, I got new, 10 ft, 3/16 inch lines. But still, something's not right.

Disclaimer: Everything I've tried I've tried with both homebrews and commercial beers. So overcarbonation in the keg probably isn't a problem, since I've tried things with newly tapped commercial kegs.

I have to lower the PSI to 8 PSI to get a pour that's slow enough to not come out to heady. Any higher than 8 and it comes out way to fast and too heady. The problem with lowering it so much is that when it sits at 8 PSI for a few days, it gets noticeably flat. The only way to do it so far has been to lower for serving, and increase it when I'm not drinking. But there's gotta be a better way (bars don't do that, afterall). I'm looking for a solution to be able to serve at carbonating pressure, so 12ish.

Would increasing to a longer line (12-14 ft, 3/16 inch) help this? Then I'd be able to raise the pressure to 12 and the pour would be slowed down? Some have told me that 10 is already on the long side, yet it still requires such a low PSI.

Any help is much appreciated! I just want a good beer from my kegerator! Thanks everyone

There are many here more knowledgable than me, but I have 15ft lines and am very happy with the pour and head.

One missing detail: how cold is the beer in the keg(s)?

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

One missing detail: how cold is the beer in the keg(s)?

Cheers!

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YES! Pressure is related to temperature. Your temp needs to be steady to have the right constant pressure.

Right, should have mentioned that. I hold a steady 39-40.

Same issue here. Have tower fan. Trying longer line this week.

I thought about a fan...no doubt it would help keep the higher air colder and help keep head down a little, but there's no way it would solve my problem...TOO MUCH HEAD!

Could it be over carbonated?


Fan helped a lot. Hoping longer line seals the deal.

Some of the beers have been freshly tapped commercial beers, so I don't think over carbonation is the issue

I am not sure if this is correct but to me it sounds like you have a leak somewhere letting air into your system, if you carb at a certain pressure then lower to serving pressure from my understanding and experience your beer should stay carbed especially commercial kegs. I serve at very low pressure and leave them on that pressure for months with no under carbing. I would check for a leak somewhere ( overtightened hose clamps, undertightened clamps, bad gaskets on the keg)

If you have to reduce all the way to 8psi, then something's not right. That equals a flow rate of only 74oz/min, and a beer that cold with standard carbonation levels should be able to be poured significantly faster. If the serving temp were warmer, or you had highly carbed beer, then it would sound about right. It could be some sort of restriction or something else causing turbulence near the faucet end of things. Is there a kink in the line, or debris stuck in the faucet or something? Are you using dirty glassware? Try rinsing your glass out with cold water just before pouring a beer. If it pours fine, you might have a glassware or glassware cleaning issue.

And FWIW the 12 psi you're using for the commercial kegs is likely lower than the equilibrium level. Most commercial beer is carbed to 2.7 vol, which at your serving temp would require 14-15 psi serving pressure. If you serve the beer at a lower pressure, CO2 will sometimes come out of solution in the lines forming pockets of gas as the keg sits, and the first pour of each drinking session will come out faster and full of foam.

If it does serve well at 8psi, longer lines will help, but I have to think there's other issues going on. To get the same flow rate at 12psi that you're getting at 8, you'd need to increase the line length to 16'.

72Chevelle said:

I am not sure if this is correct but to me it sounds like you have a leak somewhere letting air into your system, if you carb at a certain pressure then lower to serving pressure from my understanding and experience your beer should stay carbed especially commercial kegs. I serve at very low pressure and leave them on that pressure for months with no under carbing. I would check for a leak somewhere ( overtightened hose clamps, undertightened clamps, bad gaskets on the keg)

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This is not correct. It is true that simply reducing the applied pressure to the keg won't change the carbonation level, no matter how long you leave it at that pressure, but only if you never pour a beer. Each time you pour a beer the headspace pressure will be reduced, and CO2 will come out of solution, until it eventually reaches equilibrium with the carbonation level that corresponds to the lower pressure. Not only that, but often CO2 will come out of solution in the lines forming pockets of gas, which will cause a foamy first pour of every drinking session.

It's definitely a slow pour, anything that seems reasonable gets too heady. The beer seems cold enough (39-40) and I don't think over carbonation is an issue (I have this issue even when I know beers are very under carbonated). Glassware isn't an issue, I clean glasses right, and have beer-only glasses. There could be a disturbance somewhere else. The beers lines are new, and I clean them often. Could it beer where the beer line meets the tap? Not sure, what that's called, but where the beer line ends and the (shank, maybe?) starts? Here's a picture.



It seems smooth enough.

Are you sure you have 3/16" line and not 1/4"? Are you opening the faucet all the way? Is there any crud in the faucet ? Is your fridge set to 39 degrees or is the beer temp coming out of the tap 39 degrees?

I'm 100% positive the lines are 3/16". I always open the faucet all the way (used to make that mistake back in the day). No crud in the faucet. The inside of the fridge is 39 degrees. I don't know the exact temp of the liquid, but I'd imagine it's close, and I know it's always cold.

I would imagine that at least part of your problem is that your tower isn't keeping the lines cool enough to prevent the foam. I keep my keeper at 34 degrees and it always poors around 40 with the temperature loss. I use a fan to try to even out the differential. Is the second pint you pour less heady than the first?

Yeah, after about a 5 oz pour the head goes down a lot, so I know that a warm tower is part of the problem. But while the second pour is better, there's still waaaaaay too much head